JUSTICE GINSBURG CALLS A "TIME OUT" ON THE FIAT-IZATION OF CHRYSLER

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Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has temporarily stayed the Section 363 sale of Chrysler's assets to FIAT.

Exactly what caught Justice Ginsburg's attention is unknown. Greedy trial lawyer pirates oppose the deal because it will cut off the products liability gravy train (at least until the "new" FIAT-controlled Chrysler builds something the Naderites consider "unsafe at any speed").

The plight of the Indiana pensioners might have also snagged Justice Ginsburg's attention. The Obama Administration-orchestrated 363 sale has upended normal bankruptcy expectations and stands to crush Chrysler's secured creditors (to the benefit of unsecured obligations to Chrysler's unions).

FIAT has threatened to bail out if the sugary deal isn't closed by June 15, 2009. But with the U.S. Treasury fronting Chrysler's post-petition financing, FIAT's "drop dead date" is clearly artificial.

The pause may be only temporary. Ginsburg could dump the stay on her own (probable if she's sensitive to the liberal trade winds pushing the FIAT buyout). Or a majority of the Supreme Court could rewrite bankruptcy law by pragmatically deferring to the judgments of the inferior courts.

But for the moment, Obama's rocket-sled bankruptcy of Chrysler has stalled like a rust-eaten Plymouth Volare' in rush-hour traffic.