Flying into DC on a wing and a prayer

2 comments November 21st, 2008

It’s really hard for me to have any sympathy for the Detroit Big 3 automakers when their CEOs acted clueless last week, flying in their private jets to the nation’s capital with tin cups in hand, begging for $25 billion in handouts.

They could have at least shared one of the Big 3 jets. Better yet, they could have scored a PR coup and all flown coach class in a commercial jet.

I’ll bet you the execs of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, VW, BMW and Daimler-Benz and  wouldn’t have flown into DC on a private jet looking for a handout. Oh, wait a minute, they’re not looking for handouts at all,  because they are making money, and employing tens of thousands of Americans making cars here in the USA.

I’m not in favor of Ford, GM and Chrysler going out of business. I want them to succeed. But I’m saddened that the company leaders remain so isolated from the general public that they didn’t understand, or didn’t care, that the spectacle of them arriving in DC on their multimillion dollar airplanes made them sitting ducks for Jay, Conan and Dave, and for Democratic senators on Capitol Hull.

Duh!