Detroit CEO jet/ Plaxico Gun/ 2 most idiotic

[oak_street1981]

and over hyped stories yet this year!

1. All fortune 100 CEOs have corporate jets at their disposal for a variety of good reasons. This story is beyond reasonable. Class warfare at its worst, and the Detroit clowns are pandering to it by driving to cars to Toledo before their corporate jets pick them up.

Congress is full of many much more stupid than one Michelle Bachmann, who was again re-elected against the advice of many outside her district.

2. Plaxico Burriss, who is not a registered felon as far as I know, happened to shoot himself in the leg in NYC. Who cares!!!!!! He should go to prison, why??????

He wasn't brandishing the weapon, or tyring to injure anyone, he is just an idiot who does not know how to hire proper security or avoid stupidity. Why everyone is all hyped up about this so called crime in a post gun control society I have no idea. New York gun laws are about as relevant as the hype about the dangers of conceal/ carry laws in Minnesota were.

For the record, all the gun control nuts in MN were flat out wrong.


Next time anyone wants to get riled up about gun crimes check out the logs at the Ramsey and Hen. courtrooms. These courts are full of cases of multiple offense felons, who have no rights when it comes to having guns, carrying them around all the time in between criminal activities.

And all the liberals are worried about law abiding citizens carrying guns???

[hyaluronic]

...the liberals contend that if you have a gun you are more likely to be shot. I'm not sure how the Plaxico Burress case proves your point.

[jamiche]

and over hyped stories yet this year!

1. All fortune 100 CEOs have corporate jets at their disposal for a variety of good reasons. This story is beyond reasonable. Class warfare at its worst, and the Detroit clowns are pandering to it by driving to cars to Toledo before their corporate jets pick them up.

Congress is full of many much more stupid than one Michelle Bachmann, who was again re-elected against the advice of many outside her district.

2. Plaxico Burriss, who is not a registered felon as far as I know, happened to shoot himself in the leg in NYC. Who cares!!!!!! He should go to prison, why??????

He wasn't brandishing the weapon, or tyring to injure anyone, he is just an idiot who does not know how to hire proper security or avoid stupidity. Why everyone is all hyped up about this so called crime in a post gun control society I have no idea. New York gun laws are about as relevant as the hype about the dangers of conceal/ carry laws in Minnesota were.

For the record, all the gun control nuts in MN were flat out wrong.


Next time anyone wants to get riled up about gun crimes check out the logs at the Ramsey and Hen. courtrooms. These courts are full of cases of multiple offense felons, who have no rights when it comes to having guns, carrying them around all the time in between criminal activities.

And all the liberals are worried about law abiding citizens carrying guns???

Quite the combo platter post! You touched on almost every right wing talking point but the War Against Christmas!

[Pewterschmidt]

A Fortune 100 CEO's time is way more valuable than the cost of flying on a private jet over commercial. It's not even close. If the CEO of my company flew commercial instead of on the private jet leaving from a small airport, I'd be very concerned about the direction of the company.

[diehard]

I am very concerned about the direction of the Big 3 auto makers. From what I have gathered:
1. Chrysler is toast, bail out (temporary help at best) or not.
2. GM is in deep trouble and this is only the beginning of bail outs, if they can survive for the long run.
3. Ford may be OK, the money is available if needed as secondary funding. They have lost their secondary funding at present.
If two of the big three go into bankrupcy and defaults on their debts, how does that impact the financial situation?
4. Huge lay offs no matter what.

I don't have the numbers, but large numbers of auto worker retirees lose retirement and medical benefits. Those monies are in peril due to the condition of the markets to start with and SS is not anything they can survive on. How many more Wal-Marts need greeters? This is the saddest part to me. The markets could recover tomorrow, or in 5-10 years. Most likely may be close to 5 years.

When Chrysler folds who will take them over? Surely someone from somewhere does. If so, how long to regain their market share, or is it just parts and service, or nothing at all?

With so many 'foreign' auto makers manufacturing in the US, do we really miss them? The oxidation of the rust belt continues. I'm afraid there is not a good answer, with the possible exception of Ford.

[jamiche]

I think the discussion is being incorrectly framed. Without a bailout, the Big Three are not going out of business. They will follow the precedent of many, many other companies by filing Chapter 11 and reorganizing. Assuming that they can get bankruptcy financing (a safe assumption because there are a lot of assets) they will emerge smaller, smarter (hopefully!!) and more competitive. Many people will lose their jobs (that is going to happen regardless) and the retirees will lose pension and health benefits (a much bigger problem--but these benefits were never sustainable in a global economy). With or without a bailout, these companies are going to end up in Chapter 11, so why throw good money after bad?

[grunkiejr]

I think the discussion is being incorrectly framed. Without a bailout, the Big Three are not going out of business. They will follow the precedent of many, many other companies by filing Chapter 11 and reorganizing. Assuming that they can get bankruptcy financing (a safe assumption because there are a lot of assets) they will emerge smaller, smarter (hopefully!!) and more competitive. Many people will lose their jobs (that is going to happen regardless) and the retirees will lose pension and health benefits (a much bigger problem--but these benefits were never sustainable in a global economy). With or without a bailout, these companies are going to end up in Chapter 11, so why throw good money after bad?

I'm completely with you here. Prior to getting laid off this summer I worked as a high yield/distressed debt analyst so this is a topic I know a little bit about.

A bail out is stupid because all that it does is sustain the cash burn. They should go in to chapter 11 reorganization because that is what bankruptcy is designed to fix. They need to renegotiate their labor contracts, remove legacy costs, and adjust the size of their work force to reflect their sales volume. It sucks but that is the reality and it is a waste of taxpayer money to sustain cash burn.

The debt markets are influx right now (I can attest to that) and DIP lending (the type of financing given to bankrupt companies) is very hard to come by. Linen 'N Things, Mervyn's and a host of other companies are turning Ch. 11 bankruptcies in to Ch. 7 liquidations because of their inability to find DIP lending. The assets at an auto maker are better than a corporate retailer but the reality is that because of their size it would take a large synidcate of banks (group of banks giving a loan together to share the risk) to provide enough funding. As much as I am against a bail out I would support the government stepping in during bankruptcy to provide DIP lending if needed and it should be on terms consistent with other bankruptcies.

This solution does not allow the companies to sustain cash burn by forcing them in to a court administered reorganization process. It also limits the risk of a chapter 7 liquidation which is the only legitimate reason for the government to have any concern what happens to the auto companies. Furthermore, the risk of losing money by lending to a company that is already bankrupt is much lower than the risk of lending to a company prior to bankruptcy.