Replies

[Tim]

AIG cancels planned events amid rebukes for hosting $440,000 function

American International Group Inc. said Thursday that it would cancel most of its planned events after lawmakers castigated the insurer for hosting a $440,000 function at a resort while benefiting from an $85-billion government bailout.

The cancellations include an event that was scheduled for next week at the Ritz-Carlton in Northern California's Half Moon Bay. The gathering that drew the rebukes was held last month at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point. About 100 independent insurance agents who sell coverage for New York-based AIG attended, spending $23,000 on spa services, among other things.

Read more here -

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aig1...0,2353290.story

Anyone wonder why we're in the crapper? These clowns almost go under, taxpayers who are losing jobs and homes bail them out - and they're off to a laa-dee-dah spa fxxxing resort??? Obviously nearly going out of business BY THEIR OWN HAND did nothing to change their way of thinking. Jerks. A couple of nice quotes from the article -

"This kind of behavior is an insult to taxpayers," the Montana Democrat wrote in a letter to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Baucus asked for a response by Oct. 23.

"I cannot fathom how in the same day -- the very same day -- that AIG asked the government for another $37.8-billion loan, the company would even consider moving forward with plans to host another large conference at another luxury resort," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat.

THEN, skipping another chance to learn they're idiots, they want to ADVERTISE EXPENSIVELY about their screw up. A nice repsonse -


"To spend the taxpayer's money on an expensive ad campaign to apologize for how you used taxpayer money leaves you open to further attacks," Sard wrote in an e-mail Wednesday to Ashooh.

It just stuns me to think how stupid people who are supposed to be smart have been.

[Roger Kaputnik]

MITCH ALBOM

If I had the floor at the auto rescue talks
BY MITCH ALBOM • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • November 23, 2008

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OK. It's a fantasy. But if I had five minutes in front of Congress last week, here's what I would've said:


OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1');
#ARALifeWhite300x250Template { width: 300px; height: 250px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; } #ARALifeWhite300x250Template table { border: solid 1px #d5d5d5; background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12pt; font-size: 10pt; margin: 5px; } #ARALifeWhite300x250Template td { text-align: left; vertical-align: top; padding: 0px 5px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12pt; font-size: 10pt; } #ARALifeWhite300x250Template a { text-decoration: none; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #000000; } #ARALifeWhite300x250Template a:hover { color: #e51937; } #ARALifeWhite300x250Template img { padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } Good morning. First of all, before you ask, I flew commercial. Northwest Airlines. Had a bag of peanuts for breakfast. Of course, that's Northwest, which just merged with Delta, a merger you, our government, approved -- and one which, inevitably, will lead to big bonuses for their executives and higher costs for us. You seem to be OK with that kind of business.

Which makes me wonder why you're so against our kind of business? The kind we do in Detroit. The kind that gets your fingernails dirty. The kind where people use hammers and drills, not keystrokes. The kind where you get paid for making something, not moving money around a board and skimming a percentage.

You've already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies -- and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup -- $25 billion -- just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.

Does the word "hypocrisy" ring a bell?


Protecting the home turf?
Sen. Shelby. Yes. You. From Alabama. You've been awfully vocal. You called the Detroit Three's leaders "failures." You said loans to them would be "wasted money." You said they should go bankrupt and "let the market work."

Why weren't you equally vocal when your state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants there? Why not "let the market work"? Or is it better for Alabama if the Detroit Three fold so that the foreign companies -- in your state -- can produce more?

Way to think of the nation first, senator.

And you, Sen. Kyl of Arizona. You told reporters: "There's no reason to throw money at a problem that's not going to get solved."

That's funny, coming from such an avid supporter of the Iraq war. You've been gung ho on that for years. So how could you just sit there when, according to the New York Times, an Iraqi former chief investigator told Congress that $13 billion in U.S. reconstruction funds "had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste" by the Iraqi government?

That's 13 billion, senator. More than half of what the auto industry is asking for. Thirteen billion? Gone? Wasted?

Where was your "throwing money at a problem that's not going to get solved" speech then?


Watching over the bankers?
And the rest of you lawmakers. The ones who insist the auto companies show you a plan before you help them. You've already handed over $150 billion of our tax money to AIG. How come you never demanded a plan from it? How come when AIG blew through its first $85 billion, you quickly gave it more? The car companies may be losing money, but they can explain it: They're paying workers too much and selling cars for too little.

AIG lost hundred of billions in credit default swaps -- which no one can explain and which make nothing, produce nothing, employ no one and are essentially bets on failure.

And you don't demand a paragraph from it?

Look. Nobody is saying the auto business is healthy. Its unions need to adjust more. Its models and dealerships need to shrink. Its top executives have to downsize their own importance.

But this is a business that has been around for more than a century. And some of its problems are because of that, because people get used to certain wages, manufacturers get used to certain business models. It's easy to point to foreign carmakers with tax breaks, no union costs and a cleaner slate -- not to mention help from their home countries -- and say "be more like them."

But if you let us die, you let our national spine collapse. America can't be a country of lawyers and financial analysts. We have to manufacture. We need that infrastructure. We need those jobs. We need that security. Have you forgotten who built equipment during the world wars?

Besides, let's be honest. When it comes to blowing budgets, being grossly inefficient and wallowing in debt, who's better than Congress?

So who are you to lecture anyone on how to run a business?

Ask fair questions. Demand accountability. But knock it off with the holier than thou crap, OK? You got us into this mess with greed, a bad Fed policy and too little regulation. Don't kick our tires to make yourselves look better.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Look. Nobody is saying the auto business is healthy. Its unions need to adjust more. Its models and dealerships need to shrink. Its top executives have to downsize their own importance.

But this is a business that has been around for more than a century. And some of its problems are because of that, because people get used to certain wages, manufacturers get used to certain business models. It's easy to point to foreign carmakers with tax breaks, no union costs and a cleaner slate -- not to mention help from their home countries -- and say "be more like them."

But if you let us die, you let our national spine collapse. America can't be a country of lawyers and financial analysts. We have to manufacture. We need that infrastructure. We need those jobs. We need that security. Have you forgotten who built equipment during the world wars?

The entire article could have been these sentences and gotten the point across. It is a very good point, and I am going to send a note to our Congressmen.

[Southsider2k12]

The entire article could have been these sentences and gotten the point across. It is a very good point, and I am going to send a note to our Congressmen.

If American's really felt that way, they wouldn't be buying Toyota's and Honda's. THAT is how we really vote on how we feel about the auto industry.

[digger262]

If American's really felt that way, they wouldn't be buying Toyota's and Honda's. THAT is how we really vote on how we feel about the auto industry.

I agree to an extent. But in my opinion, the biggest problem is Americans have become ignorant. They've taken loans on homes and cars because someone else told them they could afford it and didn't do any research on their own. They buy foreign cars because the used to be better made(check any reputable source and see domestics are on par with ANY foreign maker today). I don't believe most Americans understand nor do they care to understand the impact losing the domestic auto industry will have on our country. I also don't believe in 'bailouts' and it sickens me to see our govt giving more money away. But it doesn't sicken me as much as seeing 3+ million additional people out of work in a matter of days will if GM goes bankrupt.

What scares me the most is congress demanding a plan. Yes, the automakers need a plan. They have already done quite a bit in the last 18 months, which would be more evident if the entire industry didn't tank to record low sales volumes. But what scares me is the fact congress HAS NO CLUE WHAT KIND OF PLAN THEY SHOULD HAVE!!! My fear is the big 3 will put together a plan that appeases congress but won't necessarily fix any problems. Congress will be looking for a plan they can use to get their talking points and nothing else. The auto industry is a very unique beast and for congress to think they understand is laughable.

For what it's worth, I think the big 3 have fixed quite a few of their problems and if the industry resumed normal levels of sales they would be fine in the short term. The problem was when the industry was booming in the mid/late 90s they gave bonuses(both white and blue collar) like it was water rather than piling that money back into the company for future products. To really fix the problem, once sales resume(and they will) they need to look long term rather than short term. Yes, they have made mistakes by sticking with SUVs too long but they are at a point now where they have or will very soon have some of the most fuel efficient vehicles made. One of the things you read quite a bit is the disparity between what UAW workers earn vs foreign workers, and rightfully so. But what you rarely see is with the new UAW contracts that were signed last year, starting next year, this gap almost goes away. You see, the 'plan' congress is looking for is already there.(albeit more can and should be done). What the bailout will do is make up for mistakes made 3-8 years ago until the industry recovers.

Sorry for the length and rambling, but I tried(poorly) to convey some things you don't see or hear in the news..