Big Three Auto Execs Fly in Luxury to BEG for Bucks

[CarlaL48]

Do you think this will affect the decision of any of the legislators who play so free and loose with our tax dollars? I say "Let them declare bankruptcy and get the UAW monkey off their backs!" Carla

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,454844,00.html

Big Three Auto Execs Flew in Luxury Jets to Seek Multibillion-Dollar Bailout
Wednesday, November 19, 2008


FILE: A Gulfstream luxury jet sits on an airport tarmac.
The CEOs of the Big Three automakers reportedly flew private luxury jets to Washington to plead for a $25 billion taxpayer bailout to save their debt-ridden industry — ringing up tens of thousands in charges even as they cried poverty.

Recipients of eight-figure bonuses in 2007, the corporate cowboys used their executive perks — which for GM's Rick Wagoner include the run of a $36 million Gulfstream IV jet — to arrive in style as they went begging before Congress.

Wagoner, whose flight reportedly cost $20,000 round-trip — about 70 times more than a commercial airline ticket — told Congress he expected about $10-$12 billion from the requested bailout.

"This is a slap in the face of taxpayers," Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, told ABC News. "To come to Washington on a corporate jet, and asking for a handout is outrageous."

Joined by Robert Nardelli of Chrysler and Alan Mulally of Ford, Wagoner told the Senate that a collapse in Detroit could cost 3 million jobs in just a year and put the hurt on communities across the country.

But the prospective bailout is getting held up in the Senate, where lawmakers don't appear keen to save the ailing industry. "Just giving them $25 billion doesn't change anything," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., told FOX News. "It just puts off for six months or so the day of reckoning."

[sassykitts]

It is the usual crap... fat cats wasting the money, blaming the labor, and any other excuse they can latch onto, while the working stiffs are caught in the middle. My hubby has hated GM for years... waiting to be able to just retire and get out of there...now he has no idea if 30 years of his life has been wasted. He hasn't any use for the unions either... who happens to support the liberals that my hubby does not vote for. Yet it is he, and millions of others like him who will bear the brunt of this debaucle. And it won't just be GM's employees et al, but laborers who work for all their suppliers ... The ripple in the pond effect is not one we want to witness... we are not going in a good direction with this whole thing, no matter what the legislators decide. I'm thinking the Big D (and don't mean Dallas).

[CarlaL48]

Originally Posted by sassykitts

It is the usual crap... fat cats wasting the money, blaming the labor, and any other excuse they can latch onto, while the working stiffs are caught in the middle. My hubby has hated GM for years... waiting to be able to just retire and get out of there...now he has no idea if 30 years of his life has been wasted. He hasn't any use for the unions either... who happens to support the liberals that my hubby does not vote for. Yet it is he, and millions of others like him who will bear the brunt of this debaucle. And it won't just be GM's employees et al, but laborers who work for all their suppliers ... The ripple in the pond effect is not one we want to witness... we are not going in a good direction with this whole thing, no matter what the legislators decide. I'm thinking the Big D (and don't mean Dallas).

I'm so sorry that your suffering is so up close and personal through this, Sassy. I've lost my job before because of continual mergers and subsequent downsizing. It's painful and can break the best of us. But I DID make it back, and so do most folks. With your strength, I know you and your husband will, too. And I'll pray for your divine guidance and support.

Hugs,
Carla

[sassykitts]

Thanks , Carla ...
I am sorry you had to pay personally for corporate greed as well and that is what it boils down to... but am glad you made it back!
I am doing fine, but really do appreciate the prayers ... I own my own computer business and do not rely on my hubby's income for a living. I started it full time about 3 years ago, and, although I have had my ups and downs with it and a recent, rather intimidating, move, I DO rely on God to provide. As I told my hubby last night, the job may be the RESOURCE, but God is our SOURCE.
I am very concerned about where our economy is headed and with Obama and his liberal friends at the helm, that concern has heightened, although there is enough blame on both sides of the aisle for the mess we are in. Basically, this country is reaping what it has sown, and unfortunately for some, they are reaping what others have sown.

[TAripez]

I was STEAMED when I saw that story on the news. How dare they fly to DC in such luxury, all the while claiming poverty and asking for handouts.

If you ask me, that is just a stark display of their inability to make sound decisions. I wouldn't trust them with a nickel of my money.

They should not only be sent away penniless, they should also be sent home in the middle seat of the last row on a commercial flight. The government should confiscate their corporate jets, sell them on e-bay and shove the proceeds down their throats!

PS - sorry to all who are going to be affected by this whole debacle.

[CarlaL48]

I agree, TA, but from the sounds of the following, you can start kissing those nickels good-bye - as will I and every other working stiff in America.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455407,00.html