Bailout Watch 579: Jet-Gate: The Aftermath
The Treasury has placed new rules on TARP recipients like Chrysler and GM requiring the bailed-out firms to disclose policies on “luxury expenditures” after several banks were found to be spending exorbitant amounts of money on aircraft and offices. The Detroit News reports that firms have until Monday to disclose their spending policies, except for GM which has been granted an undisclosed extension to the policy due to the relative lateness of its emergence from bankruptcy protection. And the decision to take private jets to a bailout request keeps biting GM and Chrysler from beyond the news cycle.
“While adherence to policy is essential, we should also be guided by the spirit of the agreement and the potential public perception of our actions,” GM CFO Ray Young wrote in an e-mail in January. “As long as General Motors is using public funds to support our restructuring plan to become a vigorous long-term participant in the American and global economy, we must remember the importance of showing that we are using the taxpayers’ money responsibly and prudently.” Where shark-jumping contests fit into GM’s disclosure scheme is anybodies guess. Meanwhile, White House compensation czar Kenneth Feinberg will file a report on TARP recipient pay packages later this month.
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Kinda reminds me of a 1st gen Riviera from the rear. I like the pontoon fenders too.
Thumbnail image there seems to be awfully aliased. Fix the resize or just crop instead?
Look guys, none of this matters. GM and Chrysler (throw Ford in too) were already in trouble before the recessing hit and they will continue in trouble long after the recession is gone. Why? Because the company is run by a pack of morons with no care about their product. Over time it will fail again, and soon. There will be no rescuing them next time (we hope)!
i'm just suprised those Execs are so stupid. Why didn't they simply explain that: "time is money" and that by flying from location to location via corporate jet, they were actually saving money. They would have been telling the truth. I'm not sure why people get so worked up about a couple million dollars waste when BILLIONS are being wasted on a daily basis.