Chrysler Turned Down Bailout Over Fears Of Government Control

• April 21, 2009

If there’s a silver lining in the Obama administration’s take over of General Motors it’s that it put the rest of America’s big business on notice. If you throw yourself on the mercy of the federal government, the federal government may just use that mercy as leverage to start running your business for you.

Top officials at Chrysler Financial turned away a $750 million government loan because executives didn’t want to abide by new federal limits on pay, sources familiar with the matter say.
The government had been offering the loan earlier this month as part of its efforts to prop up the ailing auto industry, including Chrysler, which is racing to avoid bankruptcy. Chrysler Financial is a vital lender to Chrysler dealerships and customers.
In forgoing the loan, Chrysler Financial opted to use more expensive financing from private banks, adding to the burdens of the already fragile automaker and its financing company.
Chrysler Financial denied in a statement that its executives had refused to accept new limits on their pay.

The liberals are going to use the executive pay angle to spin this. They’ll say that Chrysler’s leadership is just greedy, and that they should have done the responsible thing and take the big, fat government handout (that, frankly, the government can’t really afford to be giving at this point) and all the hypocritical scolding and sanctimonious regulations on how the business is run that go with it. But really, I’m happy Chrysler did this. Good on them for it.
It’s about time one of these companies quit begging the government for bailouts and stood up on their own two feet. We don’t need to have the federal government any more involved in big business than it already is. The government shouldn’t be giving bailouts to prop these companies up. And even if the government does the wrong thing and gives these companies bailouts, the federal government shouldn’t compound that already bad situation by essentially trying to run these companies itself.
If Chrysler can’t run without government subsidy then Chrysler shouldn’t run. The same goes for every other business in America.

Tags: Asshats, Domestic Issues, Politics

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/95608/Chryslers_paycap_dissent Harold

This post has been featured at THEWEEK.com as Best Opinion – http://www.theweek.com/article/index/95608/Chryslers_paycap_dissent
– We really enjoyed your take on this subject!
Spartacus

Chrysler is a cat with 8 lives left. After it’s debacle in 1980 the company should have known better than any of the big 3 not to allow itself into this position again. Of the 3 only Ford seems to have learned from that era, and it didn’t learn much. This country has gotten along just fine without AMC, Cord, Duesenburg, Packard…etc… and we still have vehicles to drive. HEH, the Cubans are still driving ’55 Chevys…let the chips fall.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/homosexuality_is_wrong_-_a_compendium move_zig

Suite,

As a kid, you ever remember collecting George Barris cards, along with the stick of gum that was stiff, brittle, tasted great for about 5 seconds?

Batmobile
Munstermobile
Green Hornet’s Car
General Lee

and all those Custom jobs for Hollywood movies?
Rezistik

Good on them. I fully support them not taking the bail out. If they can pull themselves up and out without the government money then great. They can then run their business just about however they feel.
raj58045

Boy, I bet after seeing how well it’s worked out for GM, I bet they’re really kicking themselves now.
Rezistik

country was supposed to be counter. Really don’t know how I could mistake the two…must have been revising and failed to read the context of the question
Spartacus

Suite, I don’t think Chrysler is very smart…not since Iococca retired. They went back to business usual and look where they’re now. K cars weren’t a bright idea but they put food on UAW members tables, when the mini-van hit the market happy days were here again and it was business as usual. I’m a member of SAE and I can tell you that the dollars spent on R&D would blow your mind, especially considering for every hundred projects only a few will hit the market, the rest is part of a learning curve that might have to be repeated later. Those aren’t low budget R&D projects either, consider a few million to be spent just on equipment to track and verify and audit results.

Add to that silly wild ass ideas like the Prowler, a sixty thousand dollar retro hot rod they sold for a year or two, which should have been a quarter million dollar car to cover expenses incurred to create the production line and cover parts, labor and tooling…I can go on and on…are you starting to get the picture?
jimmypop

We want your money…just not your oversight.

Weasles.

and they should get neither. in fact, how dare they ask. all of these places, banks, cars, insurance, whatever, should have been allowed to fold.
Rezistik

I agree with you. As long as a country rule is put in place to stop businesses from growing to control 10% of an economy.

Look at Michigan and Detroit, because these companies were allowed to grow to their size and then stagnate the entire community suffers. I dislike rules, I dislike the idea of holding people back. But at some point greed results in others being hurt and we have to limit this, the lives of thousands should not be betted upon by the whims of a few.
http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/ Kenny

Chrysler Turned Down Bailout Over Fears Of Government Control

We want your money…just not your oversight.

Weasles.
http://suitepotato.blogspot.com/ sayanything-4808

I’m still not convinced of Chrysler’s smarts. While this is good, their tendency to deliver massive numbers of orange cars to market is clearly the sign of deranged thinking. Literally, lots full of orange freaking cars. Orange.

Datsun did that and where are they now?
http://suitepotato.blogspot.com/ sayanything-4808

The Prowler was hot. Ginger Lynn at her apex hot. There’s a couple in my town and I always smile when I see them. Every so often you have to remember the old concept cars and be happy that somewhere along the line one slipped through to the sales floor. I remember the Batmobile-like cars of the 60s they said we’d be driving by the early 21st century. Big fins, bubble canopies, turbocharged, the works. We got… the Dodge Dart.

Whoa, stop the excitement.

I want to see someone charge ahead and do something like the Prowler every so often. Of course, I want to see the economy strong enough to get away with it. If Bareback’s spending spree isn’t rolled back by one of the next two congressional classes, we’re going to end up driving a cross between a Trabant and a golf cart.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

They can then run their business just about however they feel.

That should be the rule regardless, Rez.

And the rule for the government should be “If a company can’t succeed, let it fail.”

Because failure is as important in a free market as success.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

I saw that earlier, Harold. Thanks for including my post.

SayAnythingBlog.com

Chrysler Turned Down Bailout Over Fears Of Government Control

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