Congress Putting the Light of Truth on the Delphi Bankruptcy Scandal of Judge Robert Drain

Chairman John Mica and Congressman Mike TurnerJudge Robert Drain allowed the Treasury Department under then Secretary and infamous tax-cheat Timothy Geithner to steal the pensions of over 20,000 salaried pensioners of Delphi during its bankruptcy case. The pension deal, which topped up the pensions of United Auto Workers and United Steel Workers Unions was political payback for union support during the 44 day bankruptcy case of General Motors in Judge Robert Gerber's court. An article in Bankruptcy Law Review by Judge Lana Shadwick highlights the incredible story of this pension theft brokered in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy courts.

Judge Lana Shadwick, editor, Bankruptcy Law ReviewShadwick asks the question, "Are non-union salaried retirees treated differently than union retirees after a government bailout?" Clearly, that is exactly what happened. The White House has, almost since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, been going about picking winners and losers in our troubled economy. The Delphi case is one of the very first examples.

Judge Shadwick spoke with Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) who has been carrying the sword on behalf of the Delphi salaried retirees. He told Shadwick that our bankruptcy laws have, at their core, the assumption that there are fiduciary duties during the proceedings. He expressed outrage to Shadwick about the political connection to the bankruptcy proceedings and the power that one group had over the outcome.

Judge Robert Drain, SDNY - Delphi ScandalDuring a conversation with Judge Robert Drain at the National Council of Bankruptcy Judges annual meeting in San Diego last fall, Drain also acknowledged this political connection. In part 4 of my bankruptcy court series, "Fairness and Consistency Go Down the Drain", Judge Drain said, "There's the other aspect of this I can't comment on and that's the politics of it." But then he did...

"That was an issue that we could never really deal with." Drain continued. "It was the source of the money and that's the government." Drain danced around this topic very carefully but pretty much admitted what Congressman Mike Turner explained in my earlier interview, that the government was sitting on both sides of the table in this case and was making the rules up as they went. He explained there was no other source of funds at that time.

Drain concluded, "That's just the political end that we can't deal with. But legally, once the money is there, you have to divide it up. There was a distinction between those who had a CBA and those who did not." Again, not entirely true as only UAW and USW pensions were protected as part of the political payback.

More hearings will be held by the Congressional Oversight Committee as they seek to find the truth and restore justice to the members of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association who were so wrongly injured in this political payback of the Obama Administration. TexasGOPVote will be staying with this story until justice is delivered.

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