,

Chrysler's Two Options: What JP Morgan's Insistence on Bankruptcy Will Mean

/
/
emptywheel
If Chrysler goes into bankruptcy rather than merges with Fiat, it may mean 210,000 additional jobs lost.

Holder Wants to Stop Playing Mukasey's Whack-a-Mole with Financial Fraud

/
/
emptywheel
Eric Holder doesn't think Mukasey's approach to financial crime--to play whack-a-mole with it--was such a smart idea.
,

Bailed Out Bank, JP Morgan, Dooming Chrysler

/
/
emptywheel
The WSJ confirms what we've all probably suspected: the creditors that are forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy are the same banks that have been surviving only with the help of the federal government. And of course, they are refusing to offer the same generosity to Chrysler. Banks that loaned Chrysler LLC $6.8 billion are resisting government pressure to swap more than $5 billion of that for stock to slash the car maker's debt,

White House Flowers: Make a Statement

/
/
emptywheel
The White House is looking for a new florist. Not only is this an opportunity to integrate more contemporary arrangements into White House arrangements. But it's also an opportunity to insist that the flowers that go into White House arrangements have been grown and processed under conditions that are safe for workers.

Is Rahm Congressman A?

/
/
emptywheel
Rahm appears to be Congressman A named in the Blagojevich indictment. That means he blew off Blagojevich's extortion attempts before it became clear Blago was under investigation. But it also means he may be dragged into the trial.

Blagojevich Indicted

/
/
emptywheel
Big surprise ... not. In addition to Blago and Harris (who were arrested in December), RobBlago, Lon Monk, Christopher Kelly, and William Cellini were indicted. I'm looking for the document now, will update later. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob and Christopher Kelly, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, were all indicted today on corruption charges, the U.S.

Hank Greenberg Sorta Liveblog

/
/
emptywheel
For reasons I explained here, I'm not going to do a full liveblog of Hank Greenberg's appearance before Oversight today, though will keep half an eye on it. If you want to follow along, it's on CSPAN3 and this Committee stream (which I can't get to work). Most interesting detail, thus far, is that Issa insisted that Greenberg's lawyer be sworn in, as well as Greenberg.

Hank's Dog and Pony Show

/
/
emptywheel
Hank Greenberg will testify before the Oversight Committee today. I suspect it'll be a dog and pony show designed to exonerate Greenberg, not a useful hearing to learn what happened at AIG.
,

Car Recovery Czar Ed Montgomery Comes to Michigan

/
/
emptywheel
Ed Montgomery was named on Monday to serve as the Director of Recovery for Auto Communities. He seems like a better pick for auto issues than all the other people Obama has named. It remains to be seen, of course, whether having a Director of Recovery will minimize the pain the Mid-West is going through and will be going through going forward.
,

Cheney's Stay Behind

/
/
emptywheel
Sy Hersh's description that Cheney is still getting information (of some sort) from NSA is the most concerning part of his revelation that Cheney's got his agents sprinkled around the government.
,

Fire Ken Lewis for the $3 Billion in Merrill Lynch Bonuses

/
/
emptywheel
Ken Lewis let Merrill Lynch aware $3 billion dollars in bonuses just as Bank of America--with financial support of you and I--took over Merrill Lynch. Which, in itself, is reason why Lewis deserves to be fired at least as much as Rick Wagoner.
,

What the Scope of the IG Report on Warrantless Wiretapping Tells Us

/
/
emptywheel
From the scope of the IG report into the warrantless wiretap program, it seems the investigation is inadequate. But it does tell us more about the program.
, ,

Durbin and Whitehouse: Why Did Mukasey Give OLC a Peek at the Yoo/Bradbury Results?

/
/
emptywheel
It seems that Michael Mukasey made a thus far successful effort to stall out production of the OPR report on Yoo and Bradbury.

Pool Boy's Third Way Propaganda

/
/
emptywheel
A bunch of Third Way hacks have convinced Pool Boy (Jim VandeHei) to tell you that cars are bigger deadbeats than banks.

Nate Sez: It's about Legacy Costs

/
/
emptywheel
Nate, who is more of a Michigander than I am, drew this not-pretty picture of GM's operating margin over the last half century. He explains that this picture shows that GM has been using healthcare and pension promises to put off the time it registers these real costs on its balance sheet as a way to get the benefit of labor but put off paying the true costs of it. GM was

Business Models: Banksters Still in Denial

/
/
emptywheel
The banksters, in an attempt to distance themselves from what happened to the Big 2.5 yesterday, are claiming their business model is still viable. I'm not so convinced.
,

PBGC Scam: In the Summer, They Still Believed They Could Win

/
/
emptywheel
It sure looks like a Bush flunkie just wasted the back-up retirement fund a lot of Americans are going to need in hopes that it might get John McCain elected.
image_print