General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is now begging the public for support of the bailout package for Big Auto. On cost-cutting he presents these facts:
…we have been streamlining our U.S. operations while simultaneously improving quality and productivity. Since 2000, we have reduced our U.S. hourly workforce by 52%, from 133,000 to 64,000, through buyouts and other programs. During the same period, we have cut our U.S. salaried employment from 44,000 to fewer than 30,000, and reduced our U.S. executive ranks by 45%.
But wait, what about that luxurious corporate jet you took to fly to Washington begging for taxpayer money from Congress? First class airfare on a commercial airline would be much cheaper, considering your company is on the brink of going bust, wouldn’t it?
Sorry, Big Auto. Americans do not have deep pockets and have seen through your incompetency. The best solution to your problems isn’t more cash, but a “managed bankruptcy” as Mitt Romney puts it. Your executives deserve to join the millions of other unemployed Americans.
