Shortest Way Home, by Pete Buttigieg: on Corporations

Barack Obama: 2009: added to Bush's $17.4B bailout for auto companies

And it worked. The newly formed, post-bankruptcy version of Chrysler was able to crawl, then walk, then run, and eventually the company exceeded expectations for sales and growth. And the auto industry comeback helped lead the overall economic recovery of the country.

Elena Kagan: 2009: Argued before Supreme Court favoring Chrysler bailout

Solicitor General Elena Kagan responded for the administration, reminding the Supreme Court and the country of what was at stake. "The liquidation of Chrysler would have very severe effects on the American and Canadian economies. More than 38,000 Chrysler employees would lose their jobs; 23 manufacturing facilities and 20 parts depots will be shuttered; more than 3,000 Chrysler dealers would suffer significant harm to their businesses; and billions of dollars in health and pension benefits would be wiped out." The Supreme Court denied the stay. The sale could go forward--as it did, the next day.

Mike Pence: Companies are not persons; should not have religious rights

The language of the bill seemed innocent enough: "a governmental entity may not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion," unless there is a compelling governmental interest at stake. But "person" was defined to include companies, building on the legal theory of the 2014 Supreme Court Hobby Lobby case, which interpreted federal law as giving corporations the same religious rights as people.

Effectively this meant that any place of business, from a restaurant to an auto mechanic shop, could refuse an LGBT individual or couple, provided its owner cited religion as the motivation for discriminating. The bill's actual purpose, its sponsors would later reveal, was to legalize discrimination.

Pete Buttigieg: Supported 2008 auto bailout, to save workers and communities

The new Democratic administration planned to continue the unpopular policy, but as President Obama took office in January 2009. By 2012, this once-unpopular policy had come to be seen as a clear win.

Pete Buttigieg: Companies are not persons; should not have religious rights

Effectively this meant that any place of business, from a restaurant to an auto shop, could refuse an LGBT individual or couple, provided its owner cited religion as the motivation for discriminating. It could even be interpreted to protect a physician denying care to a gay patient. And it would wipe out South Bend's own local ordinance, passed in 2012, which prohibited workplace discrimination against LGBT residents. Despite the name, its purpose was not to "restore" religious freedom--after all, religious freedom is already guaranteed in the Constitution. The bill's actual purpose, its sponsors would later reveal, was to legalize discrimination.

Richard Mourdock: 2009: Challenged Chrysler auto bailout, and lost

Cleverly, Mourdock realized that Indiana's pension funds owned some Chrysler bonds, and reasoned that this might give him standing in court to challenge the deal. When else would an obscure state treasurer get a chance to not only assert free-market principles but also provoke a showdown with the Obama administration? The temptation was irresistible, and so Mourdock went to court.

The stakes were enormous: If he succeeded, the entire rescue might have been prevented, pushing the company into liquidation. The company, its assets, the jobs--would be gone forever.

On May 29 2009, New York's federal bankruptcy court rejected the motion. Mourdock appealed. In June, the Supreme Court also affirmed the sale.