Indiana’s actions on stopping Chrysler bankruptcy
To the Editor:
Every once in awhile you feel that the folks in government have lost all their marbles.
This is especially true of the folks in Indiana government leading the charge to put Chrysler into liquidation by appealing the judge’s ruling to get the sale of Chrysler assets stopped.
The Indiana group that is pushing this is the teachers and police retirement pension fund along with another fund that represents roughly $42 million. The folks claim that the 29 cents on the dollar is not enough compensation when they bought the bonds in the middle of last year at 43 cents on the dollar.
Let us examine this for a second. Indiana bought Chrysler bonds last year in the middle of $4-plus a gallon of gasoline, of a company that has as its sole revenue the making of vehicles that consist of large fuel-eating trucks? What rational person would invest in bonds in this company that overseers the state’s retirement pension fund?
But going on further into what their logic is, what is the loss that the state of Indiana is trying to recoup? If it settled for the 29 cents on the dollar, it would appear that roughing out the numbers it’s probably a little over $10 million.
While that may sound like a lot of money, the fact remains that Indiana has a rich history of donating hundreds of millions of dollars to offshore car companies to build cars in Indiana by using the money from the same taxpayers that worked at Chrysler plants throughout Indiana.
Now Indiana, after donating huge sums of money to have just a few offshore manufacturing jobs, is now saying that it refuses to take a $10 million loss on an investment, that no pension program should ever be allowed to make, and is willing to sacrifice thousands of jobs at Chrysler plants in Indiana to achieve this goal.
Gee, Indiana, if you’re willing to spend hundreds of millions on a few jobs to offshore carmakers, what is wrong with spending $10 million on the folks that will lose their jobs in your state if Chrysler folds?
Indiana, take notice, your decisions on pursuing liquidation of Chrysler and the TARP program is going to get you really noticed as being not only backward but now known as the stupidest state in the union.
Leo Amos
Matlacha