It’s grimly amusing to watch Hope ‘n Change rail against the ‘speculators’ who’ve hurt Chrysler and now must be punished. From today’s ‘Review and Outlook’ at the Wall Street Journal:
Remember how President Obama blamed Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing last month on “a small group of speculators” who turned down Treasury’s $2 billion final offer for their $6.9 billion in debt? Well, it turns out that hedge funds and other short sellers weren’t the only secured creditors who got a raw deal from Uncle Sam.
Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock revealed this week that his state’s police and teacher pension funds have lost millions of dollars in the Chrysler “restructuring.” Indiana’s State Police Fund and Major Moves Construction Fund, which finances roads and bridges, together lost more than $1 million. And the Teacher’s Retirement Fund “suffered, at a minimum, a loss of $4.6 million due to the action of the Federal government,” reports Mr. Mourdock.
Far from being speculators, these funds represent retired public employees, including cops and teachers. The funds paid a premium to buy “secured” status, only to discover that they were politically outranked by the United Auto Workers in the White House hierarchy.
As noted, ‘secured’ used to mean just that: first in line, period. Not any more, however. You get what Hope ‘n Change or his little pischer Rattner say you’re going to get.
Damn, I was hoping at least one of the ‘secureds’ would be willing to face down Hope ‘n Change in the bankruptcy court and drag him off into the weeds where there’s no plug for his teleprompter.
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