WHen bondholders don't want to play in the sandbox

While hearing Pres. Obama's speech announcing the Chrysler Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it was easy to see he was a little peeved. I had read of some events leading up to the reason for his being peeved. And there is a little more to what went on behind the scenes:

Behind the Chrysler bankruptcy http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Behind-the-Chrysler-bankruptcy-44069827.html
Chrysler is going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, despite the Obama administration’s efforts to keep it out. The problem was that a group of small bondholders, who are are secured creditors, rejected the deal. The small bondholders were willing to settle for only 60% of what they were owed. But, they complain, the government wouldn’t negotiate directly with them, but only through JPMorganChase, which (unwillingly) took TARP money on October 13 and thus is under pressure to do what the government wants. The group of senior Chrylser's lenders viewed JPMorganChase as having a conflict of interest.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Senior Chrysler Creditors Revolt http://www.businessinsider.com/senior-chrysler-creditors-revolt-2009-4
Lenders made up of firms that didn't take TARP funds have issued a statement saying that they have been shut out of direct contact with the government during the negotiations.The group of senior Chrylser's lenders viewed JPMorganChase as having a conflict of interest.
Here's the statement:
As of last night’s deadline, we were part of a group of approximately 20 relatively small organizations; we represent many of the country’s teachers unions, major pension and retirement plans and school endowments who have invested through us in senior secured loans to Chrysler. Combined, these loans total about $1 billion. None of us have taken a dime in TARP money.
As much as anyone, we want to see Chrysler emerge from its current situation as a viable American company, and we are committed to doing what we can to help. Indeed, we have made significant concessions toward this end – although we have been systematically precluded from engaging in direct discussions or negotiations with the government; instead, we have been forced to communicate through an obviously conflicted intermediary: a group of banks that have received billions of TARP funds.
What created this much-publicized impasse? Under long recognized legal and business principles, junior creditors are ordinarily not entitled to anything until senior secured creditors like our investors are repaid in full. Nevertheless, to facilitate Chrysler’s rehabilitation, we offered to take a 40% haircut even though some groups lower down in the legal priority chain in Chrysler debt were being given recoveries of up to 50% or more and being allowed to take out billions of dollars. In contrast, over at General Motors, senior secured lenders are being left unimpaired with 100% recoveries, while even GM’s unsecured bondholders are receiving a far better recovery than we are as Chrysler's first lien secured lenders.
Our offer has been flatly rejected or ignored. The fact is, in this process and in its earnest effort to ensure the survival of Chrysler and the well being of the company’s employees, the government has risked overturning the rule of law and practices that have governed our world-leading bankruptcy code for decades.
We have a fiduciary responsibility to all those teachers, pensioners, retirees and others who have entrusted their money to us. We are legally bound to protect their interests. Much as we empathize with Chrysler’s other stakeholders, the capital is just not ours to contribute to their cause by accepting a deal that is outside the well established legal framework and cannot be rationalized as being commercially reasonable.
We are continuing to discuss our position with the United States Treasury. We have made a proposal which we earnestly believe is fair and would appropriately recognize our legal position.
As President Obama implied yesterday, it is likely that Chrysler will have to file Chapter 11 whether or not all lenders agree to any particular proposal. Chapter 11 is often used to help implement an agreed deal and dispose of unwanted legacy liabilities. We are hopeful and optimistic that we will reach a positive resolution of our issues so that all stakeholders will move forward together to implement Chrysler’s “quick trip” restructuring in an un-contested proceeding. Our Group will never initiate a bankruptcy filing on Chrysler – that is a decision for the Company and the Administration to make.
As we all appreciate, laws are the foundation of our economy and society. Despite recent travails, our country remains the economic envy of the world and the United States remains a vital engine of global growth. The rule of law made it that way. We urge that people remember this and not succumb to unproductive and unwarranted finger pointing.
Sincerely,
The Committee of Chrysler Non-Tarp Lenders
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Put A Fork In Chrysler, GM Showdown Next (GM)http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-put-a-fork-in-chrysler-gm-showdown-next-2009-4
The talks with Chrysler's lenders broke down after the Obama administration's automotive task force worked into the evening to persuade several hedge funds and other lenders to accept a deal to reduce Chrysler's debt, said people involved in the talks.
The Treasury boosted its most recent offer to lenders on Wednesday by $250 million to $2.25 billion in cash for the banks and hedge funds to forgive $6.9 billion in Chrysler debt, people familiar with the matter said.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which leads the creditor group as Chrysler's largest lender, gave the other 45 banks and hedge funds 90 minutes Wednesday to vote on the deal. A large number of the funds voted no and refused to budge, paving the way for an all but unavoidable trip to bankruptcy court, said people close to the talks.
GM's bondholders, meanwhile, will make their counter-offer today. Instead of the 10% equity stake that they were offered, the bondholders want control of the company.
Bloomberg: General Motors Corp.’s bondholders plan to present a counteroffer to President Barack Obama’s auto task force in Washington today that would give them control of the carmaker, according to a person familiar with the committee representing creditors
The bondholder committee plans to reject GM’s April 27 debt exchange offer that asked them to swap all their claims for a 10 percent stake in the reorganized automaker, said the person, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private....
GM bondholders are proposing they get a 51 percent stake in the reorganized carmaker, the health-care fund get a 41 percent share, and common shareholders get 1 percent ownership, the person said. This structure would enable the U.S. Treasury to be paid back and avoid nationalization of GM, the person said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GM Bondholders Said to Ask for Majority Stake in Counterofferhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1sZ4xV6V.ik&refer=home
GM bondholders are proposing they get a 51 percent stake in the reorganized carmaker, the health-care fund get a 41 percent share, and common shareholders get 1 percent ownership, the person said. This structure would enable the U.S. Treasury to be paid back and avoid nationalization of GM, the person said.
GM, which has thousands of bondholders, is trying to prove it’s viable in order to keep $15.4 billion in federal aid. The bondholder committee has been in contact with about 100 institutions representing $12 billion in GM debt and its members include San Mateo, California-based Franklin Resources Inc. and Loomis Sayles & Co. of Boston, according to the person.
Changing CEOs
The Obama administration’s auto task force ousted Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner last month, saying that GM’s plan to return to profit wasn’t aggressive enough, and ordered new CEO Fritz Henderson to cut the automaker’s debt by more than initially demanded.
Before Wagoner was removed, GM had proposed that bondholders swap more than three-quarters of their stake for equity, according to a person familiar with the talks. That offer would have given bondholders 90 percent of the equity of the reorganized automaker and a combination of cash and new unsecured notes, the person said at the time.
The bondholders’ planned counteroffer was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Coming soon - possibly to your neighborhood - freed Guantanamo Bay detainees!

U.S. plans to accept several Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo

The Obama administration is preparing to admit into the United States as many as seven Chinese Muslims who have been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in the first release of any of the detainees into this country. The Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) Chinese Muslims would be the first detainees from the prison to settle in America. Many of the Uighurs hold strict views of what is permitted under Islam. According to the article; administration officials also believe that settling some of them in American communities will set an example, helping to persuade other nations to accept Guantanamo detainees too.

This floors me.

Am I the only person who thought when President Obama said he was closing the Guantanamo prison and relocating the detainees, that he meant to disperse them into the U.S. prison system to await trials? Or they would be processed and sent to other coutries where they had lived?
Did it occur to anyone that he meant to resettle them in U.S. neighborhoods and communities???

The Administration is expecting challenges from China and within the U.S.. Chinese officials consider the Uighurs domestic terrorists and want those 17 Uighurs held at Guantanamo handed over for investigation. U.S. officials no longer consider the Chinese Muslims to be enemy combatants and fear they would be mistreated in China.

Well, how did they end up at Gitmo, you might ask. The article says; the Uighurs were sent to Guantanamo in 2002 after being captured in Pakistan. Before that, they had gravitated to Afghanistan, where they received firearms training at a camp apparently run by a Uighur Chinese Muslim separatist.

Some former U.S. officials have said government information indicates that the Uighurs may pose a danger if released. But other officials and human rights organizations insist they pose no threat to the Americans.
"It is kind of hard to tell other countries you would like them to accept some of these guys from Guantanamo if you are not willing to accept them," said the U.S. official, who described the internal discussions on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials did not detail what supervision the Uighurs might receive once they are living on their own. But they said the Uighurs would be allowed to live freely.

I propose that they go and "LIVE FREELY" with the Obama and Co. officials who think they should be "allowed to live freely". I'm sure there are a few extra rooms where they can bunk at the White House.

A lawyer for some of the Uighurs in Guantanamo,Sabin Willett,argued that his clients should be set free immediately, with some measure of protection from people who might mistakenly consider them a threat.
"I fear political opponents of the Obama administration will try to sow fear and paranoia about the Uighurs," Willett said. "Once America gets a look at our clients, all this mythology will fall away and America will feel ashamed at thefact they were in prison so long."

The Uighurs oppose the Chinese government but do not consider the U.S. government a direct enemy. Remember, many of the Uighurs hold strict views of what is permitted under Islam. Does Shariah Law ring a bell?

"At Gitmo, Uighurs were not considered a grave threat and were allowed greater freedom, such as television privileges, than other detainees.
But the TV privileges underscored potential difficulties to come, according to one current and one former U.S. official. Not long after being granted access to TV, some of the Uighurs were watching a soccer game. When the image of a woman with bare arms was shown on the screen, one of the group grabbed the television and threw it to the ground, according to the officials.
Since then, officials at Guantanamo have bolted down the TVs and shown pre-taped programs, editing out any images they thought Uighurs might find offensive.

Well, isn't that special. Could that be part of what might tend "to sow fear and paranoia about the Uighurs"? Maybe it's the fact that they were captured by U.S. military and held for a reason? This is totally outrageous! Even Obama and Co. can't be that obtuse.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo-release24-2009apr24,0,1151031,full.story

When relatives move in

"Auntie Zeituni" first visited the United States in 1975, about the time Pres. Obama was 14 years old. She traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Kenya a number of times, and according to her, there may be a few more lost relatives living illegally in the U.S..

In 2002, Zeituni Onyango requested political asylum from violence in Kenya and applied for, and received, public housing in Boston also. She was ordered deported in 2004, the year a federal judge denied her asylum application, but remained in the country. Reporters from the Times of London tracked Onyango to Massachusetts shortly before the 2008 election.

She was given an immigration hearing In early April 2009. But for whatever reason, it was decided that she will get to stay her until her next immigration hearing in February 2010.

Obama didn't know his aunt was in U.S. illegally; but stated that all laws should be followed when he was questioned about her.
Well..... he knows now....

Here illegally; lived in taxpayer-funded public housing since 2002; ordered deported in 2003 and again in 2004; moved to Ohio in 2008; went to Obama Inaugaration in 2009; now back in Boston.

I don't think the political asylum thing will work because when your nephew is a powerful man, with nuclear weapons; would a government want to antagonize him?

But her 'visit' here is the same as most illegal immigrants - come and visit and then stay. Do you think that a government that can't drive illegal immigrants back across the border is going to spring for a plane ticket to Kenya?????

Senate Intel Committee claims It didn't know....

I remember reading once that 'Washington is full of sunup to sundown moralists'.
It seems to be proven true by the members in the Senate Intelligence Committee.
For all their posturing on not being made aware of the means by which the CIA, NSA, FBI, or other Intel gathering agencies were getting information; it seems Senate was readily, and knowingly, authorizing it with funds and appropriations.

SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE U.S. SENATE
JANUARY 4, 2005TODECEMBER 8, 2006

http://intelligence.senate.gov/phaseiiinc.pdf
CIA, Response to questions from Committee staff, July 6 2006

These annual reports served as a basis for Committee oversight throughout the 109th Congress.
page 17 http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_reports&docid=f:sr057.110.pdf
"Additionally the Committee included provisions in the fiscal years 2006 and 2007 Intelligence Authorization bills to add the IG sat the NRO, NSA, NGA, and DIA to the Section 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978. This statutory designation will provide the IGs with additional authorities to conduct investigation including the ability to compel the production of information. Both years’ Authorization bills also included a provision amending the NationalSecurity Act of 1947 to establish a statutory charter for the DNIIG."

"including the ability to compel the production of information" - did the Committee think that meant making S'Mores and singing 'Cum baya' with the terrorists detainees?

Why seek a new beginning with Cuba?

"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," President Obama said at the Summit of the Americas opening ceremony. "I know there is a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day."

Obama repeated the kind of remarks toward the Castro regime of Cuba that he made during his campaign for the presidency. Cuba was the only country in the region not represented at the weekend gathering of nations. As leaders of the Americas gathered for a summit in this Caribbean nation, the head of the Organization of American States even said he'll ask his group to invite Cuba back after 47 years.

It really would be nice if everyone could come together, make So'mores and sing Cum Baya. But some of us have a little problem with remembering why there was a problem in the first place. And we are also the same ones who have a little problem with the current administration's attitude of seeming to overlook what they don't want to see.

According to the Tehran Times :"At the fifth Summit of the Americas beginning later this week, where one of the aims is said to be “securing human prosperity”, the focus will be on what, if any, dialogue takes place between Raul Castro and President Obama. It is high time that hostile rhetoric and a juvenile embargo are brought to a swift end."

Some of us remember that the Castro regime means Communist Cuba and the reason for the ' juvenile embargo'. And we have difficulty accepting a communist regime. We also have these things called scrupples that make it a little hard for us to swallow the spoonfuls of crap that are being fed to us.

A senior administration official said the president wanted to focus on the future.
"His expectation is that these debates of the past can remain that, debates of the past and that the leaders can take advantage of this opportunity to focus on what they can do in the future to advance the interests of all the people of the hemisphere."http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/18/obama-endures-ortega-diatribe/

Does that include the political prisoners of the Castro regime that have been in prison for these last 50 years? Do they remain in the past? How do you overlook that? How do you stand tall as an American when you deal with a government like the Castro regime ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

90 percent "statistic" just not true

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
U.S. - MEXICAN BORDER VIOLENCE

That 90 percent "statistic" that we hear quoted day in and day out by people like Obama, Holder, and Clinton is just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S. And, honestly, I am getting a little sick and tired of our 'leaders' doing a mea culpa everytime they get press time or are meeting another government's leader.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."Keep in mind the numbers of weapons that the U.S. Government ships to Mexico each year because of an agreement with Mexico to do so.

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.
"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Auturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, has claimed that Mexico seizes 2,000 guns a day from the United States, or 730,000 a year. But the official statistic from the Mexico attorney general's office says Mexico seized 29,000 weapons in all of 2007 and 2008.

On "Face the Nation," host Bob Schieffer asked Sarukhan for evidence to support his claim that most of the weapons seized are coming from the United States.

"The data we have is the one that we've been sharing with our counterparts in the U.S. government, ATF and the Justice Department, and other agencies that have been working with us to determine where those guns are coming from," Sarukhan replied.

For example, Sarukhan cited the Mexican border town of Reynosa where he said more than 250 assault weapons and half a million rounds of ammo were seized in November.
"These had just crossed over the border from the United States in Mexico," he said. "By tracing these weapons, by looking at the types of weapons, we're determining that most of these weapons are coming from the United States."

Hoover’s written testimony never implied that 90 percent of all the guns being recovered by Mexican authorities from crime scenes are coming from America. It’s not fair to people at the ATF who put together those numbers, and it certainly isn’t fair to millions of American citizens who own the kinds of firearms that Feinstein, Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, or his boss would like to permanently ban. In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S. The gun traces to which Hoover was alluding, according to an ATF spokeswoman, hardly represent all of the guns being recovered at Mexican crime scenes. They amount to a fraction of those guns, according to the Fox News report and others, and that’s also what Gun Week will be reporting in its next issue, under my byline.

Fox reporter William La Juenesse was on with KVI talk host Kirby Wilbur Thursday, April 2 noting that in 2007-2008, Mexico recovered some 29,000 guns at crime scenes, but only submitted inquiries about 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing, and about 6,000 of those firearms were successfully traced. Of those, 5,114 were found to have come from this country. That is the “90 percent” about which Hoover’s written statement dealt.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/
http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d2-Obama-administration-Congressional-antigunners-mislead-public-on-guns-in-Mexico

Now, please tell me just how restricting my 2nd Amendment rights will stop Mexico drug violence? Criminals that can afford to buy high priced weapons would not use a conventional dealer or gun show. They will purchase boatloads of true assault weapons (fully automatic) on the black market. http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/guns.htm . U.S Attorney General Holder should read some of BJS reports before making deals with Mexico to restrict U.S. citizens rights.

Who is unaware that the drug cartels have been around for a while? Do people think that this problem started the day Obama was elected? Are they aware of the fact that Mexico already has a gun ban for its citizens; and that might be a factor in why over 8000 of them have been killed in the last year? Are they aware that there has been cartel activitiy all the way from Colombia to Mexico for at least the last 20 years?

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=327554&CategoryId=14091
Mexico Arrests Cartel Hit Man in Execution of Army General'Officials said he is suspected of leading Los Zetas in Cancun, a leading Mexican tourist destination that is one of the main points of entry for cocaine from Central and South America. According to Sedena, Almanza served as a lieutenant for one of the Gulf cartel's kingpins, Sigifredo Najera.'"In the operation, the Mexican army also seized 23 assault rifles, 20 handguns, 23 grenades, two grenade launchers, a rocket launcher, cartridges and ammunition clips, $42,000 worth of cash, six vehicles and radio equipment."

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328726&CategoryId=14095"
A total of 20 people have been murdered by gunmen since the beginning of this year in the Alto Huallaga, an important coca leaf and cocaine production zone in Peru’s jungle region where the remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla group operate.." "..The victims – most of them linked to illegal drug trafficking – were murdered in the area " "...the loss of territorial control by Shining Path in the region has allowed medium-sized drug trafficking operations to thrive unchecked,"

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328724&CategoryId=23558
"Los Zetas, the armed wing of Mexico’s Gulf drug cartel, have threatened to kill Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, ..." "The members of Los Zetas, a band of former Mexican soldiers now working as hired guns for drug traffickers, are allegedly operating in northern and northwestern Guatemala, where they control smuggling routes." "Five suspected Zetas were arrested on Feb. 8 in a joint operation conducted by the PNC and the army on a highway in Alta Verapaz province,,,The men, who entered Guatemala from Mexico in a farm truck, were armed with five AK-47 assault rifles, automatic pistols and a large quantity of ammunition.."

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14090&ArticleId=327494
"Brazilian police on Wednesday arrested 51 members of two narcotics gangs on charges of drug trafficking in that South American nation and other countries,..." "Police seized ecstasy, LSD, cocaine, hashish and an inhalant drug made in Brazil that is a combination of chloroform, ether and fragrance.The Federal Police also said five weapons were seized, including assault rifles, machine guns and handguns.."

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=41501613&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281
"...Gulf drug cartel and its Zeta hit men are the most violent of Mexico's gangs and account for the highest number of weapons seized.they accounted for a majority of the 31,512 weapons seized by law enforcement officials since December 2005. Those arms include anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers and .50-caliber rifles.The cartel, which recruited a gang of hit men known as Zetas from army deserters, controls cocaine and marijuana trafficking the second-highest number of arms was seized from the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel. Mexico's largest drug trafficking organization, the Sinaloa cartel and its allies, was third in the number of weapons seized..."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E2D81039F930A15756C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
"Federal agents today began searching out and arresting representatives of two of China's state-owned arms companies on charges of smuggling 2,000 AK-47 fully automatic rifles into the United States..."

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1468/MR1468.pdf
Page 32 of 101 - Stockpiles of arms dating back to the Cold War, which were originally provided to various combatants in Latin America by the United States and the former Soviet Union, are still readily accessible. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union aggressively sought to promote their ideological agendas in the Americas. One of the most publicized events resulting from the Cold War–era ideological struggle in Latin America was the Iran- Contra Affair. One element of this covert operation involved the U.S. military transferring small arms to Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. But most of these munitions were not M-16s produced by the U.S. arms industry, for example, but rather weapons manufactured in Soviet-bloc countries (e.g., Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles). Information produced during the Iran-Contra hearings revealed that small arms were frequently shipped into Central America from the United States during the Cold War, and these shipments typically included approximately 20,000 to 75,000 pounds of small arms and ammunition.25 Many of these weapons are still available throughout Latin America.

There is more information if you take the time really research the truth. So why are the U.S. reps lying about it? Or...are they too dim to know what is really true?

Simon's knocked on his bum

If you have ever seen Simon, you know he can cut people off at the knees.....sometimes, their ankles.
Well, now it's his turn: Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009
GO FOR IT SUSAN!!!

'Tea Party' is needed

You may have heard a few MSM reports on the 'Tea Party' protests.
It actually started in February 2009 after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed and before spending and earmarks of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 became known.

It was started by a rant of Rick Santelli on the stock floor and it has spread as a grass roots movement.




If a protest has not been organized where you live; it has been suggested that you mail a tea bag to the White House and your representatives in Congress. An envelope, a stamp and a tea bag - protest and send them one; or a few. At least their offices might small a little better...
If you don't know where their addresses - check:
Your U.S. Senator
U.S. House of Representative person
President Obama
Phone: 202-456-1111