Saturday, November 22, 2008

Look at me way up high, Suddenly here am I, I'm flying

Beethoven wrote some beautiful music while totally deaf. Talent and drive, plus hard work.

Some people, however, can hear just fine and yet are completely tone-deaf. Like GM's Rick Wagoner:
General Motors said today that it is putting two of its five corporate jets out of service because the planes are not being used enough. The top three executives at GM, however, will continue to use the private luxurious jets for all of their business and personal travel, despite a flurry of criticism over the perk following an ABC News report this week.

An ABC News investigation revealed that the top three automakers have together spent several hundred million dollars to buy, maintain, and operate a fleet of top-of-the-line private jets for their top executives.

GM leased a fleet of seven planes at the beginning of this year, according to a company spokesperson. Two of the planes were dropped from the fleet in September and two more will be dropped by the end of the year.

"We're cutting back very drastically on all travel," said Tom Wilkinson, a spokesperson for GM. Wilkinson said the downsizing is "strictly in response to the planes not being used" and not a reaction to the harsh treatment CEO Rick Wagoner and others received from Congress this week after it was learned that the CEOs of all three big automakers flew to Washington on private planes to plead for public funding to bailout their ailing companies.

Selling 2 of 5 jets is sacrifice? 3 guys fly in from the same fucking city to attend the same fucking meeting, and they each fly on their own corporate fucking jet? And they want taxpayer help?

My congressperson made me proud:
"I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you're planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial," asked Rep. Bradley Sherman (D-CA). "Let the record show no hands went up."

Indeed. Here's the video:

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