Chyrsler's BK Actions May Be Illegal

Dealergate 5: Chrysler’s Dealer Council Speaks
Citizen, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Since our update yesterday, it has come to light that the dealerships that dodged (sorry, couldn’t resist) Chrysler’s silver bullet have circled their wagons minivans and are doing their fair share of PR work for the government-controlled reorganization of what was once the country’s third largest automaker.
An alert FReeper noticed this ad in a newspaper and posted, “My BS meter pinged immediately.” The ad was in the form of a letter signed by:
“Chrysler National Dealer Council - 17 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers elected by the dealer organization to represent all dealers’ interests.”
In the letter/ad, the Council states:
“…strong support for the agreement Chrysler LLC has reached to establish a global strategic alliance with Fiat to create a vibrant, new car company, and our gratitude for the strong support of the U.S and Canadian governments.”
What the ad doesn’t mention is that the two governments are doing more than giving support for the “vibrant” new car company. The U.S. and Canada are now owners of that company, along with the two car companies mentioned. The ad also rather conveniently fails to mention that a fifth partner — the United Auto Workers union — will be the majority owner of the new Chrysler with its whopping 55% share.
Not owning any part of Chrysler are its former creditors. Doug Ross, who launched the Dealergate investigation, has a new post up inviting his readers to decide for themselves if Mark Levin was correct when he said that the Obama administration is “as close to a dictatorship this country has ever seen.” Doug quotes Andrew Grossman’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that:
“The Obama Administration is abusing bankruptcy law to benefit a favored constituency, the United Auto Workers union. This threatens serious consequences…”
Among them:
“Selling Chrysler to a shell corporation for the purpose of divesting lenders of their rights is a stunning abuse of U.S. bankruptcy laws that threatens to upend this important resource for troubled companies.”
The council also sheds a few brief tears in the letter/ad for their former brethren who wound up on the wrong list of dealers:
“We regret any hardship our long-time Chrysler Dealer colleagues and friends face as we go through this process. While this is a painful and difficult step, Chrysler and its dealer body will assist with the redistribution of products from the dealers not moving forward with the new Company.”
There’s that “redistribution” word again. Didn’t we hear the president talk about redistribution during the campaign last year? In this case, “redistribution” means about the same thing Obama meant when he used the word in regard to what he intended to do with the American taxpayers’ money. Wealth is taken from one group and given to another, not necessarily with compensation, be it just or otherwise.
A fellow FReeper went to work checking the names of the 17 members of the Dealer Council against a political donor database. His finding was succinctly summarized by Gateway Pundit:
“7 gave to Dem candidates — 3 gave to GOP candidates including Ron Paul.”
All 17, of course, own “safe” dealerships, meaning theirs are not among the list of 789 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep agents who are being forced to give up their franchises. Which brings up a point. If, as the Obama apologists claim, that most car dealers are Republicans, why does the Chrysler Dealer Council have more than twice as many dealers on it who donated to Democrats than those who gave to GOP candidates? Let them chew on that one for a while. I’m sure they will come up with something.
The letter/ad is also posted on the Dealer Council’s web page, which, not surprisingly, is just a page on the larger website of Chrysler LLC. In other words, the Chrysler Dealer council appears not to be an independent dealer organization, but just the tail that Chrysler wags. Or is Chrysler the tail and its Dealer Council just the tip of that appendage? Do they wag as one for the big dog that is the Obama administration?