fiat

On May 9, 1:23*pm, wrote:
> On May 8, 6:15*pm, wrote:
>
>
>
> > On May 7, 8:01*pm, "John C." > wrote:
>
> > > > wrote in message
>
> > ....
>
> > > * *GM's "new plan" for the $40 billion it owes to its creditors is to
> > > trade them shares of stock for their I.O.U.'s. *Adding the necessary
> > > shares to the ones already in circulation -- currently trading at
> > > $1.59 -- would dilute the value of all shares to $0.02. *That's not a
> > > whole lot more than $0.00. *(Picture this: *you're walking along and
> > > you see a penny and a share of GM stock lying side-by-side on the
> > > sidewalk. *Which one would you stoop to pick up? *("Neither" is an
> > > acceptable answer.))
>
> > > What year is the penny? *
>
> > > --
> > > John C
> > > '03 Cobra convt.
> > > '00 Cobra R
>
> > Let's say it's from the last year they were made of copper, which
> > would make two of them worth more than a post-bailout share of GM
> > shock.
>
> > More fun and games came out today, in a 10-page report from GM to
> > members of Congress regarding GM's plans for overseas production. *I
> > had thought, after I posted my calculation that an $18,000,000,000
> > bailout to save 73,454 jobs GM works out to $245,000 per job, that
> > this number was understated for the reason that the 73,454 jobs
> > doesn't take into account the closing of Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, and
> > GMC. (It doesn't take into account workforce shrinkage since September
> > 2007, either, which is when the 73,454 number was operative.)
>
> > Today GM admits to another plan to shrink its U.S. assembly line
> > workforce: *that its current rescue plan includes doubling the
> > proportion of cars for the domestic market that it builds offshore.
>
> > The correct government response to this plan is, that if that is what
> > it takes to keep the doors open, then that's what it takes. *El Hefe's
> > response will be, of course, another round of threatened facial
> > rearrangements and skeletal fractures, and an additional influx of
> > misappropriated TARP money sufficient to make up for the lost savings
> > from shipping the jobs overseas.
>
> > Here are some quotes from the Washington Post:
>
> > "Most of that growth [from 2010 to 2014] -- about two-thirds of it --
> > will occur in the United States. But about one-third of that growth
> > will come from other countries, mostly Mexico and South Korea."
>
> > "Labor costs in those countries are far lower. While paying a U.S.
> > autoworker with benefits costs about $54 an hour, a South Korean
> > worker earns about $22 an hour, a Mexican worker earns less than $10
> > an hour and some Chinese workers can earn as little as $3 an hour,
> > industry sources said."
>
> > "According to the figures shared with lawmakers, the percentage of
> > GM's U.S. sales of cars built in the United States dips from 67
> > percent in 2009 to 61 percent in 2012."
>
> > Source: *http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...09/05/07/AR200...
>
> > 180 Out
>
> On the same day as Venezualan strongman Hugo Chavez instituted a new
> program to confiscate the oil wells and drilling equipment of foreign
> oil contractors, rather than pay them the hundreds of millions they're
> owed for their capital and services, our own El Hefe has shredded the
> rule of law and has cleared the way for union ownership of what's left
> of Chrysler.
>
> At the beginning of the week, a coalition of secured creditors who
> held $1 billion of Chrysler's $6.9 billion total secured debt was
> rejecting the 29 cents on the dollar with which El Hefe intends to
> waterboard them. *The group rightly asserted the priority of their
> claims, as secured creditors, over the unsecured claims of the UAW
> pension plan. *El Hefe disagreed, called them "speculators" with whom
> he "does not stand," and threatened, through his Car Czar, to sic the
> national news media on the holdout creditors if they didn't go along
> with El Hefe's plan to give the UAW 50 cents on the dollar, while
> they'll take 29 cents and like it.
>
> In the face of El Hefe's threats, one member of this group -- which
> called itself the Non-TARP Lenders, to distinguish its members from
> the rest of the secured creditors, whose cooperation El Hefe has
> bought with billions in TARP money -- caved in immediately. Further
> defections followed. *According to today's New York Times, by
> Wednesday the holdings represented by the Non-TARP group had shrunk
> from $1 billion to $295 million. Yesterday, the two most high dollar
> remaining holdouts peeled off, and those left decided simply to
> disband as a united front. *According to the group's attorney, his
> clients came to this decision in recognition of the fact that "they
> just don't have the critical mass to withstand the enormous pressure
> and machinery of the U.S. government."
>
> I hope the small group of remaining Non-TARP Lenders continues to hold
> out for the rule of law, if only to prove that it still exists in this
> Year Zero H.C. (Hopey Changey) we now live in. But they probably will
> crumble too, when El Hefe's men come around to measure them for cement
> footwear.
>
> In other news, I see that the Environmental Protection Agency has
> moved formally to keep in effect the Bush Administration's finding,
> that the listing of the polar bear as an endangered species is not a
> sufficient ground for comprehensive greenhouse gas regulation. *Of
> course the NYT buries this story on page 16. *At least the news that
> El Hefe intends to release Guantanamo detainees into U.S. civilian
> society -- and with job training and welfare checks to boot -- is
> slowly working its way to mainstream media's Page One.
>
> In the same vein as the polar bear story, the Department of Energy's
> budget for 2010, rolled out on Thursday, has quietly ended federal
> funding of research on the use of hydrogen fuel cells in motor
> vehicles. *Again, the NYT buries the story. If it had been this time
> last year, I guarantee we would have seen front page headlines, "Bush
> DOE Cancels Last Best Hope to Save Mankind."
>
> But that's just my nostalgia for 2008 A.D. talking: a waste of energy
> for we the living here in the year Zero H.C.
>
> 180 Out

In case anyone continues to doubt the contempt El Hefe harbors toward
the lawful claims of capital or the law of secured lending and
bankruptcy, here's an excerpt from a New York Times "live blog" of a
conference call with GM CEO Fritz Henderson:

10:00 a.m. | Treasury Dictated Terms for Bondholders: Mr. Henderson
said the Treasury told G.M. to offer its bondholders up to a 10
percent stake in the company in return for the $27 billion in debt
that they hold but did not give a reason why. Bondholders have said
the stake is too small compared to what others are receiving. The
current plan calls for 89 percent of a restructured G.M. to be held by
the Treasury and the U.A.W.

“They didn’t support us going above 10 percent,” Mr. Henderson said.
“We went to the maximum that they permitted us.”

Hugo Chavez -- or even Fidel Castro -- could not have better expressed
their disregard for the law, in favor of their political cronies. I
expect our own El Hefe to cut a sharper figure than either of those
guys, when he starts appearing in public in his pseudo-military
uniform with all the braid and medals.

No, wait, El Hefe's got another deal going with the union at Hart
Shaffer Marx, his favorite suit maker located back home in Illinois.
After he's finished strong-arming a TARP-dependent Wells Fargo into
waiving its secured rights and turning ownership of that private
business over to the union, El Hefe will surely feel obliged to
continue wearing the Hartmarx products. I just hope THOSE jobs don't
end up costing us $250,000 apiece.

180 Out

On May 12, 9:03*am, wrote:
> On May 9, 1:23*pm, wrote:
>
>
>
> > On May 8, 6:15*pm, wrote:
>
> > > On May 7, 8:01*pm, "John C." > wrote:
>
> > > > > wrote in message
>
> > > ...
>
> > > > * *GM's "new plan" for the $40 billion it owes to its creditors is to
> > > > trade them shares of stock for their I.O.U.'s. *Adding the necessary
> > > > shares to the ones already in circulation -- currently trading at
> > > > $1.59 -- would dilute the value of all shares to $0.02. *That's not a
> > > > whole lot more than $0.00. *(Picture this: *you're walking along and
> > > > you see a penny and a share of GM stock lying side-by-side on the
> > > > sidewalk. *Which one would you stoop to pick up? *("Neither" is an
> > > > acceptable answer.))
>
> > > > What year is the penny? *
>
> > > > --
> > > > John C
> > > > '03 Cobra convt.
> > > > '00 Cobra R
>
> > > Let's say it's from the last year they were made of copper, which
> > > would make two of them worth more than a post-bailout share of GM
> > > shock.
>
> > > More fun and games came out today, in a 10-page report from GM to
> > > members of Congress regarding GM's plans for overseas production. *I
> > > had thought, after I posted my calculation that an $18,000,000,000
> > > bailout to save 73,454 jobs GM works out to $245,000 per job, that
> > > this number was understated for the reason that the 73,454 jobs
> > > doesn't take into account the closing of Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, and
> > > GMC. (It doesn't take into account workforce shrinkage since September
> > > 2007, either, which is when the 73,454 number was operative.)
>
> > > Today GM admits to another plan to shrink its U.S. assembly line
> > > workforce: *that its current rescue plan includes doubling the
> > > proportion of cars for the domestic market that it builds offshore.
>
> > > The correct government response to this plan is, that if that is what
> > > it takes to keep the doors open, then that's what it takes. *El Hefe's
> > > response will be, of course, another round of threatened facial
> > > rearrangements and skeletal fractures, and an additional influx of
> > > misappropriated TARP money sufficient to make up for the lost savings
> > > from shipping the jobs overseas.
>
> > > Here are some quotes from the Washington Post:
>
> > > "Most of that growth [from 2010 to 2014] -- about two-thirds of it --
> > > will occur in the United States. But about one-third of that growth
> > > will come from other countries, mostly Mexico and South Korea."
>
> > > "Labor costs in those countries are far lower. While paying a U.S.
> > > autoworker with benefits costs about $54 an hour, a South Korean
> > > worker earns about $22 an hour, a Mexican worker earns less than $10
> > > an hour and some Chinese workers can earn as little as $3 an hour,
> > > industry sources said."
>
> > > "According to the figures shared with lawmakers, the percentage of
> > > GM's U.S. sales of cars built in the United States dips from 67
> > > percent in 2009 to 61 percent in 2012."
>
> > > Source: *http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...09/05/07/AR200...
>
> > > 180 Out
>
> > On the same day as Venezualan strongman Hugo Chavez instituted a new
> > program to confiscate the oil wells and drilling equipment of foreign
> > oil contractors, rather than pay them the hundreds of millions they're
> > owed for their capital and services, our own El Hefe has shredded the
> > rule of law and has cleared the way for union ownership of what's left
> > of Chrysler.
>
> > At the beginning of the week, a coalition of secured creditors who
> > held $1 billion of Chrysler's $6.9 billion total secured debt was
> > rejecting the 29 cents on the dollar with which El Hefe intends to
> > waterboard them. *The group rightly asserted the priority of their
> > claims, as secured creditors, over the unsecured claims of the UAW
> > pension plan. *El Hefe disagreed, called them "speculators" with whom
> > he "does not stand," and threatened, through his Car Czar, to sic the
> > national news media on the holdout creditors if they didn't go along
> > with El Hefe's plan to give the UAW 50 cents on the dollar, while
> > they'll take 29 cents and like it.
>
> > In the face of El Hefe's threats, one member of this group -- which
> > called itself the Non-TARP Lenders, to distinguish its members from
> > the rest of the secured creditors, whose cooperation El Hefe has
> > bought with billions in TARP money -- caved in immediately. Further
> > defections followed. *According to today's New York Times, by
> > Wednesday the holdings represented by the Non-TARP group had shrunk
> > from $1 billion to $295 million. Yesterday, the two most high dollar
> > remaining holdouts peeled off, and those left decided simply to
> > disband as a united front. *According to the group's attorney, his
> > clients came to this decision in recognition of the fact that "they
> > just don't have the critical mass to withstand the enormous pressure
> > and machinery of the U.S. government."
>
> > I hope the small group of remaining Non-TARP Lenders continues to hold
> > out for the rule of law, if only to prove that it still exists in this
> > Year Zero H.C. (Hopey Changey) we now live in. But they probably will
> > crumble too, when El Hefe's men come around to measure them for cement
> > footwear.
>
> > In other news, I see that the Environmental Protection Agency has
> > moved formally to keep in effect the Bush Administration's finding,
> > that the listing of the polar bear as an endangered species is not a
> > sufficient ground for comprehensive greenhouse gas regulation. *Of
> > course the NYT buries this story on page 16. *At least the news that
> > El Hefe intends to release Guantanamo detainees into U.S. civilian
> > society -- and with job training and welfare checks to boot -- is
> > slowly working its way to mainstream media's Page One.
>
> > In the same vein as the polar bear story, the Department of Energy's
> > budget for 2010, rolled out on Thursday, has quietly ended federal
> > funding of research on the use of hydrogen fuel cells in motor
> > vehicles. *Again, the NYT buries the story. If it had been this time
> > last year, I guarantee we would have seen front page headlines, "Bush
> > DOE Cancels Last Best Hope to Save Mankind."
>
> > But that's just my nostalgia for 2008 A.D. talking: a waste of energy
> > for we the living here in the year Zero H.C.
>
> > 180 Out
>
> In case anyone continues to doubt the contempt El Hefe harbors toward
> the lawful claims of capital or the law of secured lending and
> bankruptcy, here's an excerpt from a New York Times "live blog" of a
> conference call with GM CEO Fritz Henderson:
>
> 10:00 a.m. | Treasury Dictated Terms for Bondholders: Mr. Henderson
> said the Treasury told G.M. to offer its bondholders up to a 10
> percent stake in the company in return for the $27 billion in debt
> that they hold but did not give a reason why. Bondholders have said
> the stake is too small compared to what others are receiving. The
> current plan calls for 89 percent of a restructured G.M. to be held by
> the Treasury and the U.A.W.
>
> “They didn’t support us going above 10 percent,” Mr. Henderson said..
> “We went to the maximum that they permitted us.”
>
> Hugo Chavez -- or even Fidel Castro -- could not have better expressed
> their disregard for the law, in favor of their political cronies. *I
> expect our own El Hefe to cut a sharper figure than either of those
> guys, when he starts appearing in public in his pseudo-military
> uniform with all the braid and medals.
>
> No, wait, El Hefe's got another deal going with the union at Hart
> Shaffer Marx, his favorite suit maker located back home in Illinois.
> After he's finished strong-arming a TARP-dependent Wells Fargo into
> waiving its secured rights and turning ownership of that private
> business over to the union, El Hefe will surely feel obliged to
> continue wearing the Hartmarx products. *I just hope THOSE jobs don't
> end up costing us $250,000 apiece.
>
> 180 Out

Don't believe me? Here's an article posted today to the web site of
National Review magazine (William F. Buckley's rag):

Don Obama's Message to GM Lenders [Henry Payne]
The Obama administration’s brass-knuckled coercion of bondholders to
surrender their first-lien bankruptcy rights so that a politically
favored UAW could take a majority stake in Chrysler amounts to a
forced taking of assets. And it is important to note these mob tactics
were carried out not by rogue underlings but with the public
endorsement of the President of the United States himself.

It was President Obams (as I noted here last week) who personally
stepped in front of television cameras on April 30 to smear Chrysler
investment funds as “speculators.”

"I don't stand with them. I stand with Chrysler's management and
employees," Obama declared.

Obama’s high profile got the intended result of cowing bondholders
into submission. After all, the president is the don of Washington
politics — and one with the IRS and the SEC at his disposal.

But Obama was sending a message to GM investors as well. Chrysler’s
Chapter 11 filing was just a warm-up act. GM’s bondholders control $27
billion in company debt, dwarfing the $20 billion owed the UAW’s
health care (so-called VEBA) fund, or the $16 billion loans by the
U.S. government.

Yet, the administration — through its ventriloquist dummy, GM — has
told these investors they’ll get just 10 percent of the company while
the UAW gets 39 percent and Washington 50 percent. Sound familiar?

But GM’s “speculators’ are different than Chrysler’s easily demonized
Wall Street “hedge funds.” They are names like Fidelity Management,
Franklin Advisers Inc., and Pacific Investment, which manage the 401ks
of millions of Main Street Americans. They are also the Polish
Beneficial Association, the Knights of Columbus, and the Grand Lodge
Sons of Hermann in Texas. Speculators?

The White House offer “must look to bondholders like something Tony
Soprano dreamed up,” financial analyst Shelly Lombard has written.
Sound familiar?

How far are these firms willing to go to secure a fair deal for their
investors? They must even now be calculating the political costs after
watching Don Obama himself mixing the concrete galoshes when
Chrysler’s lenders werre pushed off the end of the pier.