Goverment Motors And Gangster Government

You had better bribe (I mean give a campaign contribution) to your Congress Critter if you want to do business with Government Motors.

Here is Michael Barone on the car mafia.

Think carefully about what's happening here. The White House, presumably car czar Steven Rattner and deputy Ron Bloom, is seeking to transfer the property of one group of people to another group that is politically favored.

In the process it is setting aside basic property rights in favor of rewarding the United Auto Workers for the support the union has given the Democratic Party. The only possible limit on the White House's power is the bankruptcy judge, who might not go along.

Michigan politicians of both parties joined Obama in denouncing the holdout bondholders. They point to the sad plight of UAW retirees not getting full payment of the health care benefits the union negotiated with Chrysler.

But the plight of the beneficiaries of the pension funds represented by the bondholders is sad, too. Ordinarily you would expect these claims to be weighed and determined by the rule of law. But apparently not in this administration.

Evidently the pension funds that invested in what was formerly known as Chrysler Motors (now Crisis Motors) are out of luck. I guess the deal is: if you want to retire make sure you are politically connected. Or even better advice: don't invest in any company with a strong union. Let me amend that: don't invest in any company with any union. In these times it pays to play it safe.

H/T Judith Weiss Facebook