Dan Quayle’s and John Snow’s Flunkies Putting Greed Ahead of America

quaylegmcrop.thumbnail.jpg (Image by twolf)

Now for an update from the most loathsome intersection of the financial and the auto crisis…

You’ll recall that last we heard, Chrysler was hoping to stay alive long enough to have Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne swoop in and save it. Even if that happens, though, Chrysler will need to get some customers to buy its cars until such a time as Marchionne can do his magic.

And to get customers, they’re going to need to get credit to offer those customers. As a reminder, to get credit, they’re sort of reliant on Chrysler Financial, a separate company from Chrysler, the part Cerberus wants to keep.

Only, the flunkies that John Snow and Dan Quayle have running Chrysler Financial are refusing to take government money to get that credit because–you guessed it–they don’t want executive pay limits.

Top officials at Chrysler Financial turned away a $750 million government loan because executives didn’t want to abide by new federal limits on pay, sources familiar with the matter say.

The government had been offering the loan earlier this month as part of its efforts to prop up the ailing auto industry, including Chrysler, which is racing to avoid bankruptcy. Chrysler Financial is a vital lender to Chrysler dealerships and customers.

In forgoing the loan, Chrysler Financial opted to use more expensive financing from private banks, adding to the burdens of the already fragile automaker and its financing company.

Oh. And don’t wory. Jamie Dimon and Vikram Pandit are in on the act, too:

But by forgoing the government loan, the company must borrow money from a group of private banks, including JP Morgan and Citigroup, sources said. That line of financing had been arranged in August, when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, according to an industry official. The financing from the private banks comes at a higher borrowing cost for Chrysler Financial, a source said. 

Because that’s what Michigan needs, to owe JP Morgan Chase more money.

Read the whole story. It’ll get you saying "loathsome" too.

So nice to see the guy who used to be Vice President and the guy who used to be Treasury Secretary showing such an interest in the future of our country.