Texas GOP Vote

Is 44 days too fast to move a bankruptcy the size of General Motors (GM) through the courts system without missing something major?  Apparently so, as Judge Robert Gerber, in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Bankruptcy Court, is now having to revisit this case because of some potentially damaging issues involving the Canadian subsidiary of GM and alleged improper transfer of assets to hedge funds. I have previously reported on the GM bankruptcy and spoke with Judge Gerber about the Canadian lock-up funds in San Diego last year.   Read more »

A staple food group icon of an overweight America now becomes an example of what is wrong in our business system and bankruptcy processes. In an announcement last Friday, November 16th, Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn, said "We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision [to shutdown Hostess' entire business], but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike."  So how exactly was the money spent after the 2004 restructuring by private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings?  Was it well directed toward rebuilding the company's business?  The decision to force Irving, Texas based Hostess and their entire brand line of products out of business will mean the end of 18,500 jobs and two billion Twinkies.  But who walked away with the dough?

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:  According to the Houston Business Journal at 2:50 p.m. today, Hostess Brands, Inc. and the BCTGMI Union have entered into a confidential mediation stopping the planned shutdown of the company.   Read more »

While investigating the bankruptcy scandal which, under Obama-appointee Timothy Geithner's influence, stole hard-earned and well-funded pensions from 20,000 auto workers, I stumbled into an underworld of law and questionable processes within our nation's bankruptcy court system.  At the recent National Council of Bankruptcy Judges Conference in San Diego last month, I heard phrases like “melting ice cubes,” “rotting fish,” and “fox guarding the hen house” frequently used among 150 federal judges to rationalize certain bankruptcy court proceedings.  Is this a practice of law?  I was shocked to learn that many bankruptcy judges think that it is fine to go after ordinary shareholders of companies that enter bankruptcy in order to disgorge the value of their investments.  They even had a conference session

In my first article about the Delphi Salaried Retirees Pension scandal, I posted an ad from Let Freedom Ring (LFR), an organization that has been shining a very bright light on this scandal and is trying to help these 20,000 retirees regain the pension they worked their entire lives for that was stolen from them by the Obama Administration through the GM/Delphi bankruptcy process. While in Washington, DC last week,