Is Obama only shutting down Repub car Dealers?

[JustRalph]

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/26/hmmm-chrysler-dealers-shut-down-in-obama-bankruptcy-are-mostly-republican/

To quickly review the situation, I took all dealer owners whose names appeared more than once in the list. And, of those who contributed to political campaigns, every single one had donated almost exclusively to GOP candidates. While this isn’t an exhaustive review, it does have some ominous implications if it can be verified.

However, I also found additional research online at Scribd (author unknown), which also appears to point to a highly partisan decision-making process.

more at the link

[chickenhead]

every single one had donated almost exclusively to GOP candidates.

that is kind of a funny phrase. We need to see the donor records of all the dealerships that were not closed also. The only real indicator of anything is if there is a sizable difference between the two lists, not what one list looks like.

And I'm guessing you're not going to find that 3/4 of Chrysler dealerships made heavy donations to Obama. (at the source site they are parsing Clinton and Edwards donations amongst the closed dealers as "not being for Obama")

[jballscalls]

I would think most dealer owners would be republican as that party is much friendlier and fare to business owners and people with higher incomes. be interesting to see the list of all dealership owners and who they donate to.

[ArlJim78]

that is kind of a funny phrase. We need to see the donor records of all the dealerships that were not closed also. The only real indicator of anything is if there is a sizable difference between the two lists, not what one list looks like.

And I'm guessing you're not going to find that 3/4 of Chrysler dealerships made heavy donations to Obama. (at the source site they are parsing Clinton and Edwards donations amongst the closed dealers as "not being for Obama")
there are people working on this now, they're putting everything (closed and not closed dealerships) in a spreadsheet. Its laborious work but it will be interesting to see the result. it might take a few days. I think jumping to conclusions is not the correct thing to do. My gut feeling though tells me you're going to find politics played a role.

[Tom]

I suggested that a while ago - jut a gut felling, no data.
Boy, am I good or what? (Rhetorical):D

[ArlJim78]

more evidence why you should trust your gut feeling. this lawyer for some of the closing dealers has some interesting comments. It seems the decision to let go the dealers came from the auto task force and was not supported by Chrysler. hmmm, now why would that be?

__________________________________________
Lawyer Leonard Bellavia, of Bellavia Gentile & Associates,
who represents some of the terminated dealers, said he deposed
Chrysler President Jim Press on Tuesday and came away with the
impression that Press did not support the plan.
"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdomof terminating 25 percent of its dealers," Bellavia said. "Itreally wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormouspressure from the President's automotive task force."

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN2632731920090526

[boxcar]

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were discovered that the shutdowns by Government Motors (the made over GM :rolleyes: ) had been politicized. After all, wouldn't BO want as many team players on board as possible to push the 99 miles per gallon skateboards onto the public that'll be mandated to roll off the assembly lines soon? :bang:

Boxcar

[chickenhead]

My gut feeling though tells me you're going to find politics played a role.

I think it probably will, but in the opposite way of they way you are probably thinking of it.

What I think you likely will find, is that some Democratic donors were protected, even though they probably should have been closed as well. That is the sort of thing influence generally buys you. That is quite different than thinking or expecting that the "Auto Taskforce" targeted hundreds of dealerships to be closed -- solely because the owner was Republican, and they wanted to "get them".

That strikes me as a tin foil hat kind of idea.

[ArlJim78]

I think it probably will, but in the opposite way of they way you are probably thinking of it.

What I think you likely will find, is that some Democratic donors were protected, even though they probably should have been closed as well. That is the sort of thing influence generally buys you. That is quite different than thinking or expecting that the "Auto Taskforce" targeted hundreds of dealerships to be closed -- solely because the owner was Republican, and they wanted to "get them".

That strikes me as a tin foil hat kind of idea.
Of course, but I don't consider that quite different at all. To me its the same thing.

The idea to close a bunch of dealers came out of nowhere from the task force. It does nothing to immediately benefit Chrysler. What it does do is force a bunch of good businesses out of business, and force a bunch of people into unemployment. Isn't the mission right now to save jobs? Couldn't dealerships have been phased out over time, to minimize the devastation to people? It's because none of this makes sense that I am suspicious.

[chickenhead]

I believe there are state franchise laws that inhibits their freedom to do these things willy nilly, no? I've heard that talked about as an upside to bankruptcy, that during bankruptcy is the only time they can actually do this, for many months before the gov't ever got involved. I've never heard any surprise that they are closing dealerships, I think calling it out of the blue is absurd. GM's market share has gone from 50% to 20% over the yeatrs, and they have the same number of dealers. Not wanting to cut them would be a surprise.

Some lawyer working for the dealerships aside (huge grain of salt required to take anything he says at face value)....I've always heard both GM and Chrysler of wanting to reduce dealerships.

What it does do is force a bunch of good businesses out of business, and force a bunch of people into unemployment. Isn't the mission right now to save jobs?

Which is exactly why I'd question this assertion of it coming from the administration -- they truly have zero reason to do that. The companies on the other hand don't care about the macro-economics.

[The Judge]

Republican too? If not doesn't make much sense to me. Punish the Republicans by putting the workers in the unemployment line. Why not keep them open and working and try to win them over to your side.

You got Senators jumping ship why not an owner or two of car dealerships?

[ArlJim78]

Which is exactly why I'd question this assertion of it coming from the administration -- they truly have zero reason to do that. The companies on the other hand don't care about the macro-economics.
We'll see, so far they haven't said what rationale was used for deciding who goes and who stays, hence the rampant speculation. Some of the dealers being terminated were in the upper quintile for sales performance, so it does make one wonder.

[lsbets]

After the way they fired Gen McKiernan, nothing would surprise me with this administration. When all is said and done, I think they will prove to be the most vengeful since Nixon's, perhaps worse.

[PaceAdvantage]

When all is said and done, I think they will prove to be the most vengeful since Nixon's, perhaps worse.You've got that right. Been in the works since the 2000 election. I'm pretty surprised they haven't found a way to put Bush on trial yet...some are obviously showing incredible restraint...

After all, wasn't it our dear friend Suff who recently proclaimed that they should go out and round up all Republicans and essentially put them to death for "what they have done to this country."

His view is not unique among the far left. They are quite the dangerous, delusional and vengeful bunch.

[sandpit]

The only criteria for closing that I've read was that they chose dealers who sold less than 100 new cars per year. However, the whole thing makes no since to me. Why would Chrysler want less dealerships. The dealers pay for the vehicles before they are shipped from the factory, so Chrysler has no money tied up in inventory. Maybe the cost of marketing and other factors that Chrysler absorbs was too much to overcome? Maybe the powers that be thought some stores were cannibalizing sale because of proximity?

Not too far from my home there were 2 Waffle Houses right across the street from each other and they both did a booming business for years. One of them closed only because they lost their lease on the property. Likewise, there are two of the same brand gas stations literally within 100 feet of each other and they are printing money faster than the Obama bailout machine.

[mostpost]

94% of ALL Chrysler dealers contributed to the Republicans

[jballscalls]

94% of ALL Chrysler dealers contributed to the Republicans

makes sense if its true. they are most likely people of means and certainly the repubs are more business friendly