Law? Hah! I AM the Law!

I'm from the Government, and I'm here for your money.

From the Washington Post comes this lovely little gem:

...the Obama administration, judging by its cavalier disregard of contracts between Chrysler and some of the lenders it sought money from, thinks contracts are written on water. The administration proposes that Chrysler's secured creditors get 28 cents per dollar on the $7 billion owed to them but that the United Auto Workers union get 43 cents per dollar on its $11 billion in claims -- and 55 percent of the company. This, even though the secured creditors' contracts supposedly guaranteed them better standing than the union.

Among Chrysler's lenders, some servile banks that are now dependent on the administration for capital infusions tugged their forelocks and agreed. Some hedge funds among Chrysler's lenders that are not dependent were vilified by the president because they dared to resist his demand that they violate their fiduciary duties to their investors, who include individuals and institutional pension funds.

The Economist says the administration has "ridden roughshod over [creditors'] legitimate claims over the [automobile companies'] assets. . . . Bankruptcies involve dividing a shrunken pie. But not all claims are equal: some lenders provide cheaper funds to firms in return for a more secure claim over the assets should things go wrong. They rank above other stakeholders, including shareholders and employees. This principle is now being trashed." Tom Lauria, a lawyer representing hedge fund people trashed by the president as the cause of Chrysler's bankruptcy, asked that his clients' names not be published for fear of violence threatened in e-mails to them.

emphasis mine

The rule of law is what this Declining Nation is supposed to operate on. No one is above the law, and the law is to be modified only in certain ways. Bankruptcy law clearly defines the precedence of each class of debtor. Some debtors are to be paid in full before any other debts are serviced. Look again at the emphasized text above. Our criminals in the Federal Government have decided that they are entirely above the law, and are able to wave a magic wand and nullify contractual obligations for no better reason than they want to make sure THEIR CONSTITUENCY profits - at the expense of EVERYONE else.

These brigands, thinly disguised as Agents and Administrators of the Federal Government, are denying investors and pension funds the money they were guaranteed by contract and law - money those funds and investors need to live their lives, retire, feed their children, pay their mortgage, etc. They are ensuring that the very people who had a direct hand in the failure of GM and Chrysler, the UAW, receives as much money as possible, despite the fact that it is not their money to give out.

To complicate matters, Judicial Watch successfully sued to get the notes from the meetings in which banks were allegedly forced to take TARP money, including:

• "CEO Talking Points" used by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson confirming that the nine bank CEOs present at the October 13 meeting had no choice but to accede to the government's demands for equity stakes and the resulting government control. The talking points emphasize that "if a capital infusion is not appealing, you should be aware your regulator will require it in any circumstance." Suggested edits of the "talking points" by Tim Geithner, then-New York Fed President, were withheld by the Obama Treasury Department.
  
• "Major Financial Institution Participation Commitments" signed by the nine bankers on October 13. The CEOs not only hand wrote their institution's names but also hand wrote multi-billion dollar amounts of "preferred shares" to be issued to the government.
  
• Email documenting that, on the very day of the meeting, the Chief of Staff to the Treasury Secretary and other top Treasury staff did not know the names of any of the banks that would be in attendance.
  
• Email showing Treasury officials wanted to use the Secret Service to help keep the press away from the CEOs arriving at the meeting.
  
• Email showing a public relations effort, run in part out of the Bush White House, to tamp down public concerns about "nationalizing the banks."
  
• Email showing that Paulson was able to brief Barack Obama about the bankers meeting almost immediately, but could not reach Senator John McCain.

You can actually see the PDFs they received (with Geithner's notes redacted of course - probably because they're incriminating as hell).

Our Government has gone clean off the hinges here. They've completely lost their senses and the only outcome they'll countenance is the total subjugation of the country to their whims and will. And in my opinion, far too many people want them to do it.

The looters and moochers have finally taken over. In my opinion, it will take the secession of one or more states to provide any form of relief for those that still love Liberty, short of a full on Civil War.