Loading ...GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s Focus On Building Crappy Gas Guzzling SUV’s Earns Him A Surprise Trip To The Unemployment Line When He Grovels For Gub’Mint Bailout -slash- Stimulus funds
I love it. I can just hear it now — if I could’ve only been a fly on the wall (The Politico):
(Now) Former GM CEO Rick Wagoner: “Mr. President, we need taxpayer money in order to stay in ‘bid’ness. Can you puhleez hep’ us, sir?”
President Barack Obama: “I believe I just might agree with you. In fact, I believe I can find five billion U.S. dollars with General Motors’ name written all over them…”
Wagoner (desperately interrupting the president): “But, BUT — Mr. President, we need MUCH more money than that to turn our great American corporation around. I was thinking more like twenty-six billion taxpayer dollars immediately and I’ll alert you when we need more.”
President Obama: “Hmm… you bring up a great point, Mr. Wagoner. GM will receive FIVE billion dollars and, oh, by the way — YOU’RE FIRED!“
Losing one’s job always has a negative impact upon others. On the other hand, in this man’s case, retaining this particular job with the “gas-guzzler, must break early and often without footing the bill for regular, expensive service visits” tunnel vision mentality has a much more negative impact upon so many others; NAMELY, those same “soccer moms” (“hockey moms” to Sarah Palin) whom were targeted with those balloon mortgages that ultimately brought down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with hundreds of THOUSANDS of American families who bought into former President Bush’s “Ownership Society” (Google) crappola. Good RIDDANCE, jack ass.
Folks, TARP 1 & 2 BURP 1 & 2 have brought a whole new definition to the term, “Publicly-Owned And Operated Corporation”. When We, The People, invest as a BODY in a company, We, The People, under the representation of our Democratic Republic, should have every right to hire and fire the folks who run it, much like we do every two years for our Congresscritters; every six years for our Senators and every four years for our presidents. Crawl up to We, The People on bended knees, asking for We to purchase your corporation and you’d better believe I not only expect but APPLAUD a strict evaluation of the company’s leadership.
If I wore a hat (and I don’t — nothing against hats, just a personal preference), it would be tipped to President Obama for firing this crooked numbskull on the SPOT.
Message to GM and OTHER newly-acquired PUBLICLY-HELD companies (under the new, Oligarchical definition): Walk slowly toward we taxpayers and leave that big stick of yours behind. Or else.
Other bloggers o-pine (mostly from the “outraged right”, of course): The Liberty Papers (get this) calls this “blackmail“; The Wizbang Blog calls this a “disaster“; Hot Air is suggesting this just proves President Obama’s no “centrist“; Blue Crab Boulevard is also dismayed a publicly-elected official would call the shots in a publicly-purchased company; Riehl World view says this sets a very bad precedent; The Mahablog is also chuckling at the “outraged right” on this issue
Maybe we should start a letter writing campaign to the CEO’s of the banks, the financial institutes and AIG introducing ourselves as their new bosses with a copy going to the top of our governemnt. Hey, we are supposed to the boss of our governemnt. I forgot there for second. Of course the right doesn’t want to see any of the good old boy network fired by the President, too many of them are a part of that good old boy network.
The Repubs need to remember that old rule, “He who has the money, sets the rules”. And we taxpayers need to remember that we are the ones with the money and the power.
GTL you need to return to the paranoid libertarian that once had substantive analysis of a government gone mad.
Here you have the ENTIRE and I do mean the ENTIRE world going bellyup. Almost every corporation in America is floundering and Barak Obama fires the CEO of GM as if its all his fault and you cheer him on by pronouncing him unfit because he produced SUVS. However every car company in the world produced SUVS and if you read a report the number one and number two top selling autos in America in 2008…..the height of gasoline prices……you got it…the SUV and the pickup truck.
The government lets those capitalist pigs “Lehman brothers” go bankrupt but bails out over and over the big two and for what reason?
The UNION. This is so transparent. Oh but those poor gm workers we all say. Well those poor gm workers were making more then 3/4 ths of the wall street types at “Lehman Brothers.”
America is bankrupt. We are done for and The left is going to finish us off because they really dont know what to do but spend money we dont have and this is money that has to be printed or borrowed or both……both of which is disasterous in a time in which the economy is shrinking and will most likely take a decade to recover from.
Lets have a little more “libertarian” outrage at the powergrab your idealogical brethren are showing.
Or not.
The era of economic Hopenchange has officially begun | Right Voices // Mar 30, 2009 at 7:48 AM
[...] General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner To President Obama: We Need Government Financial Aid. President Obam… [...]
Hey, I LIKE the Yukon/Tahoe! They look great, ride great, are reliable and can carry my 4 dogs plus gear.
This company (and any other company on the freakin’ planet) that cannot pay its bills should file for bankruptcy and reorganize or be dissolved. This is not a hard concept which requires an engineer (which I am) to explain. Why we continue to throw ANY taxpayer money (which we don’t have) to bail these guys out is beyond stupid. Billions of our tax dollars and being wasted (with more to follow) and we’re focusing on one crappy CEO. Unreal.
Steve
I don’t know whether Wagoner deserved to be fired or not. Either way, it should not be handled by the government. Firing private sector employees is ‘above Obama’s pay grade.’ Of course, Obama didn’t really fire him, but just to play along…
As I mentioned in another post: Thomas Jefferson once said; “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.”
Just remember, if Obama has the authority to fire the CEO of GM, he has the authority to fire you.
The very real problem is that GM now has a CEO that cannot be “fired” until 2012. Given how much labor contracts, government mandates, and oh yeah, the marketplace constrain an auto executives’ decision making, I don’t think this maroon can do much worse than the last.
F&B, when you’re company makes bad decisions, they deserve to go belly up. It’s called personal responsibility– that thing that we’re told individuals should have but for some reason bankers and insurance companies should not. We gave them the freedom to make those decisions. They pushed for it. They did it. Then they expected a handout when things got dicey.
Cry me a river.
But the fact that they’re now being paid in taxpayer/government dollars, in my opinion, ceases to make them a private sector company. Private sector companies fail and don’t get free money from the taxpayers when they make bad business decisions. They ASKED for government funding, and therefore they are no longer a private company. And the last I checked, the POTUS does very much have the ability to fire a government employee that works under him.
You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Either you accept regulations and deal with it, or when you screw yourself over, don’t come crying to Mommy and Daddy Taxpayer to bail you out.
If it’s all the fault of those evil unions, then a bankruptsy restructuring would help them out. What I find absolutely HILARIOUS is that Ford Motor Company STILL hasn’t asked for any help and has decided to deal with their own mess. IF that does require bankruptsy, so be it, but at least they’re dealing with it themselves. I think I’m going to go downstairs right now and hug my TWO Ford Focuses and then go to the gas station, fill them up for about $20, and laugh my ass off at the person in the Hummer next to me.
Yes, it’s a good example of government having too much power when they’re firing CEOs, but it’s also a power that GM begged for. I have NO issue with letting them deal with the consequences of that decision.
And no, the POTUS can’t fire me because I work for a private small business that has never asked for or needed public funding to stay afloat.
I wonder if he’ll file for unemployment…
Bama
I find it absolutely hilarious that Ford is doing to the UAW what they have to done to the big three for decades. Ford was in a marginally better position than the other two Detroit companies and decided to let them do the “dirty” deal with the UAW. Ford will be able to step in and demand whatever strip- mined contract that Government Motors gets.
I think I’ll go outside and admire my two Dodge trucks, since they’ll be the last UAW built vehicles I’ll ever own.
I am lamenting the death of Liberty and Freedom today, as I shutter from the shock of an over-reaching, corrupt Government and it’s stranglehold on American private business. GM is just a first step on the collapse of Capitalism, as we know it. I acknowledge that there is corruption in some large Corporations in America but, it seems that there is a ‘Witch hunt’ in progress in this Nation that threatens the Liberty and Freedom of every Citizen. Beginning with the debacle that was AIG. As bad as the corruption may be in ‘Corporate America’, it pales in comparison to what Washington is both capable of and in the process of. Rick Wagoner, by all accounts is a good man and was well liked by his employees, top to bottom. He knows what the American people will buy and, for the past ten years, GM has been forced to produce automobiles that were not what the American people wanted…and they did it better than any other car company on the planet. Proof positive: 20 models that get over 30 miles per gallon, an entire re-invention of the ‘Evil’ SUV producing the highest mileage SUVs on the road. What brought GM to the place it is at? Humanitarianism. They continue to pay full salaries, medical benefits and college tuition for former employees. A number that triples their ‘active’ work force. The Unions have held that company hostage for years, guaranteeing the employee salaries up to 1 1/2 times that of Toyota and Honda employees. Through it all, GM was innovative, adaptive and forward thinking. If the Unions had given a little bit, GM would have survived. As it is, GM will be even more restrained by Government requirements as the rush in to take control of another American Corporation and drive in into the ground ensues. It would have been interesting to have heard from the Employees when presented with options: Keeping their job at a reduced salary or, facing layoffs? I know what I would have done. But, Unions would never have allowed such an outlandish scheme. I am disgusted by what I am seeing happen and hold both parties accountable. The ‘never let a crisis go to waste’ mentality that exists across party lines is quickly eroding the fabric of our Nation, as well as the Spirit and rule of Our Constitution. There are times that it is better to nothing right, rather than something wrong. So far, every move we have seen come out of the self-righteous elitists in Washington has sent the Markets tumbling and consumer confidence reeling. All the while, scolding private sector executives, like they have no accountability in the matter. It kills me to see this happening. As much as I have focused on the General Motors crisis, I do not feel it is the main issue. I don’t think we have seen the worse part. Watch gas prices. God Bless you all. I hope I haven’t offended anyone with my tirade. I am just a concerned citizen, as many of us are. If I seem misguided, please convince me otherwise. I want to believe things are better than they seem.
Well Said Icarus.
America is a lessor place the day Bush did the tarp and The democrats jumped on board with their “Yeehaaaahhhhhh!!”
This nation is done for and the libertarians that should be screaming constitution are amazingly silent on this unprecedented power grab.
Amazing. Obama really is a silvery tongued DEVIL.
“And no, the POTUS can’t fire me because I work for a private small business that has never asked for or needed public funding to stay afloat.” – Seriously A/M – Geithner has already started talking about the government intervening in what they deem to be poorly managed companies, whether they have received a bailout or not. This administration will usurp the right to fire anyone they choose.
In general, I agree. The government should leave private industry alone. Let the market take its course. If they fail, they fail. Leaner, meaner, stronger companies will take their place.
FraidyKatt: “Obama really is a silvery tongued DEVIL.
” – Now you see where this is headed???
TO ALL WHO DONT SE THE UNPRESIDENTED POWER GRAB, SHOULD REALIZE HE FIRED U!!!!!! READ YOUR CONSTITUTION ,AND YOUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENENCE, THE GOVT CAN NOT PUNISH….REGARDLESS OF TAX DOLLARS….THE MINUTE HE DID THIS HE BROKE HIS OATH OF OFFICE TO PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!!!! HE HIRED AS THE HEAD OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, CALLS THE CONSTITUTION ” AN AXIS OF EVIL”, AND WANTS OUR CONSTITUTION ABOLISHED AND US TO GO UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW!!!!! THAT IS UNAMERICAN!!!!!!!! ONCE WE START LETING THEM VIOLATE OUR “GOD GIVEN RIGHTS” AS GIVEN BY OUR CONSTITUTION,L WE WILL HAVE A “ONE WORLD GOVT”, THE IMF IS TRYING TO TAKE US OVER!!!!!!WE NEED TO WAKE UP REAL QUICK!!!!!THE DOLLAR MIGHT BE GONE SOON BECAUSE OUR TRASURY SEC WANTS IT GONE!!!!IT SOUNDS OUTLANDISH, NO IT IS REAL!!!!!!!!SOSOSOSOSOSOSO TO ALLLLLLLL AMERICANS, NOT LIBS, AND DEMS, NOT REP, AND CONS. …….”ALLLLLLL AMERICANS”!!!!!!!~ WAKE UP
LOL…. Bush fired some attorneys and there’s absolute and rhetorical disdain! Al Obama “allegedly” fires a provate citizen and the country celebrates? Hmmm.
Exactly, Michael — not to mention the “private citizen” thing would have been questionable. I contend if the gub’mint buys your company, you are a gub’mint employee and the president may fire gub’mint employees
sure, if you by that logic. First of all where were the BoD’s. Obviously, they approved the entire deal and gave it to El O for his personal trophy case. and secondly the “Press” seems to ignore it all, perhaps to save their own carcass 8 an a half months fron now
As a former life long Chevy man, I will never buy a car from GM or any company that is run by Obama.