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Obama Exposure

May 7, 2009 at 12:01 am

Michael Barone: “Gangster Government”

» by ODS Expositor in: -Economic Policies, -Partisanship, Obama Policies

Found this at Powerline. –“Gangster Government” is Michael Barone’s term for the way President Obama has trampled on the property rights of Chrysler bondholders to reward his partisan friends:

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. …

Obama’s attitude toward the rule of law is apparent in the words he used to describe what he is looking for in a nominee to replace Justice David Souter. He wants "someone who understands justice is not just about some abstract legal theory," he said, but someone who has "empathy." In other words, judges should decide cases so that the right people win, not according to the rule of law.

The Chrysler negotiations will not be the last occasion for this administration to engage in bailout favoritism and crony capitalism. There’s a May 31 deadline to come up with a settlement for General Motors. And there will be others. In the meantime, who is going to buy bonds from unionized companies if the government is going to take their money away and give it to the union? We have just seen an episode of Gangster Government. It is likely to be part of a continuing series.

ODS Expositor: Strong but accurate. We blogged on this same issue yesterday and noted that the business community was actually becoming afraid of their own government—with good reason!