{"id":13533,"date":"2008-11-20T10:04:36","date_gmt":"2008-11-20T17:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/11\/20\/let-them-eat-cake.html"},"modified":"2011-03-14T19:17:12","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T01:17:12","slug":"let_them_eat_cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/20\/let_them_eat_cake.html","title":{"rendered":"Let them eat cake!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Big Three auto manufacturer in Detroit — or, rather, their execs — have no clue how much anger and resentment there is roiling around out there toward them. People have been railing at them for years to produce gas-efficient vehicles, to produce quality vehicles, to show that they can be real contenders. Instead, they continued to crank out shoddily-manufactured gas guzzlers, fight attempts at fuel efficiency standards, and pretended like nothing would ever change, even as they steadily lost market share to overseas competitors.<\/p>\n

And now, when times are tough and credit is lean and the Big Three are hemorrhaging money in an alarming fashion, their CEOs come before Congress begging for hand-outs …<\/p>\n

… flying on their private jets to do so<\/a>. (emphasis mine)<\/p>\n

\n

The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough<\/strong>. All three CEOs – Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler – exercised their perks Tuesday by flying in corporate jets to DC. Wagoner flew in GM’s $36 million luxury aircraft <\/strong>to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[…] While Wagoner testified, his G4 private jet was parked at Dulles airport. It is just one of a fleet of luxury jets owned by GM that continues to ferry executives around the world despite the company’s dire financial straits. […] Wagoner’s private jet trip to Washington cost his ailing company an estimated $20,000 roundtrip<\/strong>. In comparison, seats on Northwest Airlines flight 2364 from Detroit to Washington were going online for $288 coach and $837 first class.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[…] Ford CEO Mulally’s corporate jet is a perk included for both he and his wife as part of his employment contract along with a $28 million salary last year<\/strong>. Mulally actually lives in Seattle, not Detroit. The company jet takes him home and back on weekends.<\/p>\n

Mulally made his case Tuesday before the committee saying he’s cut expenses, laid-off workers and closed 17 plants. “We have also reduced our work force by 51,000 employees in the past three years,” Mulally said. Yet Ford continues to operate a fleet of eight private jets for its executives<\/strong>. Just Tuesday, one jet was taking Ford brass to Los Angeles, another on a trip to Nebraska, and of course Mulally needed to fly to Washington to testify. He did not address questions following the hearing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GM and Ford say that it is a corporate decision to have their CEOs fly on private jets and that is non-negotiable<\/strong>, even as the companies say they are running out of cash. Private jet travel is perhaps the greatest perk of all for CEOs, who say it allows them to travel more efficiently and safely, even in a recession.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

And even when prodded with a clue stick as to how this might seem to be, ah, at the very least pretty crappy PR, they remained either clueless or arrogant (or both)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Auto industry CEOs appeared on Capitol Hill today to ask for a $25 billion bailout. At least one lawmaker believes that the CEOs should change their luxury travel habits before getting access to taxpayer funds. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked the top execs if they would be willing sell their corporate jets and travel home on commercial flights.<\/p>\n

Sherman asked the CEOs, “I’m going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial.”<\/p>\n

“Let the record show, no hands went up<\/strong>,” noted Sherman<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

They have no clue. No clue<\/em>. If this were 18th Century France, they would be the aristos, blithely going along without any concern that their exalted position might be in danger, let alone their lives<\/em>. With their massive salaries (even beyond their plummeting stock options, it’s not like these guys are hurting) and golden parachutes, the most they are worried about the loss of prestige and how presiding over the collapse of a GM or Ford might look on their resumes, or in conversation at the country club.<\/p>\n

The problem is, as much as I’d love to send them to the guillotine<\/strike> see them all out of jobs<\/em> as their empires collapse around them, the folks who would actually bear the brunt <\/em>of it wouldn’t be these CEOs, but their workers, and their workers’ families, and the communities (and states) in which they operate, and the suppliers, and the folks at dealerships, etc. They are the ones who would suffer for the incompetence and arrogance of these individuals — and it is only because of them, and the overall impact that it would have on the national economy<\/a>, that I’d be willing to see a Auto Bail-out …<\/p>\n

… but unlike the Bank Bail-outs, I’d very much like to see some serious conditions \/ restrictions applied. Yeah, corporate jets are a drop in the bucket compared to $25bn, but it’s a huge symbolic issue (“non-negotiable” be damned). Ditto for major severance pay for execs — if that requires a contract change, so be it. And if those CEOs decide to quit rather than be so mistreated, I’ll betcha there are others ready to step in, even in difficult times.<\/p>\n

I’m not big into the government micromanaging businesses — but if those businesses need to come hat-in-hand to Congress for money, I think that’s plenty of justification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Big Three auto manufacturer in Detroit — or, rather, their execs — have no clue how much anger and resentment there is roiling around out there toward them. People…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-cars","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24323,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/07\/certainty-for-me-but-not-for-thee.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":0},"title":"Certainty for Me But Not for Thee","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 7-Dec-11 4:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The GOP regularly lambastes the Dems in general and the Federal Government in particular for not giving businesses \"certainty\" in legal and tax and regulatory area. Yet Mitt Romney seems to have no concerns about \"certainty\" for poor elderly and their medical care. Not only does he want to replace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4481,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/08\/25\/where_theres_sm.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":1},"title":"Where there’s smoke …","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 25-Aug-03 6:53am","format":false,"excerpt":"While I roundly condemn the torchnig of an auto dealership by the Earth Liberation Front (motto: \"Because the pollution from burning down an auto dealership is insignificant next to the...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23580,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/09\/yes-lets-help-the-beleaguered-american-yacht-industry.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":2},"title":"Yes, let's help the beleaguered American yacht industry","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Nov-11 3:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, all those newly enriched CEOs and other bonus recipients, not to mention dividend recipients, will certainly have to spend their money on something. And yachts and corporate jets are obviously far more useful than, oh, anything that the federal government might do with $1.5 trillion. Right? I mean,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24808,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/24\/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":3},"title":"Nice work, if you can get it","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 24-Dec-11 10:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"Filed under the \"The 1% Aren't Like the Rest of Us,\" word that America's top CEOs saw pay hikes in the 30-40% range.Which I don't begrudge them, necessarily, but in a time when most people aren't getting enough in increases to match inflation (assuming they have a job), one wonders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8965,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/15\/its_quiet_too_q.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":4},"title":"It’s quiet … too quiet …","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 15-Mar-06 6:50am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again: hybrid cars are more dangerous because pedestrians can't hear them. As hybrid sales skyrocket, there's a growing concern that the battery-gas powered vehicles...","rel":"","context":"In "Cars"","block_context":{"text":"Cars","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/cars"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11930,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/28\/fill_er_with_ethyl.html","url_meta":{"origin":13533,"position":5},"title":"Fill ‘er with Ethyl!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 28-Dec-07 12:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I grew up, early years at least, in a world of \"leaded\" gasoline, where \"ethyl\" was what you wanted in your tank.\u00a0 I remember (as a kid) unleaded gas...","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/ethyl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}