On one side are those corporations and financial firms dependent on government support, and thus eager to obey the diktat of their political minders. They are part of Obama, Inc., a vast public-private entity pursuing a vision of a greener, more constrained, and politicized capitalism.
On the other are those firms that aren’t on a government lifeline and thus can pursue the traditional capitalist imperative of maximizing value for their shareholders and investors. They constitute the liberated economy, but can be forgiven for sometimes feeling as embattled as the forces of the Free French circa 1941.
Consider the self-described “Committee of Non-Tarp Lenders” in the Chrysler bankruptcy negotiations. They are those creditors that loaned funds to Chrysler — the government-supported automaker — without themselves taking government bailout funds like Chrysler’s other, much larger lenders.
When the Obama administration came to Chrysler’s creditors and told them to accept a deal giving the United Auto Workers 55 percent of the company while they took a bath, all the banks that had accepted TARP funds duly said “yes.” Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, which wouldn’t exist but for the generosity of Hank Paulson and Timothy Geithner, knew they were expected to salute smartly. The smaller, non-TARP lenders — mostly hedge funds — stood by their contractual rights as “senior creditors” to be paid back first if Chrysler went under.
Wrong answer. A lawyer for the non-TARP creditors says that during negotiations, the leader of Obama’s auto task force threatened one of the lenders with exposure and attack by the White House press corps. The administration denies the story, although the gist rings true. When negotiations fell through and Chrysler headed to bankruptcy court, Obama angrily denounced the non-TARP lenders: “I don’t stand with them.” Michigan Rep. John Dingell called them “rogue hedge funds” and “vultures.”
The real vulture is the UAW. In a neat trick that any scavenging bird would envy, it bankrupted Chrysler through the years and now will be awarded whatever is left of the carcass. Providing ground troops for the president’s election and giving his political party $25 million during the past decades makes the UAW effectively the senior creditor at every government-sponsored negotiation. It will own a company making government-approved environmentally correct cars.
The offense of the hedge funds was only to lend Chrysler the money it wanted to try to keep itself afloat and then insist their contracts be honored. Such is the roguish, out-of-control behavior of firms that haven’t sucked up billions in taxpayer funds to cover over their massive business miscalculations. The number of holdout non-TARP lenders dwindled from 20 to nine as the date for their public revelation — and yet more presidentially approved obloquy — neared. Intimidation works.
Democrats pride themselves on their independence from business, but industrial policy depends on working hand and glove with industry. The more government regulates, subsidizes, and intervenes, the more subject it is to capture by economic interests and vice versa. Is it a coincidence that two of the actors that have arguably benefited most from government activism in the past year — the auto unions and Goldman Sachs — are extremely well-connected players in Washington?
The just-released stress tests of the banks present an opportunity. The tests draw a line between healthy and still-rickety financial institutions. The healthy ones should be urged — no, required — to give back their TARP funds as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, a mechanism should be created to seize and unwind those shakier institutions that can’t raise the necessary new capital on their own. It’s not last fall, when it seemed another collapse of a major financial institution might take the financial system with it. If bankruptcy is good enough for Chrysler, it should be good enough for Citigroup.
The alternative is for the marginal banks to stumble along as government-supported zombies and as slush funds for crony capitalism. Let them go, and instead increase the ranks of the liberated economy.
Friends, there is a danger hiding in practically every home, office and school. It masquerades as a harmless office supply but in reality, it has the ability to make people mentally unstable, disable a school system, and virtually bring a small town to its knees. It's known as (cue scary music), the post-it note.
As a resident of Plainfield and frequent walker on our excellent trail system, I have often wondered what the laws are concerning the marked pedestrian crosswalks throughout town. So I talked to the Plainfield Police Department.
Mitt Romney went into the wrong line of work. If only he had been a lecturer in constitutional law, he wouldn't have a business record vulnerable to distortion by a desperate incumbent president.
Now that the Obama administration has officially sided with corrupting man-wife marriage to also mean two men or two women, it's time for Christians to reflect on what's going on in the culture. To be sure, the measure must pass certain hurdles to be the secular law of the land. And, if the Republican candidate wins come November, there may be a further delay in its implementation. But don't count on it.
I'm back from a few shows at the security theater.
I slogged my way through four airports this past month, and played my interactive role in that daily, multi-billion-dollar production brought to us by the federal government with the colossally misleading name of "airline security."
President Barack Obama insists that he didn't announce his support for gay marriage out of political considerations. He's right. He did it out of self-regard.
Is that smoke? I think I smell something burning. Something is definitely scorched. Did someone just burn a ham or did Patricia Krentcil, a.k.a. "tanning mom" just walk into the room?
U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar - vanquished by age, longevity, barrel bottom congressional approval ratings, and an aggressive opponent in Treasurer Richard Mourdock - seemed to be bridging a divided party when he took the stage shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday as the magnitude of the 61 percent to 39 percent landslide against him registered.
The Cleveland Five are a sad-sack collection of wannabe terrorists if there ever was one. The amateurish young men who plotted to destroy a bridge outside Cleveland last week give the impression of needing the attention of a guidance counselor as much as a federal prosecutor.
Human remains may be embedded in the mud of the North Atlantic where the New York-bound Titanic came to rest when it sank 100 years ago, a federal official said.
Commentary
The liberated economy
BY RICH LOWRY
American capitalism is a house divided.
On one side are those corporations and financial firms dependent on government support, and thus eager to obey the diktat of their political minders. They are part of Obama, Inc., a vast public-private entity pursuing a vision of a greener, more constrained, and politicized capitalism.
On the other are those firms that aren’t on a government lifeline and thus can pursue the traditional capitalist imperative of maximizing value for their shareholders and investors. They constitute the liberated economy, but can be forgiven for sometimes feeling as embattled as the forces of the Free French circa 1941.
Consider the self-described “Committee of Non-Tarp Lenders” in the Chrysler bankruptcy negotiations. They are those creditors that loaned funds to Chrysler — the government-supported automaker — without themselves taking government bailout funds like Chrysler’s other, much larger lenders.
When the Obama administration came to Chrysler’s creditors and told them to accept a deal giving the United Auto Workers 55 percent of the company while they took a bath, all the banks that had accepted TARP funds duly said “yes.” Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, which wouldn’t exist but for the generosity of Hank Paulson and Timothy Geithner, knew they were expected to salute smartly. The smaller, non-TARP lenders — mostly hedge funds — stood by their contractual rights as “senior creditors” to be paid back first if Chrysler went under.
Wrong answer. A lawyer for the non-TARP creditors says that during negotiations, the leader of Obama’s auto task force threatened one of the lenders with exposure and attack by the White House press corps. The administration denies the story, although the gist rings true. When negotiations fell through and Chrysler headed to bankruptcy court, Obama angrily denounced the non-TARP lenders: “I don’t stand with them.” Michigan Rep. John Dingell called them “rogue hedge funds” and “vultures.”
The real vulture is the UAW. In a neat trick that any scavenging bird would envy, it bankrupted Chrysler through the years and now will be awarded whatever is left of the carcass. Providing ground troops for the president’s election and giving his political party $25 million during the past decades makes the UAW effectively the senior creditor at every government-sponsored negotiation. It will own a company making government-approved environmentally correct cars.
The offense of the hedge funds was only to lend Chrysler the money it wanted to try to keep itself afloat and then insist their contracts be honored. Such is the roguish, out-of-control behavior of firms that haven’t sucked up billions in taxpayer funds to cover over their massive business miscalculations. The number of holdout non-TARP lenders dwindled from 20 to nine as the date for their public revelation — and yet more presidentially approved obloquy — neared. Intimidation works.
Democrats pride themselves on their independence from business, but industrial policy depends on working hand and glove with industry. The more government regulates, subsidizes, and intervenes, the more subject it is to capture by economic interests and vice versa. Is it a coincidence that two of the actors that have arguably benefited most from government activism in the past year — the auto unions and Goldman Sachs — are extremely well-connected players in Washington?
The just-released stress tests of the banks present an opportunity. The tests draw a line between healthy and still-rickety financial institutions. The healthy ones should be urged — no, required — to give back their TARP funds as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, a mechanism should be created to seize and unwind those shakier institutions that can’t raise the necessary new capital on their own. It’s not last fall, when it seemed another collapse of a major financial institution might take the financial system with it. If bankruptcy is good enough for Chrysler, it should be good enough for Citigroup.
The alternative is for the marginal banks to stumble along as government-supported zombies and as slush funds for crony capitalism. Let them go, and instead increase the ranks of the liberated economy.
(c) 2009 by King Features Syndicate
Friends, there is a danger hiding in practically every home, office and school. It masquerades as a harmless office supply but in reality, it has the ability to make people mentally unstable, disable a school system, and virtually bring a small town to its knees. It's known as (cue scary music), the post-it note.
May 18, 2012
As a resident of Plainfield and frequent walker on our excellent trail system, I have often wondered what the laws are concerning the marked pedestrian crosswalks throughout town. So I talked to the Plainfield Police Department.
May 18, 2012
Mitt Romney went into the wrong line of work. If only he had been a lecturer in constitutional law, he wouldn't have a business record vulnerable to distortion by a desperate incumbent president.
May 18, 2012
And now, hold on to your hats because it's time for ...
Dentists In The News!
May 15, 2012
Now that the Obama administration has officially sided with corrupting man-wife marriage to also mean two men or two women, it's time for Christians to reflect on what's going on in the culture. To be sure, the measure must pass certain hurdles to be the secular law of the land. And, if the Republican candidate wins come November, there may be a further delay in its implementation. But don't count on it.
May 15, 2012
I'm back from a few shows at the security theater.
I slogged my way through four airports this past month, and played my interactive role in that daily, multi-billion-dollar production brought to us by the federal government with the colossally misleading name of "airline security."
May 14, 2012
President Barack Obama insists that he didn't announce his support for gay marriage out of political considerations. He's right. He did it out of self-regard.
May 14, 2012
Is that smoke? I think I smell something burning. Something is definitely scorched. Did someone just burn a ham or did Patricia Krentcil, a.k.a. "tanning mom" just walk into the room?
May 11, 2012
U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar - vanquished by age, longevity, barrel bottom congressional approval ratings, and an aggressive opponent in Treasurer Richard Mourdock - seemed to be bridging a divided party when he took the stage shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday as the magnitude of the 61 percent to 39 percent landslide against him registered.
May 11, 2012
The Cleveland Five are a sad-sack collection of wannabe terrorists if there ever was one. The amateurish young men who plotted to destroy a bridge outside Cleveland last week give the impression of needing the attention of a guidance counselor as much as a federal prosecutor.
May 11, 2012
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Do you think using a tanning bed is worth the risk of skin Cancer?
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Human remains may be embedded in the mud of the North Atlantic where the New York-bound Titanic came to rest when it sank 100 years ago, a federal official said.
April 16, 2012 3 Photos 3 Stories
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