Texas GOP Vote

Creditors of the City of Stockton, California probably wish that Judge Christopher Klein's ruling that the city can proceed into bankruptcy over their objections was an April Fools joke, but it just isn't so. Monday, April 1, Judge Klein accepted the bankruptcy application of Stockton after creditors walked away from negotiations.

It is good to see a bankruptcy judge who won't let creditors walk all over him, unlike Judge Robert Gerber who let creditors in the General Motors bankruptcy case make a fool of him by hiding a $367 million payment to GM Canada. Because of this, Gerber is having to revisit this case and the entire GM bankruptcy could come unraveled.   Read more »

Hearings are nothing new in bankruptcy courts, or any other courts for that matter, but a hearing held this month in Judge Robert Gerber's court in the Southern District of New York could have a dramatic impact on the troubled General Motors (GM) bankruptcy.  In "Bankruptcy Courts Part 7 - General Motors Revisited by Judge Robert Gerber... Oops", I reported about an error made during the rushed 44 day bankruptcy

Is it Girls or Bankruptcy Judges that have Gone Wild?

Researching everything going on in relation to the bankruptcy series I have been writing can be pretty dry. However, recently on Bankruptcy Law Review, I came across something that is both interesting and revealing at the same time. It seems the company behind Girls Gone Wild (GGW) has been forced into the bankruptcy courts. The Chapter 11 case was filed in the Central District of California bankruptcy courts in Los Angeles.

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 »

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,