Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner – AKA the Car CZAR, the Bank CZAR, etc.
CZAR – One having great power or authority. Also – also tsar or tzar (zär, tsär) A male monarch or emperor
I wrote a blog Monday about my friend Scott Lau, whose Chrysler dealership has been in the family 42 years and was just forced out of business due to the Government’s “surgical” Chrysler bankruptcy. I interviewed Scott yesterday about his story on Prudent Money. As I was preparing for the show, so many things started to dawn on me about the whole Government involvement and Chrysler.
First, let’s consider Scott’s dealership for a moment. Here is a business that has been a family operated small business for 42 years. It has been a solid business with a great business plan. It has been profitable through the years and was weathering the financial crisis. When it was all said and done, I believe that Preston Chrysler Jeep would have survived the financial crisis. They made the necessary adjustments.
Preston Chrysler Jeep is not closing their doors because they are not a good dealership. They are not closing their doors because they were in trouble financially. They are closing their business of 42 years because the Car CZAR has spoken. Chrysler gave them and 800 plus other dealerships the pink slip and said we no longer have a contract with you. There were no calls from any Chrysler representatives to Scott’s dealership. There was a UPS letter delivered to the back door of the parts department.
This is a healthy small business with no debt that was forced to shut down because the only product that they sell and service was taken from them due to Government direction through “structured” bankruptcy. Preston Chrysler Jeep is not the reason that Chrysler and the rest of the automotive industry is in trouble. This dealership was nothing more than a small business participating in the American Dream.
The Government is destroying capitalism in a methodical fashion. There was a reason that Chrysler and GM didn’t go bankrupt in December (before we threw billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars down the toilet). Think about it for just a minute. If Chrysler or GM would have gone through bankruptcy in December, there wouldn’t have been as much Government involvement. Instead, the Car CZAR continued to pump billions of taxpayer dollars into these failing companies in order to keep the lights on. This gave the Car CZAR ultimate control. The Government controls the destiny of these automotive companies. Now who answers to who? Just look at what they are doing to the banking system.
You know when you borrow money from a loan shark you give your life away. There is no difference here. So, the Car CZAR has spoken and Scott and the rest of the employees at the dealership that have served this area faithfully were simply on the wrong side of the Washington power grid and out of luck. So much for the American Dream.
So, who is this Car CZAR? Well let’s look past the man, Steve Rattner, who was appointed to head of the task force. Instead, let’s take a look at who makes up the task force.
Members (according to Wikipedia)
· Co-chairs:
o Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner
o National Economic Council Director, Larry Summers
· Secretary of Transportation
· Secretary of Commerce
· Secretary of Labor
· Secretary of Energy
· Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer
· Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter R. Orszag
· Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
· Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change
· Senior Advisor on Auto Issues at the Treasury Department, Ron Bloom
You really just need to stop with the first name to see where the power lies. It seems that Tim Geithner remains the man behind the curtain.
Tags: automotive companies, Bob Brooks, Car CZAR, Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, Chrysler, Chrysler Bankruptcy, Deceptive Money, financial crisis, Government, loan shark, Peter R. Orszag, Preston Chrysler Jeep, Prudent Money, Ron Bloom, Scott Lau, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Transportation, task force, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Washington
May 20th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Does this fly in the face of the constitution?
May 20th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
since Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, or the Roman Empire. We are witnessing firsthand a very blatant transfer of wealth and power from the many within America’s social matrix, to a very small select few.
Presently, the appropriate term for what is going on before our very eyes is indeed socialism. But it is my humble opinion that socialism is merely a prelude to communism. And for any who have studied communism, at its core is not the dissemination of wealth, but rather the extraction of and subsequent centralization of wealth.
But from my perspective, what is actually happening is not the most frightening aspect of these days and times. THE most disconcerting aspect of all these events, is that there is a large segment of the American populace that is still cheering!” Obama!” “Obama!” “Obama!” The most significant aspect of all these events, is not what is happening, but that they are GETTING AWAY with it!
But there will come a time when even those who have slathered themselves with intellect repellent will feel the sting of this carefully crafted agenda. And as rapidly as this agenda is gaining successful momentum, that moment is visible on the horizon.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Ron is a good friend of mine and an excellent writer and commentator – thanks for your views
May 20th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
This doesn’t seem like a fair representation of the facts and a few questions are in order.
What was Chrysler’s criteria in choosing the Preston Chrysler dealership? Was the criteria unfair? Was cancelling Preston’s contract unnecessary?
The free market was unwilling to lend Chrysler money and Detroit went to Congress. Why is Geithner necessarily to blame for this? In a restructuring bankruptcy some changes would be necessary with respect to product, labor + dealers.
BTW, I’m not a big Geithner fan. I really didn’t like the way the banks + AIG bailouts went. It seem that GS got a really cushy deal.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:51 am
I oppose the government’s involvement in the economy and its breaking of the rule of law regarding contracts and bankruptcy law. I also believe that Chrysler should have gone bankrupt in the early 1980s rather than the Reagan administration interfering with its loan guarantees and so-called “voluntary” import quotas.
However, if Chrysler had gone through a bankruptcy as specified in existing bankruptcy law, couldn’t Chrysler have had dealer contracts voided by the bankruptcy court? If so, is there any difference between the Car Czar voiding the contracts and a regular bankruptcy court voiding the contracts?
I suggest focusing on the big picture of what’s happening in the economy and the country. What’s happening is that the country is moving towards fascism. Fascism is a variety of socialism which is characterized by the “union of state and corporate power” as stated by Mussolini. He said that the fascist system could better be called “corporatism” and that’s what we now have with the government taking over the big banks, AIG, and big auto companies. Is there any reason to think that the government will stop and reverse the process? None of which I’m aware.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:30 am
Not necessarily – It is about a dealership selling a product and the dealership taking on the costs. There is no question that this could have been done diffferently. Thanks for your comment
May 21st, 2009 at 6:35 am
From my understanding and seeing the dealerships that were closed part of criteria appeared to come down to whether or not a dealership was representing all 3 car lines. The sad thing is that I don’t even think the dealership s know. It comes back to sqaure one. It is about the Government bailing out companies and arranging it to where they have ownership (see socialism) Once they have ownership they start getting involved. The government has no business being in this position and no business deciding the fate of other businesses. Once again, once you borrow money from a loan shark, they own you. That is not the definition of a freemarket capitilistic socierty – thanks for your comments
May 21st, 2009 at 9:13 am
I’ve read some more and Chrysler seems to have been pretty heavy handed and perhaps even irrational in its criteria. But that’s not Geithner’s fault. And if you are completely free market then Chrysler doesn’t get the gov’t bailout at all; Chrysler goes under; and Preston Chrysler goes under. Same result.
It’s true once you borrow from a loan shark, they own you. Moral: don’t borrow money from a loan shark. Chrysler had a long time to get adapt. Look at Ford.
Frankly in this case I’m on the loan shark’s side. Force them into Chapter 11; gut the management; gut the stockholders; restructure contracts with labor+dealers+suppliers. Sell it off. Be brutal; management and stockholders get donuts. At GM, I cheered when Wagoner got publicly knifed by Obama. Yeah, the board should have done it but having the Pres do it was even better. Running GM into the ground should have a price.
BTW, none of this should read as me thinking that Preston should have been closed. It sounds like Chrysler is making (another) mistake.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:14 pm
The irritating rub is that our Government was willing to throw money at a problem that should have been solved in the courts…and who knows what kind of back room discussions went on before Detroit went to congress? It smells like appeasement with a twist of “gotcha” politics. Remember, this all started when politicians tried to placate constituents by enacting laws requiring loans to zip codes where the majority of the inhabitants would never qualify. Nothing to cheer about when these same politicians are still holding the reins.
It’s not surprising this happened: “Don’t be corrupt when administering justice. Never give special favors to poor people, and never show preference to important people. Judge your neighbor fairly. Leviticus 19:15
May 24th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Chris
This is my conclusion – The Government has taken control and dictated how everything should occur. Geithner is running that show. Chrysler could have gone through Bankruptcy a while back for protection. They would not have necessarily meant they would have had to canceled contracts. The bottom line is that it is one big mess.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] Brooks presents The Car CZAR has Spoken posted at Bob Brooks – Prudent Money [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Yes, indeed socialism is a prelude to communism. Make no mistake, America, we are being led down that road. Here are the steps to creating such a government:
1) Produce Fear, 2) Manipulate, 3) Take Control of Infrastructure, etc
4) Total Domination (over the people).
And I believe it was Rahm Emanuel that said: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste and what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Could it be that much of the “crisis” was manufactured ?
June 15th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
If you dig really deep into the conspiracy theory aspect of what is happening, it is no question that this was manufactured. Socialism and the progressive movement require total and complete dependency on the government. Allowing the economy to falter would be the best way to obtain it. Having said that, I don’t believe that it was manufactured. The crisis was inevitable. However, the reaction to the crisis has one objective and that is to make the government the savior of the problem and to create dependence on the Government. I do believe that this is all about the progressive movement. By not really fixing the problem and by creating much larger future problems the Government is putting the economy and the global economy at risk.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I think our forefathers must be turning over in their graves at how expansive our government has become. I myself am waking up and trying to be more proactive and speak out. I have always been an active voter, but it appears the time for a return to peaceful demonstrations & grassroot movements like the “tea parties” is definitely upon us. “We the people” are speaking up, finally. I continue to pray and intercede for our country and world that our dependence and trust be in GOD alone.
Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for your program, Prudent Money and your encouragement to all who ask for help. LORD bless and keep you all!
June 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Yes, I think that our forefathers are doing more than turning over in their graves. It would take a real concentrated effort. Unfortunately, I question whether there is enough people that actually feel the same way to make a difference. This will get interesting f0r sure – thank you for your kind words