Big 3 Auto Execs Fly in Luxury Jets to Washington - beg for money. (Hilarious)

This is too funny...

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 $tyle 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."

LOL. I think they have it backwards.

Why, that must be Ebenezer Scrooge.

This still isn't as bad as what AIG did with it's bailout money.-Jiggles-

Oh, yeah. I heard about that.

Disgusting.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with anyone against the auto industry bailout. The better solution is socialization of all business and have it controlled by the Government, but since that's not going to happen I'll have to accept this.

As much as I want to see capitalists suffer, it really wouldn't help our economy if we lost the American auto industry. 

The Big 3 deserve NO money. They put themselves in this bad situation, and figure that in light of the recession and other bailouts that they can get a free lunch. The tax payers owe the Big 3 NOTHING. If anything, the Big 3 owe the tax payers money for continuously putting our shoddy, inferior products over the last 40 years. Japan has CONSTANTLY outperformed the Big 3 in terms of fuel efficiency, design, longevity, and overall quality for a long time now. When it became apparent that we're running out of oil, what does the Big 3 do, scale down the size of their vehicles, and start investing more in alternative energy? NO, instead they bring back the 1970s with an entire new string of V8 Muscle cars. They've learned nothing, they did this to themselves, if they recieve bailout money, they will CONTINUE to run their companies irresponsibly. I have no sympathy for them.dirtydishko2

Completely agree, and I say this as having half my family working for GM at one point in time.

The Big 3 deserve NO money. They put themselves in this bad situation, and figure that in light of the recession and other bailouts that they can get a free lunch. The tax payers owe the Big 3 NOTHING. If anything, the Big 3 owe the tax payers money for continuously putting our shoddy, inferior products over the last 40 years. Japan has CONSTANTLY outperformed the Big 3 in terms of fuel efficiency, design, longevity, and overall quality for a long time now. When it became apparent that we're running out of oil, what does the Big 3 do, scale down the size of their vehicles, and start investing more in alternative energy? NO, instead they bring back the 1970s with an entire new string of V8 Muscle cars. They've learned nothing, they did this to themselves, if they recieve bailout money, they will CONTINUE to run their companies irresponsibly. I have no sympathy for them.dirtydishko2

I think the biggest problem is really the fact that we're even in a situation where the demise of all of three companies could decimate the entire economy.  That should never, ever happen, and goes fundamentally against all the tenets of what is supposed to make the free market work.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with anyone against the auto industry bailout. The better solution is socialization of all business and have it controlled by the Government, but since that's not going to happen I'll have to accept this.

As much as I want to see capitalists suffer, it really wouldn't help our economy if we lost the American auto industry. 

EMOEVOLUTION

Many capitalists up near the top are pigs that act and spend money to achieve personal gain, but we have corrupt politicians to thank for that. That isn't capitalism. That's corrupt government. I respectfully disagree with your view on business and the market. Thank the Fed for many problems today, not capitalism and free-market.

The Big 3 deserve NO money. They put themselves in this bad situation, and figure that in light of the recession and other bailouts that they can get a free lunch. The tax payers owe the Big 3 NOTHING. If anything, the Big 3 owe the tax payers money for continuously putting our shoddy, inferior products over the last 40 years. Japan has CONSTANTLY outperformed the Big 3 in terms of fuel efficiency, design, longevity, and overall quality for a long time now. When it became apparent that we're running out of oil, what does the Big 3 do, scale down the size of their vehicles, and start investing more in alternative energy? NO, instead they bring back the 1970s with an entire new string of V8 Muscle cars. They've learned nothing, they did this to themselves, if they recieve bailout money, they will CONTINUE to run their companies irresponsibly. I have no sympathy for them.dirtydishko2

100% agree.

First thing to happen is the CEOs need to be fired on the spot.  Second, is the Big 3 need to go with the same model as the Japanese.

A guy on TV put it this way, if they get rescued now, they will be going bankrupt four years from now.  Let them learn the hard way.

[QUOTE="dirtydishko2"]The Big 3 deserve NO money. They put themselves in this bad situation, and figure that in light of the recession and other bailouts that they can get a free lunch. The tax payers owe the Big 3 NOTHING. If anything, the Big 3 owe the tax payers money for continuously putting our shoddy, inferior products over the last 40 years. Japan has CONSTANTLY outperformed the Big 3 in terms of fuel efficiency, design, longevity, and overall quality for a long time now. When it became apparent that we're running out of oil, what does the Big 3 do, scale down the size of their vehicles, and start investing more in alternative energy? NO, instead they bring back the 1970s with an entire new string of V8 Muscle cars. They've learned nothing, they did this to themselves, if they recieve bailout money, they will CONTINUE to run their companies irresponsibly. I have no sympathy for them.Jd1680a

100% agree.

First thing to happen is the CEOs need to be fired on the spot. Second, is the Big 3 need to go with the same model as the Japanese.

A guy on TV put it this way, if they get rescued now, they will be going bankrupt four years from now. Let them learn the hard way.

Yeah, and the argument goes "but if we let them learn the hard way, than everybody pays the price, because millions of auto workers lose their jobs and their is a crippling ripple effect in the economy". The bad part is that no one really knows how much truth there is to that.

Yeah, and the argument goes "but if we let them learn the hard way, than everybody pays the price, because millions of auto workers lose their jobs and their is a crippling ripple effect in the economy". The bad part is that no one really knows how much truth there is to that.

dirtydishko2

That's one of the fundamental flaws in democracy: politicians can never, ever, ever do anything that will bring a short-term adverse effect to the population, regardless of how correct the action might be.

The way I see it is the US is screwed if they do and more screwed if they dont.

In the end I would bet that they would do it seeing as they are so massively important to keep the us economy from imploding

In the end I would bet that they would do it seeing as they are so massively important to keep the us economy from imploding

htekemerald

If they do bail out those companies, they should immediately split them up into smaller companies such that the entire economy is not dependent on the well-being of three whole companies.

Of course, they'll never do that, given that that would be (gasp) unpopular.