Eighty percent (80%) of U.S. voters want the government to sell its stake in General Motors and Chrysler as soon as possible. (more)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Chrysler's sale to Fiat, turning down a last-ditch bid by opponents of the deal. (more)

The Supreme Court, in an order signed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has stopped the sale of Chrysler to Fiat and the bankruptcy plan engineered by the White House. No details are available quite yet on the story, but I will be watching for updates on the wires and blogs. Ginsburg stopping the sale, though … that’s interesting in and of itself. (more)

That smell emanating from the Chrysler dealer closings has finally reached a level that forces prominent Democrats to complain. Yesterday House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Daniel Maffei (all Democrats) sent a letter to President Obama asking for a "compelling justification" for the closings. We are writing to express our concerns about General Motors' and Chrysler's decision to close profitable automobile dealerships across the country, and urge you to ask GM and Chrysl... (more)

I’m skeptical that this is as bad as it looks — it’d be politically suicidal, for no benefit greater than petty revenge — but consider it your must-read of the day. Don’t stop before the updates either or you’ll miss profitable dealers scratching their heads trying to figure out what mysterious sin they could have committed to warrant termination. (more)

Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty. The basic issue raised here is this: H... (more)

The investigation into how the apparent redistribution of Chrysler dealer franchises we reported on here and here continues. Joey Smith, Gateway Pundit, Reboot Congress and Libertarian Republican are just some of the new media warriors on the case. What the intrepid bloggers are sifting through is the toxic fallout from the Obama administration’s journey to the dark side of corporatist policy - economic fascism: From an economic perspective, fascism meant (and means) an interventionist industrial policy... (more)

In my WSJ column on Chrylser last week I asked: Chrysler -- or more accurately, its unionized workers -- may be helped in the short run. But we need to ask how eager lenders will be to offer new credit to General Motors knowing that the value of their investment could be diminished or destroyed by government to enrich a politically favored union. We also need to ask how eager hedge funds will be to participa... (more)

DETROIT (AdAge.com) -- Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising over the nine weeks it's expected to be in bankruptcy -- the U.S. Treasury's auto-industry task force gave it half that. So if GM, which is wrestling with the possibility of a Chapter 11 filing itself, is wondering how much influence the task force will have over marketing, the answer is: plenty. However, transcripts from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York, where the Chrysler case is being heard, prov... (more)

There was a minority group of some 20 Chrysler lenders that were fighting the repayment arrangements Chrysler was trying to make before Chrysler declared bankruptcy. Led by Oppenheimer and Stairway Capital, they were owed $2.9 billion and didn't feel they were getting all they could. After Chrysler declared bankruptcy the group continued to fight the repayment arrangements, saying they were owed more remuneration as holders of secured debt. Well, last week was sound and fury, this week it's in with a... (more)