Thursday, April 30, 2009

Obama Demagogues Chrysler Bankruptcy

The Dear Leader today just could not resist blaming bogeymen for the Chrysler bankruptcy:

In particular, a group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for an unjustified taxpayer bailout. They were hoping that everyone else would have to make sacrifices and they would have to make none.

I’m assuming Obama was referring to bond holders who did not appreciate taking pennies on the dollar while the unions who helped bring the American auto industry to its knees get much more. Blaming bondholders is absurd. They are probably the ones least responsible for Chrysler’s troubles. And normally in bankruptcies, bondholders get first dibs on the surviving company, as it should be.

But even if there is some distant element of truth to what Obama said, why couldn’t he just shut up and keep his own council instead of poisoning the atmosphere for both politics and the economy with his demagoguery? The stock market spilled 150 points almost straight down after his bout of childish finger pointing. More importantly, many companies need bondholders and their forbearance. But who will buy and hold bonds if they think Obama is out to stick it to them?

Perhaps more to the point, like others of a totalitarian bent, if Obama cannot find real villains to blame, he’ll invent them.

In any case, Obama, do the economy and financial markets a favor – SHUT UP, ALREADY!

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