Ford & GM execs beg for money

[doh]

Maybe we should have them tighten their belt if they are loosing so much money. I have nothing against their mode of transportation. Indeed, as lousy as the airlines are, I think they are acting for the best. However, they need to fix the mess they made themselves.

 

[fob727]

They can travel any way they wish as long as they and their stockholders pay for it. But, the taxpayer might look at it differently when they're asked to pony up. Someone on the news said it was like a panhandler wearing Guccis.

Pony up??? Do some research...it's a loan. Much like the gave Chrysler years ago. The only company they are GIVING money to is AIG.

 

[gunfyter]

Congress is the last that should lecture on fiscal responsibility.

 

[RNObased]

Uh oh.....care to explain this stinker? Can we at least write a grammatically correct sentence before we criticize spelling?

Pot, let me introduce you to Kettle.

Ohh, you got me with that zinger.

 

[transpac]

Pony up??? Do some research...it's a loan. Much like the gave Chrysler years ago. The only company they are GIVING money to is AIG.

A loan generally has an expectation of repayment. Unless the auto industry sheds costs and renegotiates their respective UAW contracts, they'll soon be tits up with or without the 25B.

 

[skiandsurf]

I dont have a problem with the private jets, this keeps people employed, and they probably flew in with a handful of people on each jet.

But, I would like to see these CEOs pay come down to no more than 6x that of the average plant worker (was it the Ford CEO that made $35 million last year?).

 

[NJAPLT]

We all see the advantages of General Aviation, but the general public just doesn't understand.

I submit that a company as large as any of the three automakers (with all of their plants and other assets) has to use general aviation (Fractional, Charter, or Owned), due to the lack of places the airlines go. (How many GA vs Airline Airport in the US alone, never mind the entire world?)

In addition, the excessive travel times caused by airline hub-and-spoke system vs direct flights, and the productivity of the executives who can't perform there work from an airliner.

I'm sure anyone who has read the NBAA information doesn't see these business aircraft as just a luxury for a fortune 500 international corporation, but that's the misperception of the general US taxpayer.

These guys are in a no win situation, and several of the news organizations and politicians saw the opportunity to bash them in a typical class warfare fashion.

I would love someone to list the private flights Barney Frank has taken in the last 10 years to conduct his "business" in congress, and who paid for them.

One of these chowderhead reporters on CNN scoffed when one of the analysts they were interviewing said that one of the reasons that they fly private jets is for security. I think the reporter commented that they should have at least shared a jet. This idiot didn't even think what would happen to the economy if a plane crashed with multiple industry CEO's.

(I'm sure most everyone who reads the board knows that most major companies prohibit multiple executives from flying together just in case of a crash, as the entire top level of a corporation could be wiped out.)

I'm not surprised that they didn't talk about the hotels that the executives stay in. I mean why go to a good 5 star hilton when there is a Motel 6 a few miles away..... (Could it be that the reporters and congress members don't stay in Motel 6's, but in the same types of hotels as the executives they are bashing?)

Class warfare at it's finest, and none of this has any relevance to if the auto industry should get a bailout or not. (Bread and Circuses, people.)

 

[say again]

Hey guys, I'm in debt, would ya mind bailing me out??

 

[RNObased]

They can travel any way they wish as long as they and their stockholders pay for it. But, the taxpayer might look at it differently when they're asked to pony up. Someone on the news said it was like a panhandler wearing Guccis.

Just how do you think that the banking execs and wall street guys went to Washington, when they came crying for money. The Delta shuttle out of LGA?? Doubtful. Even if the company goes into bankruptcy, I bet at least one or two of the jets stay. Shareholders don't want their CEOs on the airlines.

 

[NJAPLT]

Hey guys, I'm in debt, would ya mind bailing me out??

That's my point, a corporate jet is a tool, just the same as a computer, a factory, etc. All of the automakers have a corporate fleet, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the real question, "Should the government bail out the auto industry?"

Reporting like this gives the News industry a bad name.