Closing Arguments: No Jets for the Execs?

I am disgusted by the executives of the big 3. They should give up all of their salaries plus their perks and work for free on the line in their factories

Why can’t they drive a car?

If I have to then they should
as well… if the are crying poverty, sell the darn things.

Are you kidding? Yes, they should sell all of their jets and fly commercial. I can’t see where selling two jets that aren’t even in use is going to do any good. Who do they think they are??????

Belt tightening is something all of us are experiencing right now. Why not the Big corporations? I will be paying for their bailout and I don’t fly private jets OR 1st class. Don;t ask me to bail you out if you aren’t willing to tighten your own belt

I vote for selling the jets. Take them out of service–? They’re out of service for saying that. They have some nerve!

Jets have their place but not when you a claiming to be poor. At least the jets have been claimed to be leased. But how many people does returning the jets put out of work?
What happened to the electronic conference systems that were gong to reduce travel needs?
Would congess accept electronic conferencing in place of physical visits. If not, they must share the blame for the use of jets.

Typcal political grandstanding. Do we really want executives killing time for two hours at airports with their shoes off, going and coming.

Commercial flights – business section.

Even GM trying to get a bailout, makes me sick. If these companies are realy hurting, than they would not be able to afford to fly in private jets. As far as I am concerned, let them find their own way out. No one is bailing you and I out, if we get in debt. All of these big compinies want a free ride.

They make cars don’t they? What’s wrong with driving the product they make? Are they not proud of their own product?

they don’t need all those jets. sell all of them to help there selves. if they get the money hows that going to help. 8 to 10 months there going to be broke again. so i say [NO ]

Plan to reduce vehicle inventory and earn gov. loans: Big three to sell inventory at cost or below to public. For each car sold gov. gives auto maker portion of loan money needed. Divide $25 billion by number of over stock vehicles to determine per car amount to go to manufacturer.

Its almost always better to have them on company jets. In most cases it is the best value for the stockholder. Its been proven over and over.

i think its not so much about the jets as that they need to make concessions too , if they are that far in debt then then need to make one big pay across the board like 10% from every one , just that should get them through atleast march or april ,

This whole issue is disusting. While hundreds of thousands of hard working people worry about how to pay the bills. Executives are still living lavishly. They are the ones who caused this whole situation and yet they are the ones who do not suffer. This is typical though our problem is with the lack of accountability.
The nerve of them to fly in private jets with security and expensive cars to drive these executives around. I suppose after their Kobi steak and egg lunches at the Caucus Room they decided to drop by congress to ask for additional money from the taxpayers.
Yes, they should sell the jets and lose all of their other perks. They should follow the example of the CEO of Japan Airlines!

I agree that they should sale the jets and put that money toward building 60 to 100mpg cars and take all of there bonusess and kickbacks from the oil companys and put it back into the companys. They should definately have to go through bankrupcy, because they had plenty of time to see this comin but they chose to keep linin their pockets as long as they could and bettin that us poor tax payers would just bail them out. I say ta hell with them. They got themselves in this mess not us.
We all know that there are wharehouses full of motors and fuel injection systems that could have prevented such a major downfall for our country.
It all comes down to one thing only. GREED!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think if the big 3 have their own Jet’s then they should, by all means use them. I think the CEO’s are paid to much and they should voluntarily take less wages, and maybe even the assembly workers. And then maybe it would be possiable to reduce the cost of the automobile’s so more would be sold.

Not only should they fly commercial, but the executives of companies that take bail out money should be capped at no more than the President makes…$450,000!

Fire those idiots and sell the jets! They have a lot of nerve asking for a bail out while they live it up. To the lady who thinks they should keep the jets your’re a stupid as they are.

No Bailout for the big 3! This would simply allow them to maintain their own lavish lifestyle. It’s their own fault they’re in a crises with their corporations, what are THEY doing to help themselves out? Answer: NOTHING!

They should sell all the jets and use the money for there bailouts. They are not poor they are just plain greedy and grafting after more; and the nation of tax payer should not have to go through it.If they truly need help they would help themselves buy selling those jets and whatever else they have that they don’t have to help them from falling as they say. I don’t believe them, everything was just fine, until they heard about the $700 billion bailout. Now all of a sudden they need help, They need help alright, they need Jesus.

They just do not get it! The spoiled executives are not willing to do whatever it takes to save the Industry. They are on verge of going bankrupt and yet are only willing to give up two of five jets. Wake up America! The excesses at the top are the cause of the whole crisis. Inept and irresponsible management has finally caught up with them. Hold them accountable! The auto indusrty needs to focus on quality, invest in new technology and cut back on so many different models. A Great truck, five energy efficient cars and start from there. It can be turned around if they are willing to make some sacrifices and stop the frills. Put people back to work. They forget who buys the product.

Why not make those Wall Street Aces like AIG execs take commercial jets? They have endangered everyone in this country with their carelessness and greed. The automakers are coming to ask for a LOAN, not a free handout. They have a darn good product. I am not worried about them, I am worried about those jerks in Congress who weren’t minding the store and let this economy get out of hand. What about Alan Greenspan and all the experts? Didn’t they see this coming? You can’t give mortgages to folks with no down payment,and interest only payments and expect that it could go on forever without a consequence! Hey, what IS the history of how all these folks were able to get no down payment mortgages, and “Have bad credit..come talk to us, we can put you in a home fast”? What the heck went on there? No common sense from the people who should know about economics? I am disgusted by what our leaders have done to us–the American People. You have unravelled a network of common sense safeguards that kept this county humming. Now,do some more harm by kicking out the supports from under the auto inductry.It gets dumber and dumber..

Yes, they need to tighten their belts just like the rest of Americans. Just because they sit in offices and have the best luxury items at their fingertips, time for a change. If they need help show other employees that they are willing to give up luxury and get down to their level to help the company out of their situation. Shame on them for even taking the jet into the locker and not having to get out in the weather like other people have to do when they travel on planes. What is going to happen to America if the upper class of people keep living high on the hog and others are loosing their homes and families are hurting.

The private jet issue is ridiculous to bring up, and is just an excuse for not making a decision; do AIG execs fly on a private jet? Of course–it’s OK for the financial services industry that we are providing bailouts to. We give them money just like banks gave money to the no doc subprime homeowners. Stop the bias against the American auto industry, get over it, and stick with the real issues. Flying corporate jets is standard procedure for security reasons, and on time arrival.

I say ”no corporate planes at all”,Plus give back any bonuses received in the past 3 years,or no bailout{deal}.Plus- take a cut in compensation or go broke.

Enough is enough. Give them a dose of being a “little man” for a while and let them figure out a way to pull the auto industry up by the bootstraps!

I don’t think the auto workers in the plants should have to take anymore paycuts we work hard for the wages/benefits we get. Mind you the healthcare isn’t the best. People on the outside seem to think ‘you work at GM you must be rich’.Well my answer to that is HA. THE ONES THAT NEED TO GIVE ARE THE EXECS. THEY SHOULD HAVE TO GIVE IT ALL UP. NO JETS,BONUSES OR SALARIES.

They should SELL all the corporate jets, then file chapter 11. Perhaps the unions will be forced to make concessions and get real about contracts. Unless this is done the ‘big 3′ should go belly-up!

Ececutative travel should be at least expensive level possible in all cases. It is only logical to do it this way, as it puts the most profit on the bottom line. That is what any top executative should be interested in, not personal comforts.

Everyone has gotten greedy so why not these guys? They are as bad as the entertainers and the Sports athletes. Nobody needs to make the kind of money that any of these people make. The problem is that we have given in to them and it has only gotten worse not better. It’s no wonder why our economy sucks, the stock market is way down, the prices of everything including gas, movie tickets, cable tv., airplane travel, clothes, designer clothes, every part of our society as we know it has been touched by the “Greed Monster” No one is immune to it. These guys are only doing what they have been allowed to do as well as everyone else. Look what happened to Enron? That was only the beginning as you can well see. This country is now in for a rude awakening. Let these guys take a pay cut. That is the only way they are going to get the respect of the public. They shouldn’t be bailed out if they can’t take a pay cut and lose their planes.

The arrogance of these CEO is disgusting. You would think that even if they should be allowed to have private jet (as obviously they are) that when they’re asking the tax payers to help them that they would at least appear to be sensitive to the fact that the overall econamy is in jeopardy. The whole notion of tar and feathers, and running them out of town on a rail comes to mind. Shameful!!!

Many small businesses across the country are suffering too but we pay our employees, our bills, our vendors & then we pay ourselves. I won’t be offered any bailout or assistance. We make sure every purchase is necessary to run the business. Maybe the auto executives should try that for a change. They should sell the jets, trim ALL the excess expenses for the execs & top echelon of these companies, give up their salaries & bonuses for a year, roll up their sleeves, set a good example & start EARNING THE RESPECT of their employees & the taxpayer. Maybe then our government should consider giving them any money. If I was in charge my answer – Do all of the above and THEN we will talk!

I am so disgusted with these auto executives! Do they live in the same world as the rest of us? I think they have been in another world since the 1970′s. I had just gotten my driver’s licence when OPEC decided to create the oil crisis and even at 16 years old I understood the power that OPEC wielded. Why didn’t they learn then when it would have done us all some good? It is ridiculous to continue to follow a pattern that could only lead to the mess we’re in now. What happened to innovation? This country used to be a leader in innovation. For years now new ideas have been crushed under the heel of complacency, or maybe just indifference. I is my hope that finally the people who have the power and money will join with the innovators and make the changes we so desperately need to get this country going in the right direction again. Oh, by the way I think they should sell those jets instead of retiring them. Tell them to think of it as a large scale yard sale like I’m sure alot of their ex-employees are having. I agree with Whoopie Goldberg, WHAT THE HELL?

They should sell all the aircraft and reduce their salary to one million per year permanately

I think any company that is being bailed out by the taxpayers should require its executives to take salary cuts, give up the golden parachutes, and the company should sell its airplanes, and require the executives to fly commercially.

You damn right I want’em standing in line waiting on a commercial flight. They don’t do anything any way except sit around and think up a bunch of bull to agitate employees and make it as hard as possible. This is supposed to make them espert Managers to demand millions in salary. The boards of directors are all part of the same klan that support each other 100%. If they had to train someone to build an auto, they wouldn’t know where to start.

Well I read a lot of these comments..and I own a lot of stock.. I know that the stockholders have no say in the company.. the board and executives run it and the stockholders just vote with no say and there is no way to remove any of them..and the board members are either CEO’s of other companies or members of other boards and they just keep approving all the perks that they can for each other..they go from one board to anoher…
It is very unfortunate for the stock holder.. we have to take the dividen that they decide to share with us after they have had their meetings in plosh resorts, private jets, $1000.00 bottles of wine that they drink to think that that makes them important………
I now have a feeling.. I heard today on talk radio a guy who worked for GM..saying that one CEO got shot in the 80′s, and another had a kid kidnapped…and another several had something happen to them also..
So on the private jet deal.. ok… but not to take their smart ass and their family to Vail for a skiing vacation.. only for business!! To go to factory’s or suppliers.. no pleasure.. and if they travel on commercial (who would know that they were on that flight)………. then hire them a body guard or 2.. much less than $40,000 or so for a round trip on a private jet.. (Oh, but don’t we all know they would much rather travel on a private jet….don’t have to pay for the wife or kids tickets.. … wouldn’t we all ?? “but we are executives and we are accustomed to first class..”) 3 tickets round trip first class about $6000.00.
I don’t want my tax money paying a buy out for them to fly on private planes for any company that the Federal Government has to bail out..!! Any company exec. can go commercial with a body guard!! They have cell phones and computers to keep in touch.. so not like years ago when they were ‘out of touch’..
And I think that a lot of us taxpayers should fire a lot of those AIG executives too for their thumbing their noses at us to….
Let’s all go for stopping all these perks that executives and board members approve for themselves.. They are no better or smarter than many of us.. They just wormed their selves into that position because they knew what they could reap from it.. and then vote for themselves..
Lets change this.!!
George, Ft. Laud.

THEY DON’T HAVE A PLAN!!!
CEO’S OF GM, FORD AND CHRYSLER SHOULD STEP DOWN FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMPANY!!!
AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO CONTACT CONGRESS AND SAY “HELL NO” TO THE BAIL OUT!!!!
FORCE THEM INTO BANKRUPCTY AND RESTRUCTURE THE CEO, MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS SALARIES!!! EVERYBODY TAKE A CUT!!

I’d just like to say, I’d be afraid to meet my maker if I were one of these corporate execs!
As a counselor for terminally ill people and their families, I’ve seen the ‘journey to the maker’ over and over again. No one bails out these families, who lose their income while watching their loved one die from some cruel, painful disease.
These execs are not only greedy and arrogant, they obviously suffer from delusions of grandeur. They are also ignorant. pawns being thrown into a pack of rabid, starving wolves, who are struggling to survive.
I am one of those hungry wolves, and quite frankly, this sadd!
With the bailout money proposed for these few corporations, our government could INSTEAD bailout millions of individual hardworking Americans who earn every dollar they make HONESTLY.
I WAS DENIED GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE WHILE EARNING MY MASTER’S DEGREE(pregnant and alone) because, AND I QUOTE “a Master’s degree is not job training” said Maryland…..and YES, I have it in writing.
Thanks for nothing, Uncle Sam. Now I get to ‘help’ out those poor, poor little lambs…..who only make 370 million or so……
Without a doubt, if I showed up for my student loan exit interview in a private jet, I’d have to write out a big, fat check on the spot. Instead, I get to (have to) BAIL MYSELF OUT—to the tune of $40,000—-for the next 20 years or so.

I am truly amazed. Most of you really don’t get it! I am just as angry as each of you with top executives who are paid obscene salaries. I am also angry with unions which have contributed to inflationary costs. But focus on the real problems as mentioned earlier such as greedy financial institutions, low income home purchasers, flippers and real estate agents, the $700B Bailout and Washingtons fools. We can do with many less financiers greedily taking huge fees, but allowing the car manufactures to fail is a matter of national security not to mention the hurt this country would experience by the loss of jobs not only directly in the auto sector but every sector of our economy would collapse if the automobile industry were to go under. Wise up people!

Do not forget that the business people make the money that the politicans spend. There are three economies (i.e., Private Industry, Government, and Non-Profits). The Non-profits and Government each have appoximately 1.6 trillion in assets. WHich leaves about 16 trillion in private hands. The cost of a GV is nothing to the cost of running Air Force One (and the other planes). If a cost analyis is to be done fairly, then the Federal Government’e loss of 15 trillion USD under bush is nothing — and the CEOs live as paupers who provide the revenue and get little in return.
The “tragedy of commons” states that which is owned by all is cared for by none. Sovergein Imunity protects government workers. If there is no incentive for private industry to perform through innovation, then they will be like the communists who failed. The Politicians are giving 25 billion to allow the Amercian auto industries to make a product which will replace the gas guzzlers that the government allowed to make the politicans (and oil companies) rich. I would surmise that the Big Three has paid more that 25 billion in taxes. Allow them their conservative jets, and pehaps, require the politicans to fly Gulfstreams instead of the heavy iron, which is at least 100 times as expensive.

I am once again amazed at the audacity of some people. First it was the AIG bailout and their luxury seminars and now its the Big 3 and their corporate jets. And they all get such outlandish salaries. They need to sell the jets, no bonuses, no perks, and anyone in the company that makes over 500,000 a year needs to take a pay cut. I have read the assembly workers make like 73.00 an hour(pay and benefits together I think) I would be thrilled to make 73.00 a DAY. I don’t want to see anybody lose their jobs but NO BAILOUT unless we see some cut backs from inside the companies

I am once again amazed at the audacity of some people. First it was the AIG bailout and their luxury seminars and now its the Big 3 and their corporate jets. And they all get such outlandish salaries. They need to sell the jets, no bonuses, no perks, and anyone in the company that makes over 500,000 a year needs to take a pay cut. I have read the assembly workers make like 73.00 an hour(pay and benefits together I think) I would be thrilled to make 73.00 a DAY. I don’t want to see anybody lose their jobs but NO BAILOUT unless we see some cut backs from inside the companies

Look people what does it say about Congress/Senate that wants to give them the money!!!!
Something need to be done with Congress/Senate!!!!!
They are not working/looking out for the people on Main Street in this country!!!!

I’m sorry for you sisterdearest09 because you are so ignorant of the facts. GM, Ford and Chrysler have all turned almost like turning on a dime for a major industry. All three have committed themselves to building innovative new plug-in, hybrid and variable cylinder vehicles which will get upwards of infinite mileage per gallon of gasoline in local commuting. All because of the current CEOs in each of these three car companies. Get your hackels up at incompetent politicians and greedy house purchasers and flippers , real estate agents, financiers and their executives. They are the ones who deserve our anger.

No they shouldn’t be forced to fly commercial. How about someone tell Nancy Pelosi that the federal government is in more debt than the big three automakers ever will be and maybe she should stop flying in her personal aircraft when going out of town and fly commercial herself. Pelosi has a bigger plane supplied by tax payers through the air force than any other Speaker of the House before her. I am sick of her and democrats playing politics with our money and our lives.

Most of the highest ranking executives of the big three should be fired. The jests should be sold. If the people loan these ompanies billions, management should be turned over to the people who are already successfully bulding autos in this country. Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Kia, Hyundai, the list is endless. They’re building cars in the us with happy American workers. This is management that works. Turn the big three over to these guys. Fire the failures.

These clowns have the air that they are better than the common man after all they can fly in private jets with wait staff to go ask the taxpayers to give them cash to save the businesses that they screwed up.
FIRE them with no golden parachute, sell the jets. These ass wipes have been taking the public for years. Get someone else in there with a limit on the pay.
This is absolute BS just as the bailout of the banks that have been taking the public for years while the kingpins live the high life.
Let’s do as China does EXECUTE them. I have never seen a public execution but I would pay to watch these clowns go down.

THESE GUYS DESERVE NO COMPENSATION, FIRE THEM ALL.

The executives should have security from angry and unstable people, but let them make use of much smaller, more fuel-efficient planes (along with bodyguards). Those giant jets are ridiculously extravagant.
The main problem is that top executives feel their status can only be proven by stratospheric incomes and luxurious surroundings — which also proclaim the success of their companies, reassure investors, and intimidate potential enemies. (I can’t help comparing this behavior with that of spectacular dominant animals in nature programs.)
Fortunately the events of the past few months have shown over and over again how absurd, wasteful and destructive this privileged corporate culture can be. I hope that public disgust will lead to a new kind of competition based on sounder human and social values. Probably only stricter regulation and greater transparency can bring this about.

Well in the first Great Depression
you had people asking … Brother can you
spare a Dime ………..NOW YOU HAVE
SOME DUDES FLY IN ON THEIR JET AND ASK
TO BUM 25 BILLION DOLLARS….
PLEASE JUST SAY NO! TO THE BUMS!

Let those bloated top-heavy companies crash and burn. Use the funds instead to provide grants to start up companies in alternative energy and provide training for displaced auto workers to work in the field. It’s a good opportunity to tear it all down and start all over again with our best foot forward.

Who hurts the American people more… private corporation executives with their grotesque pay and benefits or the line of senators/congressman sitting before them asking stupid questions that plays well for the TV cameras and the public.
One of the best solutions to our problems here in America that I’ve heard so far is “term limits must be imposed on all senators and congressman”. The more I think about it the more I like the idea. Our federal government has spent us into near bankruptcy and we all had better wake up very soon. We are not going to like the repercussions of doing nothing to stop this federal monster that’s consuming us all.

I have lost all faith in the quality of automobiles from the big three. I have a Dodge van that the paint was peeling off, it plainly stated in my warranty book that such a problem was under warrant, when I contacted the dealer and the company they would only pay half to fix the problem, my half of the cost at the dealer would have been over twice the cost they charged me to fix it at a local body shop where I paid all the cost. Another scam I ran into was at a GM dealer where they tried to to charge me over $750 for a so called protective paint coat and over $500 for some so called under coat. In my opinion this is why people are not buying their cars. I can understand why the executives fly jets and not drive, the vehicles they make are not reliable enough to get them where they are going.

These characters have been doing it wrong for tha last 35 years, believe me, they will not change. Big 3 needs a complete management overhaul and the UAW better get their heads out of their collective a$$’s. If they are to survive they must be in a position to compete. And it may be time for a little ole fashioned protectionism. We listened to all the free traders and look where we are. If you build it outside of the USA, you must pay to get it delivered here. All this BS of being”green” goes up in smoke because of China, Eastern Europe India and South America they DO NOT CARE about the environment and we have let all out manufacturing to go there. We will not be able to bring the economy back with a service oriented economy. We MUST get back to building things

These exes are supposed to be the most highly educated brilliant minds available. They are hired to do a job and run the company’s efficiently and make a profit. By doing this they are compensated with there large salaries. None of these execs are performing up to the standards for what they are being paid for and should all be replaced.
None of them are taking any personal responsibility for the problems. It always falls at the feet of the working guy.
Let them work for the same wages the other employes have to and live on that.
Just a note to remmember, chrysler got a bailout a few years ago and now they are back looking for a another handout.
Before that TCF got as bailout. Where does it stop. I say let them fail and do like any other busines has to.

Like most companies that acheive this level of success, greed takes over, more isn’t enough and too much will never be enough. Just read Henry Ford’s original philosophy about car making, better yet maybe the execs of the big three need to read his biography, it’s always been about the customer and in their line of work it will continue to be about the customer, they should remember one shafted customer turns to two, and two to four….think long and hard BIG THREE, Is your philosophy today the same as it was when you first began? I owned a ford , a pontiac firebird, a chevy cavalier and a suburban, now I drive a Toyota Camry and wouldn’t you like to know why? Did I lose my faith in you? I live near a GM plant, I had to listen when the strikes started over pay raises, and benefits and watch the sad, sad stories about the Gm workers forced to eat macaroni and cheese three nights a week because they weren’t being paid while they weren’t working! Laura nailed it on the head, you are all overpaid! CEO’s top of the list. If you really want to restore faith in your companies and if you really want our business, don’t jack up the prices of your cars, offer us 0% financing for 60 months and call that helping out and I don’t want the same employee discount all GM employees get! I want a decent American made product, with few to no recalls ( nobodys perfect) and I want the guy building it to be perfectly content with making 30.00 bucks and hour to do it! Which by the way is the average salary of the folks who have to FIX these vehicles once they roll off your lines! No Bailout money until the EMPLOYEES at the BIG THREE show some loyalty and respect to the consumer who also happens to be the AMERICAN TAXPAYER!

To all those that say these very important guys shouldn’t have to waste their time waiting for planes and flying commercial, I say why not? I have a job with travel demands and I cannot be as efficient flying commercial either but unfortunately I have to do so. My guess is if every CEO of a top company had to fly commercial, as well as the wealthiest Americans, magically flying would become more efficient and not a time waster…just a guess….

The industry knew twenty years ago they had been selling inferior products to American’s. Point: in 1970 over in Germany I had the pleasure of first hand experience of knowing what is to go to a service station that was closed with no attendant but able to purchase fuel by placing money into pump and it was dispensed according to the amount entered,also miles per gallon was higher than without fuel injected supposingly fuel effecient modern technology,ie;verses turn signal dimmer instead of floor,sunroofs and other advanced technology on vehicles there as opposed to American vehicles. Also in 1960 Oil companies purchased an engine that operated on any combustible liquid and gave over 60 miles per gallon then and moth balled it. This was briefly displayed in the news but Quickly shutdown.They knew then that it was keeping America twenty years behind everyone else.

First, why not make them justify the need to be anyplace they need to be so quickly? Possibly they could, at least for certain occasions. But then, what’s wrong with using much smaller planes (maybe a small exec twin-engine) rather than the obscene multimillion-dollar jetliners? Heck, I’ll take a job as pilot.

>>I’m really tired of this! I’ve given up EVERYthing, sold all my furniture, haven’t bought new clothes in 3 years (except underwear), haven’t seen a movie, been to a nightclub in 4 years.<<
ME TOO! I can't even afford to buy a 1/2 gallon of ice cream and these guys make millions of $$ salaries. Let them sell the planes and cut their salaries down to a reasonable amount of money…NO BAILOUTS…and if they want their companies to make money they can build/design BETTER QUALITY cars at more REASONABLE PRICES. Last time I bought a new car was in 1992 and it was a MITSUBISHI. Prices of new cars are ludicrous! I am not going to contribute to someone's 20 million dollar salary. We never should have bailed the crooked banks and insurance companies out either!!! NO ONE IS BAILING US POOR MIDDLE CLASS OUT AND WE ARE THE ONES SUFFERING.

Every event is scheduled so there is no reason why they need to fly on private planes to get here or there. It is for their own importance and convenience, and for someone like Mullaly to fly back and forth to WA state each weekend or his wife to fly here and there is despicable when workers are being laid off. No one should fly on private planes unless it is on their own dime. After all, the millions and millions they are paid are more than enough for them to operate their own plane without the rest or the company having to foot the bill. NO BAILOUT!! EVER!!!

Sell the jets. Get rid of the execs. (They got their companies into this mess in the 1st place…and don’t reward them with any out-the-door packages!) How about a little “trickle down” here: Cutbacks and reorganizing should start at the top. These guys don’t have a clue!

What a riduculous waste of money! Auto execs should fly commercial! Bill says in his post that we can’t afford to fly them commercial at their wage of $7000/hr. Why do they earn this much in the first place? Have they done a good job of running these companies? Have they come up with smaller, more efficient earth friendly autos that we, the little guy can afford or feel good about buying? Do the rest of us get rewarded when we perform poorly at work? No, we get fired and there is no one there to bail us out!
Are these CEO’s so inept that they can’t make good use of their time while waiting fot their commercial flight…hello…laptop! Annette Fildes posts that they are at risk of kidnapping…laughable….dont’ you think if that was going to happen it would have happened when these guys were worth something? If they think they need security …hire some body guards at a fraction of cost of private jets. This is just dumb! There is NO justification for this self indulgence! The rest of us are struggling to put food on the table and these guys are whining about flying commercial. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if WE could even afford to take a vacation and fly commercial?
We are all making sacrifices, why can’t they? How many homeless, hungry people do we have right here in the US? How many people could be helped with the money wasted to fly thse CEO’s around? Or the $7000 that they make in one hour? It is pathetic that they feel they have the RIGHT to this luxury!

It is really simple, if all of the execs used smart business tools, like http://try.nefsis.com , then they would save huge travel money, and save emissions and be responsible like all of the great businesses that know these are the tools to keep a business growing, not failing.

Warren Buffet is probably the most qualified businessman. His comments were dead on correct. Let the Big 3 executives invest a SIGNIFICANT portion of their net worth back into their companies. This will give them the motivation to work hard and send a statement to the taxpayers that they are willing to do their part and share in a loss or gain. If they are not willing, then they are telling us they have no confidence in their own product of their making. They would also be more prudent in their spending such as those private jets!

These three auto executives are so arrogant and are not able to see the reality. They certainly do not have any work ethic. Their expectation to get money from government is “WELFARE MENTALITY.” They certainly do not have any idea how everybody else work so hard to pay TAX. Their salary must be reduced according to their performance, which is ZERO at this point, and for sure no JET SET LIFE style anymore!

Yes, sell the jets and we as the American People need to say NO MORE>
When we are fighting to keep the homes that we have and food on the table why should they be helped. To keep giving to the rich and take from the working person is crazy. If the goverment has billions of dollars to give away give it to the people that pay taxes every year that need help feeding there children and paying their bills and trying to keep their homes. America needs to wake up NOW! I have a bank payment to make if I am late guess who gets weekly phone calls about a payment.
Bankers cannot pay their debts who goes running to the goverment to get bailed out!!!! The next time I can’t make a payment I am going to tell them you already got your payment thru my paying my taxes, deal with it. Now the auto industry wants us to pay their debt too.
WHO IS GOING TO PAY OURS!

NO Money, let them all go into Chapter 11… reorg…show us and tell what they are going to fix their business and then offer gov (our money) help with oversight and mandates in what cars this country needs. But, the auto companies definitely need to cut down the numbr of auto and brands each offers.

make them go into Chap 11, get unions to renegotiate to $50 an hour. People who take the $50/hr stay, they rest are through. Offer those jobs to the public and you’ll have people lined up from Michigan to Tennessee applying. There’s also no reason why retirees need to have their insurance completely paid for with little or no deductible. Let them kick in a little just like every other retiree.

In a free market, companies are allowed to prosper, they must also be allowed to fail. No bailouts of any kind to any company, be it bank, car company…let the market decide: good companies prosper and bad ones must fail.
Now that the government gets its hands in every companies, we should rename our nation as The Socialist Republic of America, instead of The United Stated of America. I hate to think that Karl Marx is finally vindicated when he said:” give the capitalist a rope and he will hang himself because of his greed”.

Can ANYONE SPELL MULTI TASK? OR – GLOBAL ECONOMY?
We expect our CEO’s and right down to our INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS to compete globally in the marketplace. To do so, they must make every second count! I work in a Global IT Corp, my day starts at 5 am US ET to meet with Europe on an “late” day and ends at 10 PM on an “early” day to meet with our Asia team, although my IT company is US based, every minute of my day is critical….and I am not a CEO. If I have a hope or prayer of seeing my children and keeping my job this flexibility in this global ecocnoy is a MUST DO ! To do this each day, every minute, every hour MUST be productive. My most UNPRODUCTIVE, NON-BILLABLE time is traveling upon standard air carriers and sitting in airports, stranded ! PLEASE GET REAL – THINK LOGICALLY! At my rate, this is a waste MAJOR WASTE OF RESOURCES. IMAGINE THE “hourly rate” of a CEO for one of our the Big Three – COME ON PEOPLE – ALLOW LOGIC – LOGIC – LOGIC TO PREVAIL!
1) Each are each others prime competition
2) ANY MFG Corp (OR ANY OTHER SUCCESSFUL CORP) does not “collaborate” with their competition – REMINDER – THIS IS AMERICA – HOME OF THE FREE
3) Sure maybe if their administrative assistants had spent a day together coordinating schedules they could have done some “ride sharing”, but really has anyone assessed those costs? I’m sure while they were traveling on their Jets each minute was productive – that would not have been so if they were together as they would have had to choose words carefully and be guarded the entire flight!

NO jets for the execs every other redblooded American is suffering a heck of alot more with a heck of alot less so the jets would be a very small sufferage for them they have spent their way into needing more and more well Americans need more and more also . So the less they spend in Auto planet will show that they ARE WILLING to pitch in like everyone else,look at AIG EXEC does NOT mean EXEMPT!!!