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May 6, 2009
Obama's Illegal Chrysler Plan
Topics: Political News and commentariesAlthough Barack Obama ran on a promise to respect the constitutional role of the legislature, he applauded the Bush administration's unauthorized loans to Chrysler and General Motors. And since taking office he has not sought congressional approval for a bailout that is still operating outside the law - proving that he is no more committed to the rule of law in this area than his predecessor
In his piece at Reason, Jacob Sullum addresses the Chrysler deal and the extent of its confirmation of President Obama's disregard for the law:
The last time the federal government bailed out Chrysler, the Carter administration reached a deal with the carmaker in August 1979, but Congress did not approve the legislation implementing it until December. This time around, the Bush administration dispensed with the legal niceties, loaning billions of taxpayer dollars to Chrysler (and General Motors) without statutory authority.Read it all.Although he ran on a promise to respect the legislative branch's constitutional role, Barack Obama applauded the Bush administration's illegal loans, and since taking office he has not sought congressional approval for a bailout that is still operating outside the law. President Obama's high-handed engineering of the pending merger between Chrysler and Fiat, a deal that flouts well-established bankruptcy principles, confirms he is no more committed to the rule of law in this area than his predecessor.
The Obama administration continues to subsidize Chrysler and G.M. (and even the companies that sell them parts) with money that Congress allocated to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). As the name suggests, the Treasury Department was supposed to use that money to buy troubled assets from financial institutions, the aim being "to restore liquidity and stability to the financial system." There is not a word in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the law that created TARP, about automobile manufacturers.
Related: Chrysler Won't Be Repaying Their Bailout Money
Posted by Hyscience at May 6, 2009 7:36 AM
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