GM CEO heading to Capitol by way of Malibu

Wow... THAT is a bigger slap in the face than the multi-million dollar jet he flew there in the first time.  Seriously.. he hasn't a clue...

Hey, I will drive to DC on a Big Wheel if they will bail me out!

Good one!   I recall how much my son loved his Big Wheel when a small kid.  Wonder how he's liking that Chrysler Crossfire he now tools around in?  Great fuel mileage!

LOLOL!  Are they driving or did they bring their chauffers?

It's truly easy to see why the Big 3 are in such trouble if this is the quality of their management decisions.

First they get it wrong by flying Biz-Jet.  Then they try to make up for it by DRIVING for 8 hours from Mo-Town to DC.

I know, I know... They'll be productive working all the time by Cell Phone and Text Messaging while driving.

Guess they've never heard of Cattle Class on the airlines.

Hey Gail - stop being such a dick!  This ISN'T a handout - it's a LOAN!  Get it?  The last time the Government did this for Chrysler, they MADE MONEY ON THE DEAL!  The money ISN'T for "three creeps," it's to save American manufacturing and all those who supply it.  I'm one of those people Gail.  I live paycheck to paycheck just like you.

So, what IS your problem loser!  You sound very anti-American to me.  Why not vent some of your anger at the "creeps" on Wall Street.  Or are you one of the folks who took out a home loan way beyond your means and actually caused this mess.  Shut the F*ck up!  Drive your Toyota and send your money to Japan loser! 

I agree, those 3 creeps and their big cigar smoking union bosses do not deserve a bail out. If this is a free market economy, then let them declare bankruptcy and get rid of the union shackles and other debts. Bankruptcy or no bankruptcy, people will buy cars, so all the cry wolf scare tactics aint going to work... NO bail out.

We live pay check to pay check, why should we be even more burdened? I make less than $20 an hour and I have NO benefits of any kind whatsoever. And yes, I do have a Business degree AND a certificate in Project Management, and I am NO slacker. It burns me when I hear of all the amazing benefits and life time guarantee the unions have.

All the crap talk about blue collar workers and how they deserve life-time goodies is not helping this country. The last thing we need is pumping these people’s ego and sense of entitlement. We are all Americans and no special one group should be singled out for special treatment.

I struggle on a daily basis and I am not complaining or asking anyone for special treatment. We should ALL make REAL sacrifices to save the economy, and that includes unions, management and others.

Scott,

Oh please.  Let these thugs in suits make their little PR gesture.  You don't need to defend them with your sycophantic remarks.

All well and good...if you want to watch a ballgame you buy a ticket.  If you want to let the ceo's make millions buy a 50,000 dollar car.  Just don't take my tax money and GIVE IT AWAY SO THEY CAN KEEP DOING THE SAME THING.

Your right in one sense if they are the boss of 100,000 people then pay them,  No one is worth 70-80 million dollars.  If the government is going to bail out these companies all the perks should disappear, jets, expense accounts, vacations, etc.  One of the major problems with all of the auto industry is the UNIONS, these people arent making 30-40,000 per year to screw the bumper of your car on, they are making alot more, attach benefit packages, vacation, sick time etc they are overpaid.  Everyone wants more, god bless them, but this is what has put our economy in the situation it is in.  Greed.  Every job has a top value and sometimes you expire that value, but still want a raise instead of being alittle satisfied with still having a job.  Just went to Costa Rica, dinner for 50 people was $305.00.  Thats right $305.00.  Our economy is screwed and I hope Obama does and amazing job, hes got one big hill to climb.  Peace

At least the ball player is doing something for his money and can be let go, traded, injured (life threatening or otherwise) and more than likely do not get stock options, bonuses etc or golden parachutes.  They can also look forward to aches and pains for the rest of their lives that does not come from sitting in a comfortable chair in a temperature controlled office and be there for life while running the company into the ground.  

Frankly, in the sports arena, perhaps only the foot ball players are worth their salaries for the risk they are taking everytime they go on the field.  Can't say the same for baseball.  lol.   Basketball is sort of iffy.  Hockey players are in the same league with the football guys, as their sport is life and injury risky.

For those who keep beating up on the unions and therefore the workers,  I doubt you would pass up your pay raise or benefits package and work for minimum wage and no job security.  Many folks are also probably making a lot more money than the car workers but it is easier to beat up on ones own than the people who are the problem.

Don't recall any unions on Wall Street or the financial institutions. So what is their excuse for their melt down.  Who is to blame for that?

It seems like there is a class warfare going on with the white collar workers scuffling with the blue collar workers.  Yet the operative word here is Workers.  Workers are being set against each other in a devide and conquer operation, this way all workers or former workers will not see they are ALL being taken advantage of while they are fighting each other. 

The workers do their jobs per their contract.  Often/most times the problem is not the workers but the management.  These managers tend to toe the line and tamp down any ideas that the workers may come up with to be able to do the job faster or easier. They are usually only interested in output, not quality just quantity to meet a specific goal.  This same behaviour can be seen in every arena whether in the  public or private sector. Workers go along to get along whether they like it or not just to keep their jobs.  In many non union places the workers are not exactly treated with any consideration or respect even in the professional arena.

So let us not beat up on each other, because we are all in the same boat and we are not the captain of the boat.

Perhaps the govt will for once do the right thing by bringing universal healthcare to the USA. Healthcare should be a right, just like law enforcement, schools, firefighting, security etc and not a previlage to be purchased like it is now. 

It is sad when everything is for sale in a society.  No wonder the country is in a mess, even common sense has a price tag.

you are an idiot

 Sounds like you have had a drink of the corporate koolaid. CEO's are people just like the rest of us. With any luck his Malibu will break down on the way, and he can deal with GM service just like us commonfolk

WHERE ARE THE 65 MPG CARS THAT WE (THE PUBLIC) NEED??????????????

When they were offered for sale here, hardly anyone bought them.  Remember the Ford Fiesta of the 1980s?  That was the European car.  How about the Mercury Capri?  That was the Aussie convertible.  Or the Merkurs?  The German cars that no one bought in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The reason those companies made big SUVs and trucks is because they sold really well and for big profits.  They invested money in those vehicles and not in cars because no one bought cars until gas prices went sky high.  Now that gas is low again, trucks and SUVs are selling again.

Those cars run on disel fuel.  There are few if any disel stations in the USA unlike in Europe.   Perhaps Ford will make it.  Didn't they just  bring the guy who turned around the European operation to be the CEO North America operations?  I do believe the CEO of Ford is new not like the other two car companies CEOs who seem to watch their companies go down the tubes while still taking their salaries.

Thought I read something where Chrysler is owned by a hedge fund.  So if true, should tax payers money go to bail out a hedge fund?  Why don't the people (wealthy/rich)  who have money in the hedge fund bail out their own company?  If they thought it was a worthwhile venture in the beginning why don't they continue to help the company they own showing they stand behind the decision they made to buy the company in the first place?

Well unfortunately for the automakers, they don't run the Federal Reserve....

Who does run the Federal Reserve?

Banks on a macro level... on a micro level, no one really knows...

We all had a chance to really look into that with Ron Paul as a candidate. But, Faux News and much of the rest of our sad "media" misrepresented him to the point of laughing him off the public venue.

We really needed someone like Ron Paul right now, and the media, the "parties", and the economists knew it. They couldn't rob our treasury or lead us by the nose as they are now if someone like Ron Paul was still discussing these issues in the national light.

Most American citizens have not read their Constitution, much less taken the time to understand it. Ron Paul is as close to a "founding father" in view as anyone in Congress...

Well put.  The mortgage and banking people that caused this issue aren't getting asked these questions and made to come up with a restructuring plan.  And they caused the whole thing.

Unfortunately, the problems the big 3 have been happening for over 30 odd years. Unfortunately they used their lobbiests to whittle away at all attempts of getting their cars/ vehicles up to certain fuel efficiency and safety standards, while designing and making autos that folks did not really like, not fuel efficient, appeared to need repairs more frequently etc or wanted to buy.  The big three forgot that not every one wanted a suv or van or a big car.  Some even like 2 seaters.   Too much same old same old. lol

Unfortunately for them the other foreign auto makers were busy designing and making interesting more fuel efficient well made vehicles that were also safer (or so it appears). 

Well seeing it wasn't the workers on the line who were making the decision regarding what they built or the standards, fuel efficency or design why are so many people blaming the unions.

Of course the car companies have been to the trough before some time back and it may be looked upon as bad form to come begging again. What did they do with the last lot of money that they received.  Weren't they supposed to have retooled or something like that?

Anywho, it appears they may have lobbiests but so many of the ones with pull are not around any more  and it also appears they may not have as many friends in high places as they probably thought they had.   Plus it was not so good  form to sort of push the blame for their lack of performance on the unions (blue collars) while turning up in private jets (white collar or no collar) lol.  That sort of thing does get peoples back up, especially those in Congress who are trying to appear, recently, that they are so for the people who voted them into office.  Everyone wants to look good on camera and as if they really really really really care.    Nothing like and Election year and in 2010 and all that sort of thing you know. haha ahh. Lol 

The auto comps should have yelled poverty first before the financial institutions, perhaps then they would have received their welfare checks first without conditions and they could have been as arrogant as they wished to show with impunity. Lol

The  financial institutions got their message out first by blaming the home owners for taking the crazy loans they offered. They were busy fleecing the homeowners that they seemed to get greedier by trying to fleece the them again by raising the interest rates on their credit cards to usury rates and merrily tacking on fees without nary a peep from Congress.  When they didn't feel that the homeowners had been fleeced enough they then talked about gas going to $5 per gallon because people paid more in Europe (where there is excellent public transportation system) so that amount was not so high. Bigger and bigger homes were built further and further away from the cities where folks would have to drive to get to work. These homes were and are expensive to maintain and costly  re utilities.   People were told that what they really wanted  was big and bigger  homes to move up to,  ie more space, just like they were brainwashed into believing they needed big cars for safety.  Folks who wanted a small home found that that amounted to less than 800 sq feet of space for a lot of money anyway.  The builders are still building big homes even with this downturn in the market still glutting the market with these homes that folks can't afford and others even if they can afford a home can't even find a mortgage lender willing to finance the deal.  Hey but it was still the publics fault for wanting a home of their own. 

These folks have done a job on the public and many don't even see how they have been taken and used.  Instead one set of homeowners beat up on another set of homeowners who are going into forclosure schreeching that these people should not be helped because they overextended themselves. Well we are all in the same boat because with a glut of homes on the market( and builders still building big homes like crazy) often selling for pennies on the dollar has pulled down the value of everyones homes even the homes of those who could and can afford to pay their mortgage.

While the public is busy blaming each side these folks that started the whole mess have taken their bailout money and ran while folks who are in the same boat like those who are having problem are busy fighting with each other while they sink.   Wonder if some of these folks realize they may become unemployed and thus will join the rest of the folks having problems paying their unside down mortgages. lol

Utilities, food, credit card companies etc have all raised their prices/rates while some folks are blaming the auto workers unions.  Lol

Instead of just following the spiel of the talking heads on the news program people need to start thinking for themselves. Evaluate what is being said, who is saying it etc then make a decision with a healthy dose of skeptisism thrown in for good measure.   I myself find it a  little difficult to believe someone whose job isn't threatened and is probably overpaid anyway, trying to convince me of anything, you know the types who would sell water to a drowning man, come to think of it they would charge you for giving you a hand up after they tripped you in the first place. Lol

The money will be used to pad the pockets of bankers through the Federal Reserve. Knowing this, it WILL pass regardless of public opinion...

It's on a "need to know" basis and we don't need to know (so says Congress).

Motel 6, you have not seen their prices lately.  Consumers have been staying there much more than expected and their prices have gone through the roof! I agree with the person near the top about having the 3 carpool it will save money and gas, but as you can see one will be in a Malibu, Hybrid, and the other undisclosed for security reasons?? Come on...What they need to do is all go old school and break out the old cars they used to produce that had excellent gas mileage.  Does anyone care to place a gentleman's bet with me, since Ford is Fix Or Repair Daily, he will be calling GM to turn around and pick him up.  Hopefully, he has roadside insurance so the unions can complain about that not being a part of their compensation package.

All of a sudden they have become financial and engineering geniuses.  Is there a pill or what?

Well Said Chuck!!

You need to turn off Rush and really look around. It is not the workers who cause the problems as the CEOs would have us believe. Look at their compensation packages and compare them to the rest of the entire work force. You will see that it is a few at the top who suck the most out of the system and not the guy punching a time clock.

The very fact that those hate spewing, hired mouth pieces can get common folks to turn on each other and demand that their hard working neighbors are to blame for our woes and not the true fat cat criminals that really take the lionshare, is probably the saddest commentary on our outlook as a nation than anything else.

Chuck,

Totally agree with you on this.  I think their method of transport to Washington is absolutely irrelevant.  The issue here is are the Big 3 making product that people want in the most efficent manner possible.  Based on what I have seen from the UAW this is not the case. 

The fact that the CEO's and their boards cannot either see this or can't do anything about it is the issue.  They should lose theor jobs, the contract with the union should be torn up and new management should be put in who are experienced in turning organizations around. 

While I feel for the workers who will lose their jobs in this debarcle I cannot believe that we are going to allow a power hungry union to bring down so many manufacturing jobs!!

Interesting how you say that - similar to what my dad was telling me.  The big three would be better off going bankrupt and then be able to get rid of union control.  Then they could start again.

I wonder how to what degree the unions are pushing (if at all) for this bailout?

Just like many other great organizations, unions change as time goes on and not necessarily for the better (think ACLU).

What's the matter with flying like you and me?  He can't fly American??????

Won the Lottery? Won the lottery? Do you realize what you just typed? Lottery? CEO of a major company is not a scratch off! They assume responsabilities for that income. They should be held accountable. Lottery? Are you serious?

Oh PLEASE !! Dan, thye won't work for $1. Their actual compensation 'package' is huge. They should file for Chapter 11 and re-negotiate the deals with UAW. If you delve deeper into GM has more money locked intheir dead inventory. $25Bln will do nothing but it will be gone after Mar '09. By giving the bail out, we will only delay their fall, but it will happen come April 2009.

so Dan, you're willing to endure a socialistic economic society? Giving in to these 3 is exactly where we'd be heading.

Starbucks or SUVs do not indicate freedom. Get real.

 Giving in to these 3 is exactly where we'd be heading.

Where have you been?  Where we will be heading?

Our banks have already been socialized. And the US is in the process of being turned in to the biggest housing project on the planet.   SS, medicare, unemployment benefits, medicaid, and many other things ARE social programs.  The have been around for years.  Did you always have a problem with these things or is a recent rant that you just developed after hearing the word socialism or marxist  repeated over and over and over this election cycle?  It stuns me at all the screeching going on about how we are headed for socialism.  Most of you have no idea what socializm is.   Guess all you hysterical people really don't have a clue do you?

Yes Dan that is exactly what some are saying.  However, I would venture to wager that in the event any of the hysterical screechers become un-employed suddenly that evil old social program called un-employment benefits won't be so evil any more.   And they will rationalize it by convincing themselves that they deserve it because after all they have been supporting all the deadbeats all this time with their hard earned money so why not take advantage of something they have been paying for.  Besides, they are not welfare kings or queens they are truely in a bad spot.  As if no one else in the country deserves any help but them.  Or let their employer tell them they are cutting their pay after 25 years of service fom 25.00 per hour to 12.00 per hour and watch their heads explode and the excessive whining begin.  Because after all, they have "worked hard" for their salary.  Everyone else is being overpaid because of the evil unions.  And we all know it's the damn employees expecting to be paid a livable wage that are keeping companies from making a profit right?  This mentality is precisely why this country has gone to hell in a handbasket.  It's every man/woman for thmselves and screw your fellow man.  No matter what!  pathetic.  no wonder we are the joke of th world.