Romney Again Says Let Automakers Go Bankrupt

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/02/14/romney_again_says_let_automakers_go_bankrupt.html

February 14, 2012

Romney Again Says Let Automakers Go Bankrupt


Mitt Romney writes in a Detroit News op-ed that President Obama should have let automakers go into a "managed bankruptcy" instead of using a federal bailout with taxpayer money.

"Managed bankruptcy may sound like a death knell. But in fact, it is a way for a troubled company to restructure itself rapidly, entering and leaving the courtroom sometimes in weeks or months instead of years, and then returning to profitable operation... By the spring of 2009, instead of the free market doing what it does best, we got a major taste of crony capitalism, Obama-style."

[WingDinger]

1. He sure do like him some bones to pick over.

[MineralMan]

2. More fodder for the Democratic campaigns.

All of these bizarre statements need to be featured in those campaigns, with commentary demonstrating why they're moronic.

[SmellyFeet]

3. "Corporations are people my friend"

Notice that he mentions NOTHING ABOUT JOBS and the workers, only about the well being of the company.

[lonestarnot]

4. Asshat.

[Bake]

5. What he means is "void their union contracts"

And "get rid of any pension liability."

And of course, "slash a few hundred thousand jobs."

THAT is what that P.O.S. means by "managed bankruptcy."

Bake

[TwilightGardener]

10. Yes--I think that's what Hostess is trying to do, too.

Sneaky fuckers, all of them.

[DCBob]

6. A typical "managed bankruptcy" was not an option. GM and Chrysler were on the brink of liquidation.

He know's he in a corner so this is his only defense but it wont work.

[Yupster]

7. They did do a managed bankrupcy

People talk as if GM didn't declare bankrupcy.

They did.

They declared bankrupcy on June 1, 2009.

It was a Chapter 11 Managed bankrupcy, usually called a restructuring.

GM stockholders were wiped out.

GM bondholders were surprised to learn that they didn't get the shares of the new company as would typically happen in a Chapter 11. Instead the US government stepped in and reordered the normal line of ownership. The US government was given the largest part of the new company, the autoworkers union was given the second largest number of shares with the Canadian ggovernment and the bondholders coming in third and fourth.

The bondholders were asked to vote on the proposal, and they voted no by about 95 %.

That's when the government stepped in and forced the measure through without another vote.

The Indiana Teacher's Pension Fund, a large holder of GM bonds immediately sued, but the Supreme Court has yet to agree to take the case up.

That's where the GM bankrupcy stands.

[DCBob]

9. It was a Fed Govt managed "managed bankruptcy". Without Fed govt money they would have liquidated.

Romney was arguing for a typical managed bankrupcty which would not have worked in this case. The situation was too extreme and dicey. The shit was about to hit the fan.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

8. They're so hell-bent on failure that it sounds like they want a "do-over" nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

11. Someone pointed out to me that Romney believes that he doesn't need Detroit.

He won't win in Detroit anyway. He's looking to capture the surrounding suburbs and more conservative rural areas of the state. That's why he doesn't care about what he says regarding the car industry. He's not playing for Detroit or auto workers. He's playing for those who hate the president and anything the president does. He's gunning for those low-information, "vote against their best interest" voters.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. I wonder if the workers whose jobs were saved

even care whether or not they were saved by "crony capitalism, Obama-style"?

[cliffordu]

13. That man is a fucking idiot.

I'd stake my reputation on it.

[JoePhilly]

14. The free market was in free fall in the spring of 2009, numbnuts.

[sarcasmo]

15. No way does this dummy win Michigan.