The following is from Indiana State Treasurer, Richard Mourdock, who waged a lonely, principle-based, but ultimately-doomed effort to see the rule of law upheld in the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings. We could use a few more Mourdocks at the national level.
June 22, 2009
Dear Friends & Supporters:
Now that all of the media attention and inquires have lessened, I wanted to thank all of you for the supportive phone calls, kind notes, and encouraging e-mails regarding Indiana’s involvement in the Chrysler, LLC bankruptcy proceedings. I have tried to respond to each of you individually, but given the enormous number of letters, calls, and emails have made that impossible. Forgive me for this impersonal note, which may read like a form letter, but please know that I have been personally touched by the incredible response of kindness by all of you.
From the beginning, Indiana’s legal challenges to the Chrysler, LLC bankruptcy dealt with the federal government throwing away the rules of bankruptcy law to benefit a select few. Indiana’s retired state police officers, retired teachers, and Hoosier taxpayers were victimized by illegal acts of the federal government, which was wrong. Let me be very clear, we never once suggest that Chrysler, LLC had broken the law. In reality, Chrysler, LLC, like any other corporation, could not have ignored 150 years of bankruptcy law like the federal government did.
I hold as a point of pride -- despite all the attacks by a couple of newspaper editorials, Chrysler, LLC, Indiana Congressman Joe Donnelly, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, and some others -- no one EVER challenged us on the points of law. In the New York Bankruptcy Court, the New York District Court, the United States 2nd District Court of Appeals, and even the United States Supreme Court, no attorney for either the federal government or Chrysler, LLC, ever attempted to dispute our legal arguments. Even in the denial of our request to halt the bankruptcy proceedings by the Supreme Court of the United States, Madame Justice Ginsburg stated, “This denial of stay is not a decision on the merits on the underlying legal issues.” In essence, the Supreme Court prohibited our case from being heard on a technicality therefore deciding not to rule on the points of law that we raised.
The bankruptcy proceedings are finished and most of Chrysler, LLC is now the Chrysler Group. I hope to see them be productive, profitable, and prosperous.
Thank you again for your words of encouragement and for your support of my efforts to protect Indiana’s retirees and taxpayers.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Mourdock
Indiana Treasurer of State
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