Rule of Law - Tales of the Undead

Judge Orders Auction in a Rebuke to Delphi Plan - WSJ.com: "A U.S. bankruptcy court Wednesday sided with a group of Delphi Corp. lenders who said a government-led plan to sell the auto-parts maker's operations to a private-equity fund trampled on their rights.

Judge Robert Drain ordered Delphi to hold an auction and allow bids to challenge the government-brokered sale to Platinum Equity. 'What's so special about Platinum?' asked Judge Drain. 'They're just guys in suits. Why can't the other guys in suits just pay more?'"

Bob Drain for Chief Justice! Common sense and respect for the rule of law - he could never be confirmed.

Another Big Step Down the Road To Banana Republic Status

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Judicial Error: "'There was a time when we would have called this a scandal,' wrote former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in an e-mail. He points out the UAW contributed $4 million dollars to Obama's campaign in 2008, and $24 million to Democratic candidates since 2000.

He's right. This is little more than a socialist wealth redistribution scheme that rewards political cronies at the expense of others.

More than robbing the rich to give to the poor, it takes from the politically unconnected to give to the politically connected.

Contrary to stereotype, most bondholders aren't millionaires like Thurston Howell III, clipping coupons and living the high life. No, they're cops and teachers with pensions in places like Indiana who must now subsidize autoworkers from their own pockets."

Welcome to the ObamaNation and crony capitalism.

Rule of Law Staging a Comeback?

High Court Stymies Quick Sale of Chrysler - WSJ.com:

The U.S. Supreme Court threw the sale of Chrysler LLC to Fiat SpA into uncertainty while it decides whether to hear an appeal of the deal.

..."The U.S.-brokered sale of Chrysler, by forcing senior secured lenders to write down their loans to the auto maker, broke with longstanding tradition concerning rights in a bankruptcy: Senior secured lenders usually are paid in full before lower-priority creditors receive anything. This time, a United Auto Workers retiree health-care trust got a 55% equity stake and $4.5 billion note for its about $10.5 billion unsecured claim while Fiat stands to get an initial 20% stake."

I am probably too giddy to think clearly, but I don't see how a review by the Supreme Court could allow this pernicious deal to stand. And if they ruled on the legality of using TARP funds for an auto bailout, that would be too wonderful to imagine.