this whole financial bailout thing is quite interesting to watch, especially from the point of view of someone who is fiscally and economically clueless (that would be me). things that don't really make sense to me include GWB's systematic removal of any incentive for these car makers to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles (surely nothing to do with his oil buddies, nooooo), and the fact that they've made the same sh*tty gas guzzlers for years and years and years - and didn't think to change things when oil was a whopping US$140 per barrel. and now they act surprised as they find themselves in a financial poopoo.
still, the new obama-led presidency has said that any bailout will require a commitment to invest a considerable amount of money into fuel-efficiency and alternative fuel technologies, which appears to be a very sensible strategy.
anyway, something popped up on the internet tubes this morning that made me wonder whether the bozos in charge of the auto industries actually have any clue at all about anything.
the three ceos of ford, GM and chrysler had to go begging to washington for a bit of moolah. ford pointed out that they had closed 17 plants and had made made 51,000 people redundant over the last three years. money was tight and they are struggling.
in these tough times, how did each of these three ceos get from detroit to washington? by private jets of course. US$288 on economy, US$837 on first class, but us$20,000 by private jet. unbelievable.
the sad thing is, if these morons don't get the money, they're not the ones who get stung. they all have lovely redundancy and bonus packages, pensions and golden handshakes. and if they do get the money... well, the private jets continue to fly.
