Written Statement of Hans Bader Senior Attorney, Competitive Enterprise Institute U.S.

House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending Hearing Entitled Lasting Implications of the General Motors Bailout June 22, 2011

Thank you, Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Kucinich, and Members of the Subcommittee, for giving me the opportunity to comment for the record, on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which focuses on regulatory issues. SUMMARY Recently, journalists criticized the Administration for deceiving the public about the extent to which Chrysler had repaid taxpayers for its bailout: Glenn Kessler, who writes the Fact Checker column for the Washington Post, recently awarded the President three Pinocchios (out of four) for his claim that Chrysler has repaid every dime and more of what it owes American taxpayers for their support during my presidency.1 But this is not the first time such deception has occurred. Last year, lawmakers like Senator Grassley, the TARP Inspector General, and financial journalists criticized General Motors advertising campaign claiming to have paid back taxpayers for its bailout, noting that GM had used government bailout money (from a TARP escrow account) to repay $6.7 billion of the $50 billion it had earlier received from taxpayers.2 Shortly after GMs ad campaign began, the Treasury Secretary trumpeted GMs claim that it had paid back taxpayers,3 even though former auto czar Steve Rattner later admitted that this claim was somewhat misleading.4 From documents recently-released under the Freedom of Information Act,5 it is now clear that Administration officials had advance notice that General Motors would run those deceptive ads claiming to have paid taxpayers back for its bailout, and did not object to those ads despite having the opportunity to do so. In short, Secretary Geithner publicly repeated GMs deceptive claims, even though the Treasury Department had weeks in which to review GMs claims and discover that they were misleading, and their misleading nature was readily obvious to others, like the TARP inspector general, members of Congress, and business reporters. Treasury Department Documents released last week in response to CEIs Freedom of Information Act request illustrate this.6 Those documents illustrate that GM and the Obama Administration conferred extensively on GMs PR strategy regarding the companys controversial TV and print ad campaign in 2010, in which GM misleadingly claimed to have repaid what it received from taxpayers. In those ads, GMs then-CEO, Ed Whitacre, claimed
Cal Thomas, Weiner Scandal Makes Lying Key to Term Limits for Congress, Washington Examiner, June 21, 2011, at pg. 20, quoting Glenn Kessler, President Obamas Phony Accounting On the Auto Industry Bailout, Washington Post, June 7, 2011 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/president-obamas-phonyaccounting-on-the-auto-industry-bailout/2011/06/06/AG3nefKH_blog.html). 2 See Gretchen Morgenson, Repaying Taxpayers With Their Own Cash, New York Times, May 2, 2010, at BU1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/business/02gret.html) (quoting Senator Grassley, noting that the company simply used other funds held by the Treasury to pay off its original loan and expressing the view that truth seekers the nation over, therefore, are indebted to Senator Charles E. Grassley); Editorial, Geithner and GM Tell a Whopper, Washington Examiner, May 3, 2010, at pg. 2 (quoting Inspector general Neil Barofsky) (http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/geithner-and-gm-tell-whopper-updated). 3 See Repaying Taxpayers With Their Own Cash, New York Times, May 2, 2010, at BU1; Reuters, UPDATE 1-GM firmly on road to viability -US Treasury, April 21, 2010 (www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2118630820100421). 4 Ex-Auto Czar Defends Bailout, Detroit News, May 11, 2010, at B6. 5 These documents are available on the Internet at http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf. 6 See http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf (containing these documents).
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GM had already repaid its government bailout loan in full, with interest, five years ahead of schedule.7 CEIS DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING COMPLAINT In May 2010, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a deceptive advertising complaint with the FTC, and GM stopped running the ads.8 CEIS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST CEI also filed a Freedom of Information request with Treasury for documents on the ad campaign.9 Those documents were finally released last month, after a year of delay far beyond the 20-day legal deadline for responding to FOIA requests.10 THE GOVERNMENTS COLLUSION WITH GMS DECEPTIVE PR STRATEGY The documents show GM coordinating PR strategy with the Obama Administration more than three weeks before launching the ad campaign claiming to have paid back taxpayers.11 The White House received some of those GM materials at least two weeks before the ad campaign began. The communications between the Treasury, the White House, and GM on this PR effort were extensive. Starting on March 30, 2010, Brian Deese from the Executive Office of the President and many Treasury Department officials began exchanging emails related to the announcement. (See pages 55-59, 97-102.12) These emails included draft schedules, draft remarks to be given by GM CEO Ed Whitacre, and draft press releases from both GM and the Treasury Department. See pp. 9-14; 18-24; 36-39; 83-96. The Treasury Department saw the misleading advertisements GM was planning to make in advance, and did not object, despite having ample opportunity to do so. Indeed, Treasury Secretary Geithner issued a statement at the start of GMs ad campaign, trumpeting its misleading claims, crowing that GM had repaid in full the $4.7 billion balance it owed under the governments Trouble Asset Relief Program.13 But this so-called repayment was just a deceptive accounting trick.14 GM used government
Matthew Jaffe & Alice Gomstyn, GM Under Fire for 'Misleading' Bailout Ad, ABC News, April 30, 2010 http://abcnews.go.com/Business/general-motors-fire-misleading-bailout-ad/story?id=10513568. 8 See Dave Boyer, Watchdog Questions GM Bailout Repayment, Washington Times, June 3, 2011, at A3. The FTC Complaint is found at http://cei.org/cei_files/fm/active/0/FTC%20Complaint%20about%20GM%20Bailout%20Ads.pdf. See also General Motors Accused of Fraud Over Misleading Claim That It Paid Back Taxpayers; CEI Files FTC Complaint, Openmarket.org, May 4, 2010 (http://www.openmarket.org/2010/05/04/general-motors-accused-of-fraud-overmisleading-claim-that-it-paid-back-taxpayers-cei-files-ftc-complaint/). 9 http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI_FOIA_request_to_Treasury.pdf. 10 See http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf. See also Dave Boyer, Watchdog Questions GM Bailout Repayment, Washington Times, June 3, 2011, at A3 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/2/watchdog-questions-gm-bailout-repayment/ 11 See http://cei.org/legal-briefs/ceis-foia-treasury-auto-bailout. 12 See http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf (containing these documents). 13 See Reuters, UPDATE 1-GM firmly on road to viability -US Treasury, April 21, 2010 (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2118630820100421). 14 See Kathleen Pender, GM Repays Federal Loan With Government Money, San Francisco Chronicle, April 27, 2010, at D1 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/26/BUS91D55HR.DTL).
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bailout money to make the repayment.15 As the Washington Examiner noted, Secretary Geithner was endorsing a blatant misrepresentation.16 More importantly, this so-called repayment was just a drop in the bucket compared to what GM had received from taxpayers. The federal government had yet to recover the lions share of the more than $50 billion it loaned the company. Why? Because that $50 billion was mostly converted into stock held by the Treasury Department stock worth far less than the billions the federal government injected into the company.17 These claims were deeply misleading, as Senator Charles Grassley and the TARP Inspector General noted. GMs statement that we have repaid our government loans in full, with interest was misleading,according to Neil Barofsky, inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program . . . the source of funds for these quality [debt] payments will be other TARP funds currently held in an escrow account.18 Senator Grassley noted that TARP loans were not repaid from money GM is earning selling cars, as GM and the administration have claimed in their speeches, press releases and television commercials.19 Eventually, financial reporters for newspapers like the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle ridiculed these false claims. Gretchen Morgenson of the Times pointed out that the company simply used other funds held by the Treasury to pay off its original loan.20 Kathleen Pender of the Chronicle noted that GM repaid its government loan with other government money.21 The Washington Times observed that General Motors Lost $3.4 billion just before running the ad; GM specifically used funds it received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to pay off the government loan.22

See Editorial, GMs Big Lie: Company Hasnt Truly Repaid Loans, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, April 27, 2010, at A11 (GM repaid a $6.7 billion loan to the U.S. Treasury from bailout funds made available to the company through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. That point has been confirmed by TARP inspector general Neil Barofsky. In other words, GM has essentially moved money from one bailout bucket to another. Not only has the company not paid back the loan with new earnings from better products, it effectively hasn't paid back anything). 16 See Editorial, Geithner and GM Tell a Whopper, Washington Examiner, May 3, 2010, at pg. 2 (http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/geithner-and-gm-tell-whopper-updated) 17 Michael OBrien, General Motors promises to repay federal loans early despite large losses, The Hill, Nov. 16, 2009 (http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/68027-general-motors-vows-to-repay-loans-earlydespite-large-losses). 18 See Editorial, Geithner and GM Tell a Whopper, Washington Examiner, May 3, 2010, at pg. 2 (http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/geithner-and-gm-tell-whopper-updated). 19 See Fox News, GM Could Be in Hot Water With FTC Over Truth in Advertising, April 23, 2010 (quoting Senator Grassley, and also quoting Inspector General Barofskys observation that GMs repayment isnt from earnings, but rather from another pool of TARP money) (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/23/gm-hot-water-ftctruth-advertising/). 20 See Gretchen Morgenson, Repaying Taxpayers With Their Own Cash, New York Times, May 2, 2010, at BU1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/business/02gret.html). 21 See Kathleen Pender, GM repays federal loan with government money, San Francisco Chronicle, April 27, 2010, at D1, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/26/BUS91D55HR.DTL. 22 Editorial, Government Motors Repayment Fraud, Washington Times, April 26, 2010 at B2 (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/23/government-motors-repayment-fraud).

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Only after the falsity of GMs claims became obvious to the media and many in the general public did some Administration officials distance themselves from them. An April 29 email shows Treasury trying to prepare a response today to escalating criticism. (See pg. 1123) On May 10, 2010, former auto czar Steve Rattner publicly admitted that GM may have slightly elasticized the reality of things in its claims of repayment.24 Treasury officials privately began to look for ways to respond to this reality. Rattners successor, Ron Bloom, wanted a couple bullet points for response if this comes up. (See pp. 61-62. 25) The Treasury Departments role in facilitating GMs deception may be far greater than the documents reveal, because the Treasury Department withheld some of the documents covered by the FOIA request, including portions of documents shedding light on White House involvement. For example, a blacked out item in the Treasury document release is a March 30 email from Brian Deese in the Executive Office regarding GMs upcoming campaign. All of its content was blacked out except for the opening words, Hi guys. (See pages 58-59) TEMPORARY GOOD FORTUNE MASKS GM AND CHRYSLERS WEAKNESSES The Treasury Department delayed in responding to CEIs FOIA request for a year. During that time, GM and Chryslers profits temporarily spiked,26 enabling the Administration to play up the alleged success of the auto bailout. (For example, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote a Washington Post Op-Ed on June 1, 2011 with a similarly-misleading statement that Chrysler had repaid the government for its bailout.27) GMs finances were temporarily propped up by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that reduced Toyotas production capacity.28 Journalist Mickey Kaus wrote that Sales and prices are up recently in part only because competing Japanese car suppliers have been crippled by the earthquake and tsunami. GMs stock fell today and is still below the initial IPO price.29 News reports also suggest that GMs profits have been artificially puffed up by massive deferral of billions of dollars in growing UAW pension obligations.30

See http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf (containing these documents). Ex-Auto Czar Defends Bailout, Detroit News, May 11, 2010, at B6. 25 See http://cei.org/sites/default/files/CEI%20FOIA%20Composite.pdf (containing these documents). 26 See Ben Klayman & Deepa Seetharaman, May Auto Sales Dip as Price Strategy Backfires, Reuters, June 1, 2011 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110601/bs_nm/us_usa_autosales_7). 27 See Timothy Geithner, A Rescue Worth Fueling, June 1, 2011, at A17. 28 See Ben Klayman & Deepa Seetharaman, May Auto Sales Dip as Price Strategy Backfires, Reuters, June 1, 2011 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110601/bs_nm/us_usa_autosales_7; Mickey Kaus, Your GM Profit Hype Antidote, Daily Caller, May 5, 2011 (http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/05/gm-profit-hype-antidote/); Ted Frank, Told-you-so dept.: USDOT exonerates Toyota, Point of Law, July 13, 2010 (http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/07/toldyouso-dept.php). 29 See Mickey Kaus, Your GM Profit Hype Antidote, Daily Caller, May 5, 2011 (http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/05/gm-profit-hype-antidote/). 30 Charles Lane, The GM Bailouts Ambiguous Success, Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2010 (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/10/the_gm_bailouts_ambiguous_succ.html)
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Another temporary boost for GM and Chrysler was the bad PR regarding Toyotas alleged safety defects in its cars, which turned out to be largely bogus. (The Toyota crashes turned out to have been caused largely, if not entirely, by driver error, not by manufacturing defects).31 These things temporarily drove buyers away from Toyota to GM and Chrysler, artificially pumping up their profits. But massive earthquakes and tsunamis like the one that hit Japan occur there only once or twice a century, and cant keep GM going in the long run: Car sales sputtered in May, slumping to levels that were much lower than expected as higher vehicle prices led consumers to put off purchases in the face of a weakening economy. Tightening supplies of vehicles after the Japan earthquake emboldened many companies . . . to raise car and truck prices, a strategy that analysts and investors said had backfired. U.S. automakers like GM reported sales on Wednesday that fell short of expectations as the industry experienced its lowest sales rate in eight months.32 Even in the short run, GM and Chrysler failed to fully capitalize on Toyotas misfortune. Instead, lower-cost Korean automakers took almost twice as much market share from the Japanese as American automakers did after the earthquake.33 The Washington Post argues that GM and Chryslers ability to survive over the long haul remains hampered by the fact that the administration did not press the United Auto Workers, its political ally, for even deeper labor cost reductions needed to maximize the automakers competitiveness.34 GM FACES LOOMING DANGERS THAT ARE LITTLE-KNOWN GM stock is worth money partly because the IRS earlier declared that GMs government ownership stake allows it to claim billions in tax savings that it would otherwise have had to forfeit as a result of its bankruptcy.35 If GM receives these tax benefits, it will cost the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars.36 But tax-law experts have recently questioned the legality of the

See Ted Frank, Washington Post Identifies Human Factor in Claims Against Toyota, Point of Law, Sept. 6, 2010 (http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/09/washington-post-4.php) (linking to Washington Post); Ted Frank, Told-you-so dept.: USDOT exonerates Toyota, Point of Law, July 13, 2010 (http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2010/07/toldyouso-dept.php). 32 See Ben Klayman & Deepa Seetharaman, May Auto Sales Dip as Price Strategy Backfires, Reuters, June 1, 2011 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110601/bs_nm/us_usa_autosales_7). 33 See Charles Lane, A Reality Check on the Auto Bailout, Washington Post, June 3, 2011 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/a-reality-check-on-the-autobailout/2011/03/04/AGM0YHIH_blog.html). 34 Editorial, Auto Bailout in the Balance: Was It Worth It?, Washington Post, June 2, 2011 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/auto-bailout-in-the-balance-was-it-worthit/2011/06/01/AGyeBZHH_story.html). 35 Editorial, GMs Tax Shelter: Another $16 billion not available to other car makers, Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2009, at A16 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203609204574314180298525294.html). See also Shikha Dalmia, General Motors Will Never Repay Taxpayers, Reason Magazine, May 24, 2011 (http://reason.com/archives/2011/05/24/general-motors-will-never-repa); Paul A. Eisenstein, GM Could Get $45 Billion Tax Break, Cheers and Gears, Nov. 3, 2010 (http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/71362-gm-could-get-45billion-tax-break/). 36 See David Skeel, The Real Cost of the Auto Bailouts, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2011, at A19 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303745304576361663907855834.html)

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IRSs ruling that GM is entitled to these tax savings.37 If it wasnt legally valid, GM will be worth much less, resulting in some very unhappy GM shareholders (and the Treasury Department will receive far less for any remaining GM shares it holds if it attempts to sell them, something not factored into existing estimates of the GM bailouts costs). Mickey Kaus, who grudgingly supported the bailouts, thinks that people who bought GM stock were suckers, since GM faces hidden perils, still has too much red tape and inefficiency, lacks effective internal controls, and is the beneficiary of accounting gimmicks and unrealistic assumptions about its future market share.38 Taxpayers still have not gotten back $27.2 billion that the government sank into GM.39 In that sense, taxpayers lost money on the sale of some of the governments shares in General Motors in the 2010 IPO.40 (They reportedly got at least $9 billion less for the stock that was sold in the IPO than taxpayers effectively paid for that stock.)41 THE HIDDEN COSTS OF THE BAILOUT In addition to the $50 billion in taxpayer money invested directly in GM, GM indirectly benefited from other taxpayer-supported programs like the billions spent on Cash for Clunkers (which cost taxpayers, used-car buyers, and used-car and car-parts businesses billions).42 GM is also receiving taxpayer subsidies for the Chevy Volt, despite allegations that it made false claims about that car, and its environmental benefits, in an attempt to achieve favorable publicity and curry favor with lawmakers concerned about global warming.43
37

See Law professor Paul L. Caron, Ramseyer & Rasmusen: IRS Had No Authority to Waive NOL Rules for GM, Tax Prof Blog, June 17, 2011 (http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2011/06/ramseyer-.html), citing J. Mark Ramseyer and Eric B. Rasmusen, Can the Treasury Exempt its Own Companies from Tax? The $45 Billion GM NOL Carry Forward June 16, 2011 (paper available at http://taxprof.typepad.com/files/gm-ramseyer-rasmusen.pdf). 38 Mickey Kaus, GM's IPO: Suckers, Found!, Newsweek, Kausfiles Blog, Nov. 19, 2010 (http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/kausfiles/2010/11/19/gm-s-ipo-suckers-found.html). 39 See ProPublica, Where Is the Money? Eye on the Bailout: General Motors (http://bailout.propublica.org/entities/233-general-motors). This figure would be even larger if one included the taxpayer money injected into GMs finance arm, GMAC. See Stephen Spruiell, GMs IPO, National Reviews The Corner, Nov. 18, 2010 (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253551/gms-ipo-stephen-spruiell). 40 See Why GMs IPO Was a Flop, Wall Street Journal Deal Journal blog, Nov. 18, 2010 (http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/11/18/gms-ipo-underwriters-a-master-class-in-marketing/). 41 Stephen Spruiell, GMs IPO, National Reviews The Corner, Nov. 18, 2010 (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253551/gms-ipo-stephen-spruiell). 42 See Jason Kuznicki, Cash for Clunkers, Indeed, League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Aug. 25, 2010 (http://ordinarygentlemen.com/blog/2010/08/25/cash-for-clunkers-indeed/) (Cash for Clunkers program resulted in higher prices for poor people who need a used car today), citing Michelle Krebs, Used Car Prices Rise to New Heights, Edmunds.com Analysis Shows, Auto Observer, June 30, 2010 (http://www.autoobserver.com/2010/06/used-carprices-rise-to-new-heights-edmundscom-analysis-shows.html); Stephen Spruiell, A Clunker of a Bill, National Reviews The Corner, July 30, 2009 (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/185073/clunker-bill/stephen-spruiell) (Cash for Clunkers imposed financial burdens on used-car and car-parts businesses); Ivan Osorio, Cash for Clunkers Real Cost, Openmarket Blog, Aug. 4, 2009 (summarizing estimates by experts) (http://www.openmarket.org/2010/09/20/2009/08/04/cash-for-clunkers-real-cost/). 43 See Charles Lane, The GM Bailouts Ambiguous Success, Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2010 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/10/the_gm_bailouts_ambiguous_succ.html); Did GM 'lie' about

In addition to these tangible costs, there are also intangible costs associated with how the bailout and related bankruptcy were carried out by the Administration. It has been criticized for giving the UAW much of General Motors stock, while largely wiping out the holdings of General Motors bondholders, some of whom were non-union employees who had invested their life savings in the company.44 Veteran political commentator Michael Barone called the Obama Administrations treatment of Chrysler and GM bondholders gangster government.45 GMU law professor Todd Zywicki called it an attack on the rule of law.46 Investors who share such perceptions are less likely to invest in the American economy, or buy bonds in U.S. manufacturing companies, thus shrinking job creation in the future.47 The Administration has cited various figures of jobs allegedly saved through the bailout. But these figures make little sense, since they include jobs created by foreign car manufacturers that didnt participate in the bailout, competitors of GM and Chrysler that would have expanded and hired more employees not less -- if GM and Chrysler had gone out of business. As the Washington Posts Charles Lane noted, the Administrations jobs figures cite jobs created by the foreign competitors of GM and Chrysler, and their competitors auto dealers, including not only the Detroit 3, but also all of the plants operated by foreign car makers in the U.S., the entire supply chain and all car dealerships around the country!48 These figures are even less credible than the previously-debunked claims by the Administration about the $800 billion stimulus package, which it defended by citing imaginary jobs created in 440 non-existent congressional districts, such as Arizonas 15th and 86th districts.49 Sincerely,

Hans Bader Senior Attorney Competitive Enterprise Institute

the Chevy Volt, The Week, Oct. 14, 2010 (http://theweek.com/article/index/208214/did-gm-lie-about-the-chevyvolt). 44 See Detroit News, GMs Small Bondholders Rally in Warren, April 30, 2009 (discussing bondholder losses). 45 See Michael Barone, White House Puts UAW Ahead of Property Rights, Washington Examiner, May 6, 2009 (http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2009/05/white-house-puts-uaw-ahead-property-rights). 46 See Todd Zywicki, Chrysler and the Rule of Law, Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009, at A19 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124217356836613091.html). 47 See John Berlau, GM IPO Date Set for Tomorrow: Whats Good for New GM is Bad for the Rest of America, Openmarket blog, Nov. 17, 2010 (http://www.openmarket.org/2010/11/17/gm-ipo-date-set-for-tomorrow-whatsgood-for-new-gm-is-bad-for-the-rest-of-america/) (quoting the July 27, 2009 testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel of New York University law professor Barry Adler, who argued that the way the automaker bankruptcies were being handled may usher in a period where the specter of insolvency will increase the cost of capital in an economy where affordable credit is sorely needed.) 48 See Charles Lane, A Reality Check on the Auto Bailout, Washington Post, June 3, 2011 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/a-reality-check-on-the-autobailout/2011/03/04/AGM0YHIH_blog.html). 49 See Jonathan Karl, Exclusive: Jobs Saved or Created in Congressional Districts That Dont Exist, ABC News, Nov. 16, 2009 (http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9097853); Jack Fowler, Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops, National Reviews The Corner, Nov. 17, 2009 (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/190297/re-where-troublesmelt-lemon-drops/jack-fowler).