Video: Auto Executives Flying In Luxury While Begging For A Bailout
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I heart Brian Ross. The ABC investigative reporter is so old school. Once again he brought his A-game by taking the Big Three CEO's to task after they flew into Washington on their ultra-expensive private jets only to beg Congress for for a handout to avoid bankruptcy. Are these guys for real?
Watch Brian get 'em after jump.
- FILED UNDER: Editor Posts, auto industry, Bailout, big three, brain ross, excess, handout, private jets
- November 20, 2008
They just don't get it....
...ask for a handout and fly in a private jet...whats wrong with that? Unbelievable...
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 1:25pmReally...
And these guys are supposed to be so smart.
They never considered the public relations aspects of arriving in Washington on THREE private jets to stand before the nation AND CRY POVERTY???... Idiots!
======================
Check out the shoes on our President-Elect... smart ;-)
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By A GNovember 20, 2008 - 3:36pmThe stupidity really is staggering....
...AG. Just plain DUMB.
Here it is in a nutshell. The barons of industry at ONE time were largely self made men. They worked from the bottom up and could emphasize with the masses. (I realize not all of them)
Nowadays most of these jokers grew up rich...got there jobs through family connections...went to the best schools because they were rich/family connections....and just don't have a friggin clue what most americans lives are like. This private jet fiasco is just an example. I bet these guys STILL don't get what the big deal is....
I'm not a guy who supports nationalizing industry at all....but these dudes need some serious oversight AND they need to have their wages brought back down to the real world. I have no problem with the head of a corporation making the most money in the corporation...it's how things work. I just can't stomach them making 100 or MORE times what their workers do....something wrong there.
One of the things I like about Obama is that he is a self made man. He get's it......GW never did...
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 3:49pmNever.
And remember, when Rick Warren asked John McCain how much money you need to be considered "rich", McCain said 5 million. Less then 5 million is "middle class".
McCain's brother said it was no suprise that John didn't know how many houses his wife owns. He said in their family, it was always the women who handled the money. He said his dad didn't even know how many oil leases they owned because his mother always took care of that kind of stuff.
Look at the Nobel Prize winners. Mother and Father of nearly every one came from the middle class. Parents who taught their children that leaning isn't a "bad" thing and the value of hard work. If Romney and McCain had run together, their total wealth would have been close to a half billion. This is why Cindy McCain could wear a $300,000 get up to the Republican convention.
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By deanrddNovember 20, 2008 - 4:14pmI'll....
...be the first to say that I'm not a proponent of socialism but the gap between the "rich" and the rest of us has gotten out of control.
When you have a society where the "rich" get better "justice" than the rest of us because they can hire the best lawyers...somethings wrong.
When you have a society wher the "rich" get better health care becaus they can afford it...somethings wrong.
When you have a society where the rich can get their kids into any university because they can afford it....somethings wrong.
We need to tweak our system is all....a little fairness. Our best and brightest kids should be able to get into a top notch university and price shouldn't be a factor.
I'll stop before I start sounding like a pinko commie...
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 4:29pmSo far so good!
Hey are on a great roll! You don't sound at all like a pinko commie. You are making perfect sense!
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By Viv RichardsNovember 20, 2008 - 7:38pmI call it as I see it.
Socialism is when everyone is apparently cared for equally.
What has been going on for the last eight years? 12 Billion a month being spent in Iraq and yet they still don't have electricity and running water. Who is getting this money? American companies from no bid contracts.
Katrina and the aftermath. Still a mess. Unlivable Trailers made out of formalahyde paid with no bid contracts. Everything still a mess after the US paid someone who knows how many billions?
Nearly a trillion dollars moved to the wealthiest Americans in a "bailout"? Oil companies making the biggest profits in world history by any company? Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans because they know the proper way to spend money?
Then you have the retarded, like Plumber Joe worrying about imaginary wealth along with the nervous who feel we may be entering the age of socialism.
Well, Bush has presided over the greatest redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the top 1% and the Republicans loved it. As long as it's the super rich being supported, the Republicans are happy. Things are good. What a bunch of morons.
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By deanrddNovember 20, 2008 - 10:53pmIt is amazing isn't it.
Well said deanrdd. I agree with you and find it amazing whenever the right wing echo machine poo poo's populism. What is even more amazing is how successful they are at suckering working class people into voting against their own interests.
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By Viv RichardsNovember 20, 2008 - 7:52pmThings that make you go hmmmm.
What I want to know is if they can sell US made cars that get 40 mpg in Japan and Europe, why do the cars they sell here only get 15 mpg?
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By deanrddNovember 20, 2008 - 1:38pmClearly, the United Auto Workers Union won't allow it.
It's not the incompetent, visionless executives or the legislators they legally "bribe"...
... It's all the union's fault.
Just ask "Kill-Whitey"... He'll tell you all about it.
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By A GNovember 20, 2008 - 3:30pmWhats wrong with this?
snippet from a Pat Buchanon article.....have to say I agree....I'd add that we need some serious oversight and the fat cats need a pay cut.
By the choices we make, we define ourselves and reveal what we truly care about. Thus, consider:
We bail out the New York and D.C. governments of Abe Beame and Marion Barry. We bail out a corrupt Mexico. We bail out public schools that have failed us for 40 years.
We bail out with International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans and foreign aid worthless Third World regimes.
We bail out Wall Street plutocrats and big banks.
But the most magnificent industry, the auto industry that was the pride of America and envy of the world, we surrender to predator-traders from Asia and Europe, lest we violate the tenets of some 19th-century ideological scribblers that the old Republicans considered the apogee of British stupidity.
Nancy Pelosi is talking about tying loans to a restructuring of the industry. But Congress is not competent to do that.
What needs to be restructured is the U.S. tax-and-trade regime.
Dump globalism. Instruct Japan, Canada, Korea, Germany and China that if they wish to sell cars here, they will assemble them here and produce the parts here. And we shall have the same free access to and same share of their auto market as they have of ours.
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 6:10pmAgreed
These guys are multi-millionaires, not that they actually deserve it, but that is how their type travel.
Instead of focusing on the usual form of travel for this level income, we should be focused on why they were able to achieve it in the first place.
My understanding is that the Ford CEO left Home Depot with $200,000,000, when they could have utilized 200 bright minds with 1 million a piece. This is such a flawed business model and our corrupt Congress has screwed our nation over through anti-American trade policy to enrich themselves and maintain their positions by buying them to perpetuate their riches.
Until we have legalized bribery reform, we will continue to see noone advocate for most Americans which happen to be working class. Until this occurs, that means we don't have the appropriate representatives to achieve any of the other objectives.
The Democrats have been very disappointing in the big three hearings in terms of advocacy for labor. Their corporate bosses have tamed them significantly.
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By AntillectualNovember 20, 2008 - 7:05pmNot only do we have to look at how the big 3 is....
....run we have to look at our trade agreements.
I don't see anything wrong with mandating if Japan/Korea/Germany want to sell cars in the states....they have to make them in the states. (China is on the verge of going into the auto market soon)
The fords germans drive are made in germany. The GM products they drive (Opel) are made in germany ect......a little protectionism of the worlds biggest market wouldn't be a bad thing IMO because they'd want to stay in the market.
Really don't know if it's feasable though....chinee/japanese...hell everybody....owns/enables our debt. They'd probably (most definately) play hardball with us and we'd crumble. This debt we carry screws us in SO many ways. Basically removes our testicles......
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 7:12pmWell, well, well
Really interesting! I especially love your last paragraph! That strikes me as a VERY Pro America approach and it is win win for everyone concerned. How nice is that!
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By Viv RichardsNovember 20, 2008 - 8:01pmCan't take credit...
..it's actually Pat Buchanan but I agree with his gist.
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By SgtDNovember 20, 2008 - 8:05pmLooks like they stopped paying hatey
Good riddance
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By f u bush2November 20, 2008 - 10:19pmI love how Brad Sherman pulled this
They can't be bothered to get rid of their corporate jets, but they want handouts to keep them in the air.
What's the word I'm thinking of here? How about...
NO.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error. ~~~John Kenneth Galbraith
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By nonexistent manNovember 21, 2008 - 6:23am