‘A Dodge dealer’s perspective’ on the government closing his business

Recently, 1,889 Dodge/Chrysler and GM dealers saw their franchises simply evaporate.

Al Bilton of Bilton-Behr Chevrolet in Holly Hill, S.C., said, “I do not receive one dime from GM to keep my dealership open. I pay for every car, truck and part I order. I do not think that closing my Chevrolet dealership and putting good, hardworking people out of work relieves our national economic crisis.”

Detroit-area Dodge dealer Marvin Tamaroff wrote the following opinion piece, which is still posted on his dealership’s Web site. The dealership now sells only used and foreign cars.

To reflect current reality, the future tense he wrote it in has been changed to the past. He and the other Chrysler-product dealers lost their fight when the Supreme Court turned down their case, but his voice still deserves to be heard.

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“A Dodge Dealer’s Perspective”
By Marvin M. Tamaroff
Under President Barack Obama’s direction, Chrysler used the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to terminate 789 Dodge/Chrysler dealer franchise agreements arbitrarily, capriciously and without due process of law.

Many of the Dodge/Chrysler dealers were profitable, employed quality employees, support their communities and provide the necessary competition to ensure that customers received competitively priced vehicles. By reducing the number of dealers, you are certain to reduce competition. The undesired effect will be increased prices for cars.

Additionally, Chrysler took away my franchise without compensating me for its value. I have invested millions of dollars to acquire the Dodge franchise, the dealership facility and the real estate. Chrysler transferred my franchise and all the goodwill I created to a Chrysler competitor across the street free of charge.

This occurred despite my Tamaroff Dodge dealership continuously achieving high sales, high customer satisfaction ratings, a 5-star dealer status (Chrysler’s highest award), and over 22 years having built a loyal customer base.

It is like Crystal Night in Nazi Germany in 1938, but instead of the Nazis seizing private property without due process of law and compensation, Chrysler and President Obama are using the power of a federal bankruptcy judge to run roughshod over the rights of Dodge dealers. Chrysler and Obama are purposely avoiding all state laws and some federal laws designed to protect the dealer from the overwhelming power of the manufacturer.

Furthermore, where was the due process for an unconstitutional taking of my franchise rights without just compensation?

I am a World War II veteran and former POW who risked my life to defeat national socialism and Hitler’s tyrannical Nazi regime. Never in my 82 years (50 years as an auto dealer and mechanical engineer) would I have anticipated the president of the United States and an appointed federal bankruptcy judge seizing my property and potentially causing me to go into bankruptcy, and in the process acting as instruments of fascism.

President Obama: Is this the change you promised the American people?

To add insult to injury, Chrysler, at this date, will not buy back any of the dealers’ new car inventory — inventory they pushed on dealers in the last 90 days, threatening that if they did not purchase the cars they would be remembered come “termination day.”

The worst point about this is the painful effect of laying off our people, many of whom have been with our company since the beginning. They are like family. It is like throwing your kids out on the street, with no job, no money and no health care.

Obama is directly responsible for orchestrating this ill-conceived plan.

If the executive branch and judicial branch can successfully complete this illegal seizure of property and transfer of wealth from one dealer to another, then is any American’s private property safe from government seizure?

Sharman’s column appears each Tuesday on the editorial page.