Obama Blames Chrysler Bankruptcy On Investors

by William Teach | May 1, 2009 8:35 am

Is there anyone Obama won’t blame? Is there any segment of the private population that he won’t assault? Well, we know he won’t blame himself. In this case, even the NY Times business section is call B.S.: The Lenders Obama Decided to Blame[1]

Peter A. Weinberg and Joseph R. Perella are part of a band of Wall Street renegades — “a small group of speculators,” President Obama called them Thursday — who helped bankrupt Chrysler.

That, anyway, is the Washington line.

In fact, Mr. Weinberg and Mr. Perella, with sparkling Wall Street pedigrees, are the epitome of white-shoe investment bankers. And their boutique investment bank, a latecomer to Chrysler, played only a small role in the slow-motion wreck of the Detroit carmaker.

But now the two men, along with a handful of other financiers, are being blamed for precipitating the bankruptcy of an American icon. As Chrysler’s fate hung in the balance Wednesday night, this group refused to bend to the Obama administration and accept steep losses on their investments while more junior investors, including the United Automobile Workers union, were offered favorable terms.

In a rare flash of anger, the president scolded the group Thursday as Chrysler, its options exhausted, filed for bankruptcy protection. “I don’t stand with those who held out when everyone else is making sacrifices,” Mr. Obama said.

Sure sounds like one of those Joe The Plumbers socialist moments, eh? Definitely read the rest of the article, which basically says the president is wrong and should give it a rest.

And maybe Obama should consider what a cheapskate he was recently, when others were making sacrifices. He stiffed his daughters school[2]. He spent over $329K on his Presidential plane photo-op, during which, I believe, lots of people in NJ and NYC sacrificed something to their shorts, as well as his quick plane trip to Missouri for his 100 day photo-op, while telling people to sacrifice themselves. He kept the White House temps way up, while telling people to sacrifice. He partied hard in the White House during the early part of his time as president, on the taxpayer dime, while asking people to sacrifice. But, hey, he is going to ask people to sacrifice something else, too[3]

Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.

The government is going to want some of that money back.

The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month.

But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that will have to be repaid at tax time.

Woops! Basically, the tax table changes were not well thought out. Kinda like the bill itself. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for Obama’s promised “tax cut” for 95% of taxpayers making under $250K. Lot’s of people who voted for Obambi have blue faces about now.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[4]