All That Is Necessary

Tag: Auto Industry

  • The Biggest Loser This Week Isn’t Obama — It’s the Health Insurance Industry

    Obamacare has been called a giveaway to the health insurers, but I don’t think the industry is particularly grateful this week.

  • Revisiting Cash for Clunkers

    The Wall Street Journal has just labeled the Cash for Clunkers program "one of Washington’s all-time dumb ideas." (Hyperbole, of course — no program costing a "mere" $3 billion could possibly qualify for the all-time dumb list.)

  • Kudlow Supports A.T.I.N. on Clunkers

    For days after conveying the coveted All That Is Necessary Seal of Approval on the Cash for Clunkers program, I’ve watched a parade of conservative commentators weigh in against it.  Some of the critics were straining too hard to find a way to bash a Democratic initiative, but there were enough substantive concerns that I […]

  • “Porkulus” Was a Travesty, but “Cash for Clunkers” is Kosher

    I wasn’t aware of the “Cash for Clunkers” program until today, when they started talking about ending it prematurely because it was running out of money.  I’m not in a position to take advantage of the program  personally, but I’m glad that it looks like Congress will add more money to it.  I think the […]

  • Wanna Buy GM Stock? Better Hurry, the Price is Rising!

    As you may have heard, General Motors, once the world’s largest company by market capitalization,  is bankrupt. You and I, along with 300 million of our closest friends, are going to end up owning about 70% of a much-smaller General Motors.  Congratulations. In this morning’s Washington Post, George Will has a good column worrying about […]

  • Obama’s Intimidation Trumps Fiduciary Duty

    The group of secured lenders who were holding out for fair treatment in the Chrysler bankruptcy has disbanded, after two more defections in the face of pressure from the Arm-Twister in Chief. “After a great deal of soul-searching and quite frankly agony, Chrysler’s non-TARP lenders concluded they just don’t have the critical mass to withstand […]

  • When Obama Says “Hedge Fund,” Think “Widows and Orphans”

    At least one of Chrysler’s “secured” lenders is vowing to stand fast against President Obama’s efforts to bully the lenders into abdicating their fiduciary responsibility. NEW YORK (Reuters) – Plans for a quick sale of Chrysler to a new company majority-owned by a union-aligned trust is “patently illegal” and will be fought in bankruptcy court, […]

  • Why Would Anyone Invest In Chrysler Now?

    President Obama’s ham-handed ultimatum to Chrysler’s “secured” creditors promises to have adverse consequences beyond just rewarding the UAW for helping to drive the company into the ground.   At Real Clear Markets, Bill Frezza asks some excellent questions: Why would anyone lend money to heavily unionized companies knowing that if things went wrong, the president and […]

  • Chrysler’s New Majority Owner Will Be The UAW. Yeah, That’ll Work.

    I’ve been arguing for months that the government should not throw more bailout money at GM and Chrysler, but rather let them work out their problems in bankruptcy court.  Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection would give the companies more leverage to modify gold-plated benefits and ruinous work rules that add approximately $2,000 in costs […]

  • Obama’s Not-So-Invisible Hand

    Now that the Automaker-in-Chief has fired the CEO of General Motors and instructed Chrysler to sell itself to Fiat by the end of April,  he’s turning his attention to a variety of other essential American industries, from blue jeans (“Levis yes; Wrangler no”) to toothpaste to ballpoint pens.  President Obama also graciously acknowledged the important […]