Obama - First Black President

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

lol, you people can never write a post without including some type of insult.

I see what people are saying but in this instance I don't agree. I guarantee if they flew into Washington on a coach flight, we wouldn't have heard about it unless the CEOs brought it up. It would sound even worse to me if I greeted the Congressmen, "hi we just flew in on a commercial jet to be before you." That sounds fake as fuck to me. And would sway me not to give them money before handing them some. Taking a taxi to Washington isn't going to prove a point to me. That IS like them showing up in T-shirts and flip flops holding a sign saying "Please bailout for food." Being fake and phoney isn't going to win you a place in my heart.

Asking taxpayers for money they will obviously mismanage by flying private jets isn't going to win them our money, either.

The point isn't to say "Hey we flew coach." The point is they wouldn't have been noticed, they would have made a point that they really are concerned and need the money, and that it will be managed properly.

Has nothing to do with being phony.

[Maxxthepenguin]

lol, you people can never write a post without including some type of insult.

I see what people are saying but in this instance I don't agree. I guarantee if they flew into Washington on a coach flight, we wouldn't have heard about it unless the CEOs brought it up. It would sound even worse to me if I greeted the Congressmen, "hi we just flew in on a commercial jet to be before you." That sounds fake as fuck to me. And would sway me not to give them money before handing them some. Taking a taxi to Washington isn't going to prove a point to me. That IS like them showing up in T-shirts and flip flops holding a sign saying "Please bailout for food." Being fake and phoney isn't going to win you a place in my heart.

One is a symbol of excess

One is a symbol of normality

If they really wanted to play up how dire their situation was, they would have taken a greyhound.

Private jets are expensive. If you want to save money, DON'T FUCKING USE THEM

[Kuya]

I think what a lot of these CEOs don't understand is that their actions are being scrutinized now more than ever. Now, you may or may not agree with the scrutiny, but we can all agree that it really isn't wise to give themselves even more of a bad image than they already have.

[Kiro]

Give us more to shit talk about. /shrug

[fantasticdan]

Doing what you can afford?

Don't know about you but if I could afford to take a private jet every trip, I wouldn't be rushing to stand in the "low class seating" line of Southwest Airlines.

Does it really look like GM can afford 36 million dollar jets and $20,000 flights? It's not like this is coming out of the CEOs pockets, it's coming out of a company that's hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. The people using these flights will never end up paying for them, ultimately it's their employees, shareholders, and us, the taxpayers.

[Deftscythe]

Let's not forget the fact that one congressman asked the CEOs if they'd cut their personal salaries down to a dollar to save their companies money and all 3 refused.

In somewhat related news, it looks like this guy will be Obama's choice for treasury secretary. I haven't had much time to look into his background, but people seem to be loving this pick. CNBC was attributing most of todays late 500 point dow rally to the Geithner announcement.

[Isiolia]

What the fuck are you smoking?

If you're implying that the fucking airport isn't safe for their passenger, then what the fuck have we been doing the past 7 years.

If fucking terrorists that are hell bent on destroying america can't get past the security, what makes you think that some disgruntled employees could?

I was simply presenting information that was given elsewhere, through outlets such as CNN.

When contacted by CNN, the three auto companies defended the CEOs' travel as standard procedure.

Like many other major corporations, all three have policies requiring their CEOs to travel in private jets for safety reasons.

Maybe this stems from international travel. I dunno. Just sayin' that it sounds to me like the private plane thing may not be the personal decision of the CEOs. If they're simply following what was recommended or required of them, then meh. Obviously someone, at some point, most likely a lot better informed than you or I, decided on that.
Or someone decided that it was a good excuse to use for getting a private plane, and CEOs everywhere copied it >_>

[Intense]

Napalitano is Janet Reno without the death toll.

Or the Dance Party.
http://videodetective.com/photos/744/031255_16.jpg

[Palin]

Kinda sad Richardson only got Commerce Secretary, I don't think its a step up from U.N. Ambassador and Secretary of Energy. I think he was qualified for State better than Hillary, but alas politics.

[Correction]

Hillary Clinton agreed to serve as secretary of state.

FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

[0ni0n]

Jan 20. cant come soon enough.

[Aksannyi]

FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

^

[Dimmauk]

How else do you want them to fly? COMMERCIAL?! Gross.

But seriously, if it's the company jet already paid for, then why not? No point in flying coach to try and prove a point. Don't think they are going to get extra cookies in the bailout jar because they point out that they arrived on a commercial airline for the meeting.

Auto Industry Planning Car Pool to Washington

By TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

DETROIT – After being skewered by Congress and lampooned on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," the CEOs of Detroit's three automakers may end up making their return trip to Washington by car as they seek a federal bailout.

The Detroit area's auto industry, whose livelihood depends on the health of Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. spent the weekend e-mailing and discussing how to set up a giant car caravan to seek help from Congress.

What's for certain is GM CEO Rick Wagoner won't be going to Washington by corporate jet, although the company's policy is not to comment on executive travel plans for security reasons, said spokesman Tony Cervone. A Chrysler spokeswoman wouldn't comment on executive travel plans, and a message was left for a Ford spokesman.

The carpool idea came out of meetings on Friday at Dura Automotive Systems Inc., an auto parts maker in suburban Rochester Hills. President and CEO Tim Leuliette said that during the weekend they contacted the automakers, suppliers, dealership groups and the United Auto Workers and the movement began building.

"The proper people are talking to the proper people, and things are getting put together," said Leuliette. "This really picked up momentum over the weekend."

Industry representatives want Congress to see not just three CEOs in suits during the hearings, but the many people dependent on the automakers for their livelihoods, Leuliette said.

"Quite honestly, this is about America," he said. "This is a process of people's lives being affected, and sometimes they don't know how to put a voice to those concerns."

The movement comes after last week's disastrous hearings in front of two Congressional committees. Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli and GM's Wagoner traveled to Washington on separate corporate jets to seek $25 billion in government loans to help them make it through the worst U.S. auto sales downturn in 25 years.

Congress, though, abandoned a vote on the bailout after the appearances in which the automakers were criticized for lavish corporate travel, as well as for having poor business plans and high labor costs that some members said would keep them from being competitive with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Many of the CEOs' answers were vague, and it appeared as though they had no specific plan to change the way they do business in order to justify the bailout. Lawmakers have demanded restructuring plans by Dec. 2, with hearings to follow.

The automakers say they need the loans to help them survive the worst sales environment in more than 25 years. GM and Chrysler said that without the loans, they soon will be in danger of running so low on cash that they can't pay all of their bills. Ford is in better shape because it borrowed billions last year to help weather an economic downturn.

The CEOs' trip to Washington went so poorly that "Saturday Night Live," in a sketch about the next round of hearings, showed Wagoner presenting a schedule of billions in government payments without an accompanying business plan to justify the money.

Leuliette, whose company makes shifter systems, seating controls, safety gear and other items for nearly all automakers, said an automotive car caravan could help show the industry in a better light.

"All of them would say in hindsight they should have been better prepared or prepared in a different way," he said of the CEOs.

Detroit's car makers employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other workers produce materials and parts that go into cars. If just one of the automakers declared bankruptcy, some estimates put U.S. job losses next year as high as 2.5 million.

"We want to let people know that we're a part of this country, and a huge part of this country," said Detroit-area car dealer Carl Galeana, who last year was senior co-chairman of Detroit's auto show

[Kuya]

Am i the only one who is really really bothered by this? Now we can't let these companies fail or else we suffer the consequences; it sounds like we're being held hostage.

[Kiro]

That's pathetic, rofl.

[Seraph]

The fuckers could have traveled by space shuttle and gave their presentation on a golden chair. The part that pisses me off is they have no plan, and are realistically not willing to sacrifice to make this work. They don't want a solution, they want a bailout. They are literally digging a bigger financial hole just to buy time. It's painfully obvious something has to give, and I see no indication of it happening.

I'll stick with my predictions of Chapter 11 and major UAW contract overhauls, in addition to other changes.

[Correction]

Am i the only one who is really really bothered by this? Now we can't let these companies fail or else we suffer the consequences; it sounds like we're being held hostage.

One of the first criticisms of the 'too large to fail' argument was that 'too large to fail means it's too large period.'

Fuck the automakers, they've dug their own graves for years with making shit cars that anybody with half a brain can see has a better equivalent that costs less money from Asia or Europe.

[Kiro]

Let 'em go down, who cares. What's the worst thing that could happen besides loss of jobs? Less SUVs on the road? OH FUCK WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO?!

[Valisk]

I agree to let them fail. I don't think the $25B is going to do anything but prolong the inevitable. These people have no plan and dont plan on any big changes/cutbacks to make this work.

Let them fail. Forces them to rebuild and put out quality, feul-efficent cars to compete. Let Toyota, Honda, etc absorb some of the newly available market share. It will also open the doors for new competitors to enter the market. Frees up 100s of thousands for these government green jobs and shitty jobs that American's think they are "too good" to do. Crack down on immigration to also free up jobs for legal citizens. Cycle complete.

[Correction]

YouTube - Peter Schiff Was Right 2006 - 2007 (2nd Edition)

This is probably the most astonishing compilation of clips I've seen this year.