Is There a Mopargate on the Horizon? (Update With Josh Painter's Story on GM Closing in Alaska)

Gateway Pundit has more interesting facts on the closing of Chrysler dealerships.

Big Dem Donor Group allowed to keep all 6 Chrysler dealerships open.... Local competitors eliminated by Obama's task force!!

Too early to tell, but a pattern is emerging. With this pattern, I am reminded of Maxine Waters' comments on small dealerships. Her speaking on the matter was directed at the concern on minority dealerships.



The fact is on the matter of minority owned dealerships, 32 dealerships were closed but what is not known, is their political ties.

And given Nardelli is the CEO, it is no surprise on how this is turning out.

Nardelli was "Little Jack" at G.E. and then damn near ruined Home Depot by cutting F.T. employees and replacing them with less knowledgeable P.T. employees.

Update:

Kenneth Zangara (Zangara Dodge, Inc./Car Dealer), (Zip code: 87111) $400 to REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE OF NEW MEXICO on 09/18/07



The news on this dealership was; its credit was shut down and Chrysler would not let him stay open.

This dealership was consistently the largest dealership in New Mexico. And it is strange that in a 2008 press release, Ken Zangara was listed as one of the dealers participating in the testimony on Capitol Hill.

More details on Ken Zangara are found here

For more almost two decades, Ken Zangara was a good soldier for Chrysler. For many years he was the largest Dodge dealer in New Mexico, and he served a term as chairman of the Dodge National Dealer Council.

The Albuquerque Dodge dealer was active in Republican Party politics, too, and knew President George W. Bush. Zangara used his connections in Congress to get Chrysler LLC and its dealers an audience with the White House when the embattled company sought a federal loan late last year.

At an exclusive Jan. 18 White House farewell party for Bush, Zangara, 56, spoke with the man for whom he had raised so much campaign money. Zangara recalls ...

Hmmmmmmmm very interesting...

Update:

Take note of how Maxine Waters is concerned about the smaller dealerships being bought up by the bigger ones. The gist of her argument was on saving minority owned dealerships.

In the news you will find the minority owned Burt Dodge dealership being closed.

The owner, Lloyd Chavez was listed as the owner of the United States largest minority owned dealership.

And then you have this.

Vail-based businessman George Gillett Jr. is close to buying a big portion of the Burt Automotive empire, a source tells INDenverTimes. Burt Automotive, headed by Lloyd Chavez and his son, L.G. Chavez Jr., is the largest minority-owned automobile dealership in the nation and one of the largest Hispanic businesses in the U.S. The privately held company generated more than $2.1 billion in revenues in 2007.

Gillett, whose diverse holdings include the Vista Auto Group dealership chain, is teaming up with auto dealer veteran Rod Buscher to buy dealerships from Burt, according to a source, who spoke to INDenverTimes on the condition that his name not be revealed. Buscher previously was a partner with John Elway, a former Denver Broncos quarterback, for his automobile dealerships.

The interesting part is Vail businessman George Gillet Jr. and who he likes to contribute to.

George Gillett (Booth Creek Management/Chairman), (Zip code: 81657) $2300 to UDALL FOR COLORADO on 03/31/07

George N. Gillett, Jr. (Booth Creek Management Corp./Chairm), (Zip code: 81657) $5000to DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE on 08/18/06

Update:

Irma Elder was another owner of a minority run dealership that was closed.

IRMA ELDER (TROY FORD MOTOR CORP) $1000 to MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE on 06/09/00

IRMA B ELDER (TROY FORD MOTOR CORP) $1000 to MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE on 06/08/99

IRMA B ELDER (TRAY FORD MOTOR CORP), (Zip code: 48013) $250 to MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE on 08/19/93

Another individual who orginally was thought to have his dealership closed, found out that it was not closed. The individual Frank Rodriguez according to Open Secrets, donated to the PAC for dealers.

Update:

From Josh Painter on GM closing in Alaska.

Sarah was right: Obama did close GM Dealership

A many thanks to Michelle Malkin and DirectorBlue for the plug.

This story seems to have legs....

Update:

Motor City Madness: Obama Putting Mo Money in Motown

Motor city Madness

Originally, it was thought that 140 minority owned Chrysler dealers out of the 170 minority owned Chrysler dealers were going to be closed.

But the facts on the closing of the Chrysler dealerships are; out of some 170 minority owned Chrysler dealers, only about 32-38 minority owned Chrysler dealers were closed.

The original reason for the high number was; the minority dealers were smaller in size and offered only one brand. So given that thought process, why did so many stay open? My guess is Obama, Maxine Waters and politics.

What I find interesting is as was reported; out of 14 metro dealerships in the Detroit area that were closed none were minority owned.

So here is a published list of 38 Chrysler dealers that are closing in Michigan.

Update:

Is Obama closing GOP car dealers?

Posts at RedState, Reliapundit, American Thinker, Gateway Pundit, Joey Smith and Doug Ross pointed initially at the remarkable number of closed Chrysler dealerships whose owners happen to have been contributors to Obama opponents, mainly Republicans.

But those observations were all couched with important qualifiers, particularly that all conclusions were necessarily preliminary, pending completion of a comprehensive analysis of the political contributions by all closed Chrysler dealership owners had been done and comparison of those with contributions by dealers who are not being closed.

That said, when multiple dealers who have been closed are found to have contributed millions to Republicans and mere hundreds to Obama, the serious number-crunching cannot be completed too soon.

Meanwhile, Ross seems to be ground zero for this story, and I encourage you to check out his multiple updates at http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/05/red-alert-did-campaign-contributions.html.

Update:

News Busters has Michelle Malkin's Interview on Fox Morning

Update

Will Members Within the Obama Administration and Chrysler Face a Civil Rights Lawsuit by Chrysler Dealers?

There is a pattern developing in the closing of Chrysler dealerships that have the look of some bias. If this pattern continues, then I would bet that Chrysler and the actors for federal government may be hit with a civil rights lawsuit.

The Chrysler Minority Report

When you look for trouble, patterns or bias, start at the top and work your way down. In this case, I looked at the group Chrysler Minority Dealers Assoc, (CMDA) that has formed a political exploratory committee and no doubt has some political clout. They are no different than unions and I would think that their representation towards their own members may show some political bias.

So let the investigating begin….

Chrysler Minority Dealers

Reginald Hubbard - Donated to Democrats

Jerry Dillard- Park Dodge Chrysler - No political data at this time.

Al Flores - No political data found at this time

John Roy - Southland Chrysler (closed) - While he donated to Democrats, he had filed for foreclosure in March, before the list came out. Some bloggers have used this a possible break in a common theme in the Chrysler dealership closures.

Frankly, it doesn’t compute since the dealership was well underway on closing its doors when it filed for bankruptcy and Chrysler came out with its list.

Jay Rivchin - Southdade Dodge - No political data found at this time.

Jesse Greathouse - Donated to Obama’s campaign.

Hal Howard - Goldsboro Chrysler (closed) - Donated to a Democrat

Interesting post can be found here. It seems according to the date of the post (December 31st, 2008) , Goldsboro Chrysler may have been in trouble long before any decision was being made by Obama.

Dale Early - Deerbrook Forest - No political data but in an early May, 2009 A.P. story, he had some interesting comments.

Sil Gonzales - Casa de Gonzales Chrysler Jeep - Co-Chairman of the exploratory PAC for CMDA. He donated to Democrat Xavier Beccera who vice Chair of the House Democrat Caucus.

Carlos Hidalgo - Folsom Lake Dodge - No political data

Eugene Johnson - Rainer Dodge - Donated to National Dealership Pac

Damian Mills - Stateline Motors - No political data at this time.

Fernando Falcon - Champion Chrysler - Donated to Obama.

Yonne Howell - Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Tulsa - No political data at this time.

Ed Corley - Ed Corley Dodge - Donated to the NADA PAC.

Randy Henderson - Webster Chrysler - Donated to NADA PAC.

Winston Pittman Sr. - Cardinal Chrysler Jeep Dodge - Donated To Obama and Republicans.

Out of the group listed, six donated to Democrats. And out of this group, only two were closed but it seems the two were in bankruptcy before the list came out from Chrysler.

The Facts are Black and White

The following is a list of top African American dealers and the list shows who donated to who and who is closed, but it is not complete at this time. Some of the individuals are members of CMDA so some of the information is redundant. But a pattern emerges here.

Boyland Auto Group (Open) Dorian Boyland, Gresham, Or.

Martin Chrysler (Open) Gail Martin, Bowling Green, Ky.

Cardinal Chrysler (Open) Winston Pittman, Louisville, Ky. Donated to Obama and Republicans.

Advantage Chrysler (Open) Desmond Roberts, Des Plaines, Il.

Metrolina Chrysler (Open) Reginald Hubbard - Charlotte, N.C. - Donated to Democrats.

Ed Corley Chrysler (Open) Eddie Corley, Gallup and Grants, N.M. Political ties unknown at this time.

Huntsville Dodge (Open)Ellenae Fairhurst - Huntsville, Ala.

Champion Chrysler (Open)Fernando Falcon - Indianapolis - Donated to Obama.

Stone Mountain (Open)Darryl Ford - Stone Mountain, Ga.

Stateline Chrysler (Open)Damian Mills - Fort Mill, S.C.

Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Tulsa (Open) Yvonne Howell - Tulsa, Ok.

Superstition Springs Chrysler (Open) Alfonzo Smith - Mesa, Ariz.

Webster Chrysler(Open)Randolph Henderson - Webster, N.Y.

Jordan Frazier Chrysler Jeep Dodge (Open)Jordan Frazier - Bessemer, Ala.

Deerbrook Forest(Open)E. Dale Early - Kingwood, Texas

Vicksburg Chrysler Jeep Dodge (Open) Monti Long - Vicksburg, Mich.

Park Dodge Chrysler Jeep (Open) Jerome Dillard - Lexington Park, Md.

Cross Road Chrysler (Open)Jesse Greathouse - Oklahoma City, Okla. Donated to Obama’s campaign

Southland Chrysler(Closed)John Roy Southaven, - Donated to Democrats but was in bankruptcy before the list came out from Chrysler.

I noticed that there was not one minority owned dealership in the Metro Detroit area listed on the top African American Dealerships, but according to news reports, there were no minority owned dealerships that were closed in the Metro Detroit area.

This list and others will be developed as time goes on. For now, time is limited and as such, updates will continue