Marx and Hitler were both Totalitarians

We the People may soon be proud owners of General Motors, just like we are proud owners of Chrysler, only we are likely going to hold a larger stake in GM. The United States government continues its assault on the rule of law, binding contracts and capitalism by politically restructuring two of the Big Three automakers. Ford did not accept government loans at the end of the Bush Administration and remains free of the grotesque government meddling that Chrysler and GM are experiencing under the disguise of restructuring.

Chrysler has already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in bankruptcy court. Chapter 11 bankruptcies allow a firm protection from debtors while it restructures, the ultimate result being that the company emerges stronger in the end once debt obligations have been restructured and settled upon in court. Chryslers’ bankruptcy is going smoothly due in large part to the fact that it was already restructured pre-bankruptcy filing by the Obama Administration. For me, the term political restructuring is applicable.

Prior to the actual filing of Chapter 11, the Obama Administration began to discuss options with creditors. In the end, unions and the government will end up with more lucrative payouts than secured creditors whose contracts required that they be first in line to receive money should Chrysler file for bankruptcy. Presently, GM is undergoing a political restructuring as well, which will lead to Chapter 11 if certain conditions set by the government are not met. It appears that the United States government will hold a majority stake, as much as 70%, in GM once the process is complete.

The pre-bankruptcy political restructuring is a problem in and of itself. Had Chrysler and GM simply been left to file for bankruptcy instead of being given the loans that they begged for from the government, political restructuring would not have happened. Instead, government meddling in the private sector led to the governments role in the process and simply delayed the inevitable, a bankruptcy filing. The Bush Administration is at fault for the initial government loans given to GM and Chrysler, the Obama Administration took over from there.

More generally, the political restructuring allows the government to decide who the winners and losers are, regardless of what contracts say. Secured creditors, who were supposed to be first in line, have been shuffled back behind the government and unions. Contracts, in other words, were thrown out the window and the rule of law was discarded for political purposes. Call me cynical but it seems to me that the unions got a sweetheart deal from the Obama Administration because the unions reliably support Democrats with votes and campaign cash.

Should GM and Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy, they will both be controlled by unions and the politicians in Washington. Karl Marx once mentioned something about the power of the worker or workers taking over in some sort of revolution or something like that. However, Marxism is not the biggest concern. Fascism is the number one concern.

Fascism is ideologically neutral; it is simply the desire for power. The Obama Administration has taken steps that are nothing more than a government power grab. When 2/3 of the largest manufacturing industry in a nation is run by Washington, the power lies with politicians, not with the people or with the actual company. Fascism for the sake of solving an economic crisis is no less restricting of freedom and liberty, and is no less destructive to capitalism and the free markets than fascism for the sake of, say, creating a master race.