The Boob Crew
May 16, 2009 – 12:00 pmOne of our network members has been providing us with excellent email updates on the latest silliness, idiocy or arrogance of the Obamessiah administration. He refers to them as “The Boob Crew“. We can not imagine a more fitting appellation. We will share these updates as they are shared with us. Thanks to the MusicMouz for such a cuttingly accurate label for the Fiascocrats running our Government. Here is the first installment of The Boob Crew Update.
From Newsmax.com
Dear Friend:
On one side are General Motor’s unionized retired workers. On the other, just about anyone who has a pension fund, retirement account, or mutual fund.
Who wins when the Obama Administration is the referee?
Here’s a guess: it’s not you and me.
If you’re not aware of the current situation with General Motors bondholders, you need to be.
Unprecedented government intervention by the Obama Administration is resulting in the railroading of small investors, which likely includes you or someone you know.
Many mutual funds, 401(k) plans, pensions, and insurance companies contain some GM debt, and will lose up to 90% of its value if Obama’s Auto Task Force has its way.
The Administration’s Auto Task Force has ignored small bondholders, senior citizens, and (current and future) retirees in discussions over the solvency of General Motors. GM, withthe Administration in the driver’s seat, has offered small bondholders only cents on the dollar, which would impact millions of American’s pensions, savings, college funds, and retirement accounts.
Bonds are loans, not speculative stocks, but the Administration is proposing that holders of GM debt will receive $0.10 on the dollar for their debt while the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the Federal Government will receive 89% of the equity of the restructured General Motors.
“That’s outrageous,” said Bloomberg Financial News yesterday. “The deal is nothing short of a political rip-off, with the Obama administration currying favor with an organized voting bloc in the form of the United Auto Workers union at the expense of unorganized retirees.”
“The current deal ‘can be seen as one that serves up bondholders on the altar of political self-interest,’ CreditSights Inc. analyst Glenn Reynolds wrote in a report last week titled, in part, ‘Waterboarding Bondholders,’” the article continued.
On April 30, a coalition of bondholders presented a counter-offer to the Administration’s Auto Task Force– an offer far better for all stakeholders involved. The counteroffer proposed that bondholders retain 58% of GM’s ownership and the union-backed Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) would retain 41% ownership– a higher stake for the union than what the Obama Administration proposed. In addition, the offer would save GM from bankruptcy.
By keeping GM solvent and privately owned, the offer saves U.S. taxpayers $10 billion and avoids nationalization by the Government.
But, as the Associated Press reports, “GM cannot modify its stock exchange offer to bondholders because the company has been told by the [U.S.] Treasury Department that it cannot go above 10 percent of the company’s equity, [GM CEO Fritz] Henderson said.”
What? Obama’s Treasury Department is standing in the way of private parties forging an agreement? You got it.
“The government is intervening more and pressuring the rights of bondholders and other creditors,” an article in Reuters recently pointed out.
Contact Congress now to let them know that this government interference is unacceptable, and that it’s time for the White House to look out for the little guy instead of organized labor unions seniors, and retirees, and that this unprecedented government intervention is unacceptable.
2 Responses to “The Boob Crew”
While no one wants to see 83 year old retirees left without their pensions, the putatively good intentions behind the unprecedented and un-Constitutional interference with the sanctity of contract will lead to more pain than would have been the case had nature, and the laws of economics, been allowed to run their course. The losers may well be no better off than the UAW retirees who may – may – be saved the loss of their pensions by this act.
This is typical of the Democrats: They ‘care,’ and so therefore whatever their emotions lead them to do is policy, regardless of whether it actually works. The intention justifies the outcome. Republicans have been whipped as badly with hysterical rhetoric on economics as have Democrats on national security. Debate – real debate – is nearly impossible, as the side thought to be holding the moral higb ground will tar their opponents, in this case, as greedy, uncaring, evil, etc., so that discussion ceases or retreats behind sound bytes.
GM may well not survive, and if that happens, both the bond holders and the retirees will lose, and likely they will lose more than would have been the case for either if the Bush and Obama Administrations had not gotten involved. As I noted in an earlier post, Bob Lutz resigned as product czar at G< because he didn’t want to build whatever cars the government told him to. The future looks dark indeed for the company that built most of the cars that I’ve owned.
By ssgconway on May 16, 2009
I very often understand and,or relate to positions taken by the leftists in this country. But find in the light of objectivity they seldom stand up in my mind.
But things like this simply astound me.
And most of the “sheeple” dont even know about it.
Wouldn’t ya like to turn on the news one evening and see the Boob’s press secratary explain how they justify this travesty(outright rip off)
By Ger on May 17, 2009