MR-STANG

It comes down to this, don't come begging for money and not even make the slightest effort of being humble.
If you loan someone money because they can't make the rent and you find out they went on vacation right after, well that's a slap in the face. I didn't load you money so you could take a vacation. Now I know why you needed the money to cover your rent.
LJS

Greywolf

its there money they can spend it any d*** way they want quite your whinning you bunch of commies and no congress should not give them any money if the go out of business then tough buggy whips.
Congress should butt out of businesses business and mind there own business the incompentent unamerican morons in congress couldnt fix a flat much less anything else. END OF RANT

Vermillion06

I guess they should have taken not showered or shaved and taken the Greyhound bus to Washington.

Ronith

@1:54 is Alan Mulally going into a Lexus?

rhumb

Well, they have been spending it any way they want, and quite poorly. I am certainly not whining, and much less a commie (that put down is sooo 1953) and were it just the smug, pampered suits that suffered should the big three go off the cliff, then I'd be the first to push them as they -- with perhaps the exception of Mullally who is good but perhaps too late to the scene of the crime to clean up -- have made a complete hash of things, though not to give the UAW their due credit too.

Unforetunately, unlike unfettered thinktank capitalism, the real world detrimental effects would likely be far more extensive to the overall economy than just the fate of the three companies themselves and may well have a cascading effect that could quite conceivably take us from a severe recession to a full bore depression.

There are a raft of other reasons why the bankruptcy of the big three would be anything but business school textbook neat and constrained, quite apart from any softhearted mewlings like actually caring about what would happen to the millions of people loosing their jobs. Hoover took the lazy-fare, err, laissez-faire, approach at the start of what became the Great Depression -- didn't work out so well as it did in Macro Economics 101.

In terms of incompetance, Congress seems more than equally matched by the scions of business and were it only a rhetorical flat that it is being asked to fix rather than the smoldering hulk delivered to their doorstep by Detroit. Believe me, I have little to no sympathy for either the big three or the UAW and have little stomach for the government to throw more tens of billions more into the same rat hole.

I think this problem is way too complex and intermeshed for either pure free-for-all-market or big-brother-government idealogies to solve alone. In fact, the reality is that it is going to take an incredibly complex interplay of both to salvage this mess and the American economy as a whole.

CooBra07

+1

I read that their spouses/significant other(s)... use these jets for their leisure as well...at company's expense...

Is that how it works
______________

yugoboss

I really think they need to restructure, and see how they can save some money.

stangsimon

Everyone is forgetting a few important details:

#1 ) Rules set by the board of directors prohibits CEOs and Chairpersons of the Board from flying commercial on company business.

#2 ) Why? Two reasons:
a ) Legal liability. If any employee on company business is involved any type of accident, with any loss or damage to a third party, Ford could be held liable, either due to actions of said person on company business, due their conduction of business, or any special accommodations of said person.

b ) Security costs. CEOs especially of major automakers, are always accompanied by a security detail. The logistical and financial implications of positively securing a CEO of a company who has laid off thousands of workers, in a public airport and public commercial flight outweigh the cost of jet fuel.

# 3 ) Reduction in cost. Purchasing commercial flights instead of using the company's own aircraft is significantly more expensive. You significantly eliminate overhead cost ( i.e. the profit an airline receives ) by using your own plane to transport CEOs, and employees to company business events. Want proof? Rent a car for a week and compare it to your monthly car payment. Its cheaper to own and use your own car.

I think everyone is putting too much emphasis in the term "personal jet," just because it sounds so Lifestyles of Rich and Famous.

stangsimon

The restructuring has been happening for years. There are 50% less people where I work than there was seven years ago. Many jobs have been eliminated. The people who are left, fearing for their own jobs, work even harder and often stay late to out produce the person sitting next to them so they can survive the next layoff.

The automakers problem was caused by four things:
1 ) The lackluster decisions by management of the companies over the last 25 years. Remember these CEOs other than GMs Wagoner have less than 24 months on the job.

2 ) Poor reporting by local and national media of what is factually accurate. All three companies are NOT in the same position, they do not build only trucks and SUVs ( Chevy has more models over 30mpg than any other brand ), their quality is excellent, ( CU rated Ford quality as high and Honda and Toyota in the lates CarBuyers Guide ), safety is excellent ( The IIHS today announced Ford received the highest scores in crash tests, the most of ANY manufacturer ), and they are advancing in green technology ( The 2010 Fusion hybrid outperforms the Camry and Accord hybrids by significant range. )

3 ) The fall of the credit markets and banking industry we have all seen since September has made people fearful of spending, unable to get credit, and sick of hearing the word "bailout"

and

4 ) Legacy costs of UAW retirees, uncompetitive blue collar compensation versus the foreign trans-plants and lack of U.S. taxpayer-funded subsidies and breaks that the foreign companies have received from Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, to build vehicles/plants there. This one just makes me sick- we can give $ to foreign manufactures but not domestic.

Most of these issues are the fault of banking and automotive CEOs fired, resigned, retired or deceased, and banking and goverment officials long since gone from office. So there you go. No one to blame, so we blame the current employees and purport the ridiculous idea that they're still making Pintos, Volares, and Citations from 28 years ago.....

One more point: This is not a Big Three only problem. The european manufacturers( including Daimler-Benz, formerly the Daimler of Chrysler ) have also asked for bailout/loans from the EU, Renault-Nissan is hemmoraging cash so fast its pulled out of the Detroit and Chicago auto shows, Toyota is cutting production in all NA plants, and Mercedes has offered buyouts of all of its workers in the Alabama plant, where they build three different gas guzzling SUVs.

So this is not the fault of morons in Detroit building sh!tty gas guzzling SUVs that no one wants ( and EVERYONE wanted until gas hit $4 a gallon ) Notice how quickly Toyota, Honda, Nissan moved into bg trucks and SUVs???? I could go on and on....

05GT-O.C.D.

Looks like Ford is concerned about public perception. Good for them. Also good for the environment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200...politico/26682

ferrarimanf355

If Alan has any *****, he'd show up in a 2010 Mustang GT, hand the keys over to Speaker Pelosi, and tell her why soul-stirring cars are good for Ford's image. That's what my heart says. My brain says he'll probably show up in a preproduction Fusion hybrid...

Knight

Escape Hybrid it is.

zzcoop

Though the whole thing seems a bit phony and transparent. Like the guy who brings his wife flowers after getting his *** chewed because he went to the track with his buddies on their anniversary.

I just hope Detroit is able to talk Washington into a little make-up sex before it's too late.

ferrarimanf355

He freaking missed an opportunity there...

05GT-O.C.D.

Now he's offering to work for $1 if Ford receives the bailout?

2k7gtcs

I'll work for a $1 if you double my stock value.

k3druid

F150 is again the Number ONE seller.
If you believe what you read on the Internet.

Is that a Corner to Turn up ahead or a Brick Wall.

ferrarimanf355

Ugh...

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/...ster-over-auto

Time to break out the voodoo dolls, and to everyone in Alabama, he's up for re-election in 2010...