Fiat acquires the rest of Chrysler Group, LLC

[No Elephants]

Italian carmaker Fiat SpA said Wednesday it had reached an agreement to buy the remaining shares in Chrysler Group LLC, ending months of tense negotiations and allowing Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne — who has led both automakers since 2009 — to pursue his goal of creating the world's seventh-largest auto group.

Fiat, which already owned 58.5 percent of Chrysler shares, will acquire the remaining 41.5 percent stake from a retiree health care trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers union, which will receive $3.65 billion in cash. Additionally, once the deal closes, Chrysler has committed to giving the trust an additional $700 million.

The deal, which is expected to close on or before Jan. 20, is seen as a victory for Marchionne, who wants to merge Fiat and Chrysler and create a more competitive automaker with a broader global reach.

Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization that tracks changes in the industry, told Al Jazeera that the deal helps Fiat add "more balance to (its) portfolio."

Whereas in the past Chrysler was dependent on the North American market, and Fiat was reliant on the European and South American markets, the deal helps Fiat gain even greater access in North America and gives Chrysler the opportunity to have a greater worldwide presence.

The automotive industry is a "very global business these days," Dziczek said, adding that "you need to be at a certain scale in order to compete."

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/2/-fiat-reaches-dealtobuyrestofchrysler.html





But, Fiat already had way more than enough shares do whatever it wanted with Chrysler. So, this story is not making entire sense to me. Seems to be more about cutting the retirees loose than control and globalization of Chrysler. Maybe there was even some agreement with the retiree's fund that some of Chrysler operations would remain in Detroit or the US?

Whatever, I don't think this will be great long term for US workers or for the retirees. I have a feeling that another "no strings" bailout is will be backfiring more than anticipated. (Now I understand why I've been hearing on TV for a while how Chrysler paid back every penny to the US.)

Anyway, I just googled "what the Chrysler bailout really cost US taxpayers," which I should have done just as soon as I started hearing how the US taxpayer got back every cent.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/010214-684920-fiat-finalizes-chrysler-acquisition-taxpayers-lose.htm


Reminds me of when Massachusetts gave a huge tax break to Fidelity Investments and Fidelity said, "Thanks for the parting gift," and moved 1100 jobs out of state.

http://www.boston.com/business/taxes/articles/2011/03/29/massachusetts_to_follow_up_on_fidelity_tax_breaks/

Are politicians really that stupid and shortsighted, that they give away our money without looking down the road, or do they just want to make sure the 99% get absolutely nothing? or both?

This story may provide a clue: According to Dodd, when he was working on the bailout, he inserted a provision about executive compensation. Geithner, then President Elect Obama's choice for Treasury--because, obviously the NY Fed had done swell--told Dodd to remove the provision and Dodd did.

Now, Dodd apparently told this story to shift blame from him to the Executive Branch. And, if US, Inc. were really merely a corporation, Dodd's story may have done the trick. But Dodd was not supposed to be working for Geithner or for Obama or for the Executive, or for the DLC/DNC, but for the American people. So, the story backfired, IMO. Not only that, but it showed that Dodd was clueless enough about his duties to assume that telling the story would make him look good. That is how far gone Washington DC has become removed from reality.


The Democratic Party was great when it represented and was led by working people who had worked themselves up. Or by their kids, who were still in close touch with what their parents had endured and what they, as youngsters, had endured. Now, it's led by people like Dodd, a prep school grad whose Daddy served alongside Prescott Bush.

From the wiki of the Senior Dodd:

Before becoming a U.S. senator, Dodd was hired to lobby for Guatemala in the United States for $50,000 a year by dictator Carlos Castillo Armas.<16> According to the North American Congress on Latin America, Dodd "had perhaps the coziest relationship with the Castillo Armas government."<17> After a short trip to Guatemala in 1955, Dodd urged the House of Representatives to increase aid to the Central American country. Dodd's amendment passed and Guatemala received $15 million of US aid in 1956.<18>

In 1961, Dodd visited the Congo to investigate the civil war caused by the secession of the province of Katanga. In his memoirs, the United Nations Representative in the Congo, Brian Urquhart, described Dodd as a "vain and silly man" who "knew nothing of Africa."<19>

<snip>


Before becoming a U.S. senator, Dodd was hired to lobby for Guatemala in the United States for $50,000 a year by dictator Carlos Castillo Armas.<16> According to the North American Congress on Latin America, Dodd "had perhaps the coziest relationship with the Castillo Armas government."<17> After a short trip to Guatemala in 1955, Dodd urged the House of Representatives to increase aid to the Central American country. Dodd's amendment passed and Guatemala received $15 million of US aid in 1956.<18>

In 1961, Dodd visited the Congo to investigate the civil war caused by the secession of the province of Katanga. In his memoirs, the United Nations Representative in the Congo, Brian Urquhart, described Dodd as a "vain and silly man" who "knew nothing of Africa."<19>

<snip>

Senate censure and loss of office

In 1967 Dodd became the first Senator censured by the US Senate since Joseph McCarthy in 1954,<23> and was one of only six people censured by the Senate in the 20th century. The censure was a condemnation and finding that he had converted campaign funds to his personal accounts and spent the money.<24><25> Beyond the Senate Ethics Committee's formal disciplinary action, other sources (such as investigative journalist Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson's Congress in Crisis) suggest<26> Dodd's corruption was far broader in scope, and there were accusations of alcoholism.<26><27> In response to these accusations, Dodd filed a lawsuit against Pearson claiming that Pearson had illegally interfered with his private property. Although the district court granted a partial judgment to Dodd, the appellate court ruled in favor of Pearson on the grounds that Dodd's property had not been physically abused.<28> In 1970, the Democrats endorsed for his seat Joseph Duffey, who won the nomination in the primary. Dodd then entered the race as an independent, taking just under a quarter of the vote, in a three-way race which he and Duffey lost to Lowell Weicker.
Death and legacy

Months after his defeat, Dodd died from a heart attack at his home. His son Christopher Dodd was elected to the Senate as a Connecticut Democrat in 1980.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Dodd

The "Controversy" section of Chris Dodd's own wiki is far too long to quote here. One wonders what possessed the people of Connecticut to vote for the man's son? Had they never heard the aphorism about the acorn not falling far from the tree?

PS

Dodd was born in Willimantic, Connecticut. His parents were Grace Mary Dodd (née Murphy) and U.S. Senator Thomas Joseph Dodd; all eight of his great-grandparents were born in Ireland.<4> He is the fifth of six children;<5> his eldest brother, Thomas J. Dodd, Jr., is a professor emeritus of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Uruguay and Costa Rica under President Bill Clinton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dodd

Maybe the Democratic Party is a victim of its own success. While the Republican Party was being run by the likes of Prescott Bush and his daddy, the Democratic Party was making a way for immigrants and their kids and grandkids, not people who traced their origins to the Mayflower. But, the party's policies did such a good job that it made way for generations of Thomas and Chris Dodd. Meanwhile, working people got left behind entirely. Again.

And now, their jobs are disappearing, along with the commitment of the Democratic Party to social safety nets. So, what do they do now?

Wave arrivederci, I guess.

[No Elephants]

1. Dang, Messed up the quote function again and it's too late to edit.

[Enthusiast]

2. That's okay. But I ask you,

"Who would know better than Geithner?"

They expect us to take them seriously, President Obama too. All of them engaged in pulling this massive continuing act of fraud, pulling the wool over the eyes of the people of the world.

[Enthusiast]

3. I am heartbroken

that Fiat is now the owner of all of Chrysler. It's a long and meaningless reason why.