Cars don't run on greed

Dear Aaron,

Tell your member of Congress to back hedge fund reform

Act now for a fair economy!

When you come right down to it, the bankruptcy of American car-maker Chrysler was caused by the greed of a few hedge fund managers. The unions accepted concessions, the shareholders agreed to a loss, Fiat was ready to merge, and the American Taxpayers have ponied up billions in support1.

But last night after around the clock negotiations and weeks of slow, steady progress, a small group of what President Obama called 'profiteers' walked away2. Obama and some members of Congress have had enough. Join the President and other leaders in calling for real regulations on hedge fund managers and their empire of big-investments.

For these Wall Street high rollers, a renewed car industry that builds better, more efficient cars and keeps thousands of workers employed wasn't good enough. Hedge fund managers were demanding billions of additional dollars in federal subsidies - not to keep the company alive, but to boost their profit margin.

And because hedge funds are almost entirely unregulated - unlike stock traders or banks - Obama had no leverage to bargain with their bosses like he could with Fiat, the unions and all the other parties.

Congressman Barney Frank, the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley have had enough. Along with Obama's financial team and Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner, they are calling for new regulations. Obama and our allies believe hedge funds should be placed under SEC regulation so we can keep an eye on their dealings and step in if their wheeling endangers the whole economy3.

Chrysler's bankruptcy may cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. But Hedge funds will go on making billions and evading responsibility. Only when they are regulated will we be able to know what they do, and regain control over our economy.

Tell your member of Congress to back regulations to put hedge funds under SEC control so we can have a more fair economy that works for all of us.

-Drew

Drew Hudson
TrueMajority / USAction


My not in the TrueMajority apparently, so they bounce back my responses response:

First off, the hedge funds were doing what hedge funds do: hedging their bets with relatively safe investments against more profitable, but more dangerous investments. When they were offered a deal, this is how they saw it:

1) Lose a bunch of money for their fund members (probably YOUR 401k or Roth IRA) by accepting some deal that gives them nothing in return.

OR

2) Deny the deal, let the company go bankrupt, and take the huge tax writeoffs and other benefits the government gives them for "staying the course" with an investment.

They chose #2, which doesn't lose their membership any money.

Did you note the kicker in this deal? It's government that makes it more profitable for them to let Chrysler go bankrupt!

Not that you care, that doesn't promote your socialist agenda. You'd rather push for more regulation (you know, those rules government makes that are generally useless, self-serving, and only promote cronyism?) instead of seeing the big picture.

One more thing to note: nobody is making a peep about the fact that BILLIONS of our dollars went into "saving" Chrysler. Now they're going to be owned by Fiat, a foreign corporation. Don't you have a problem with THAT?

I sure as hell do. GIMME MY MONEY BACK!