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Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand
Friday November 21, 2008
By Dana MilbankThursday, November 20, 2008; Page A03
There are 24 daily nonstop flights from Detroit to the Washington area. Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally andRobert Nardelli probably should have taken one of them. Instead, the chief executives of the Big Three automakers opted to fly their company jets to the capital for their hearings this week before the Senate and House -- an ill-timed display of corporate excess for a trio of executives begging for an additional $25 billion from the public trough this week. "There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands," Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) advised the pampered executives at a hearing yesterday. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?" The Big Three said nothing, which prompted Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) to rub it in. "I'm going to ask the three executives here to raise their hand if they flew here commercial," he said. All still at the witness table. "Second," he continued, "I'm going ask you to raise your hand if you're planning to sell your jet . . . and fly back commercial." More stillness. "Let the record show no hands went up," Sherman grandstanded. By now, the men were probably wishing they had driven -- and other members of the House Financial Services Committee weren't done riding the CEOs over their jets. "You traveled in a private jet?" Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) contributed. Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) felt the need to say that "I'm not an opponent of private flights by any means, but the fact that you flew in on your own private jet at tens of thousands itself dollars of cost just for you to make your way to Washington is a bit arrogant before you ask the taxpayers for money." It was a display of stone-cold tone-deafness by the automaker chiefs. In their telling, they have no responsibility for the auto industry's current mess. Threatening the nation with economic Armageddon if they are not given government aid, they spent much of the session declaring what a fine job they've been doing in Detroit. "Chrysler really is the quintessential American car company!" Chrysler's Nardelli boasted. "We have products that are winning car and truck of the year regularly," General Motors' Wagoner proclaimed. "We are equal to or better than Honda and Toyota," Ford's Mulally added. "Every new vehicle that we make, whether it's small, medium or large, is best in fuel efficiency. The given is safety. And we have more, at Ford, more five-star quality and safety ratings than any other automobile." Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) cut him off. "Thank you, Mr. --" "And the best value!" Mulally blurted out. "Commercials can go later," the chairman proposed. They would have to go later, because members of the committee wanted to turn the session into a special edition of "Car Talk." Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) spoke of his '99 Jeep: "It probably has about 150,000 miles on it, and it's still running doggone well." Rep.Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) invoked his '98 Jeep Cherokee: "Small problem with the back hatch staying open; we can talk about that afterwards." Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) praised her Chrysler minivan. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) had good words for her Jeep but complained that it didn't come in a hybrid version. "I drive the same '66 Plymouth Valiant that I've always had," Ackerman proffered. He went on to discuss a problem with the GPS system in his Cadillac. "I wanted a loaded car in blue; I had to reach out to five states to find one in blue," he complained. It seemed everybody had a car story to tell. Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) let it be known that he was a car dealer for 25 years. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) disclosed that he had worked at the GM plant in Framingham. Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) wanted to see more ads for the car made in his district, while Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) said the Edsel was once made in his home town. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) read from Cicero and held up photos of cars. And Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) had no car stories to tell but delivered the surprising news that the problem with the Titanic was not its collision with an iceberg. Detroit area lawmakers made passionate arguments that the carmakers had already done what "they possibly can to restructure and become globally competitive," as Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) put it. But the executives were not helping their own case. When Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) tried to find out when GM would run out of cash, Wagoner hemmed and hawed until the lawmaker protested that "I don't quite understand what the hell you just told me." When Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) asked about GM's outlook for the quarter, Wagoner informed him that "we don't provide financial guidance in earnings." So it was hard to feel sorry for the executives when Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), late in the hearing, reminded them again that "the symbolism of the private jet is difficult," and mischievously asked the witnesses whether, in another symbolic gesture, they would be willing to work for $1 a year, as Nardelli has offered to do. "I don't have a position on that today," demurred Wagoner (2007 total compensation: $15.7 million). "I understand the intent, but I think where we are is okay," said Mulally ($21.7 million). "I'm asking about you," Roskam pressed. "I think I'm okay where I am," Mulally said. And don't even think about asking him to fly commercial.
World Champion Celtics Talk a lot of Smack Now
Wednesday November 19, 2008
Knicks and Celtics Trade Baskets and a Few Barbs By HOWARD BECKPublished: November 18, 2008BOSTON — During a tense evening on the parquet, the Knicks flirted with humiliation, the Boston Celtics preened and nearly everyone walked away with anger in their eyes and malice in their mouths.
Nothing much was settled here Tuesday, except that the Celtics — five months removed from their championship celebration — remain a potent force and the Knicks remain a work in progress. The Knicks fell behind early and, despite a late rally, lost, 110-101. But it was what happened between the baskets that seemed to leave the greatest impression, and the promise of a tension-filled reunion next month. Between drives through the lane, the Celtics (10-2) gloated over their championship run, or so the Knicks said. According to some of the Celtics, it was the Knicks (6-5) who were guilty of starting the verbal warfare. In any case, they all seemed mildly annoyed afterward, particularly Quentin Richardson, who has a history of run-ins with Paul Pierce, Boston’s All-Star forward. “They won the game,” Richardson said, “but I think a few of those guys know that they can’t just say anything to us.” Then Richardson launched into a rant about the Celtics’ bravado, the implied lack of respect that came with it and the possible consequences. “I’ll just be real curious to see what a lot of those guys would say if we weren’t in a basketball arena, where there ain’t no referees and the N.B.A. officals are going to stop certain things,” Richardson said. “I mean, it wouldn’t be the same story. They are the world champions and rah-rah-rah. But I mean the tough talk, I don’t buy. “I come from a neighborhood where you can say what you want to say — until you do something, it really don’t mean nothing. Some of those guys are woofing about, ‘Get a ring.’ You ain’t been in the league long enough to talk like that to some people who’s got as many years as we got over here. I don’t got a lot of respect for that.” Those sentiments were relayed to the Celtics in their locker room, where Kendrick Perkins flipped the script. “They was doing all the trash-talking,” he said. “They started everything that was going on. We really weren’t talking noise. They started it.” It seemed that everyone had skipped the pregame sermon which was titled, according to flyers posted in the locker room, “How to Handle Your Haters.” The dialogue will continue when the Knicks return to Boston on Dec. 21. Taunts and accusations aside, the Knicks perhaps regained a little respect with a hard-fought fourth quarter. A year ago, the Knicks disintegrated on this same court, in a 104-59 rout. This time, they kept the game in reach, a task made easier by the absence of Kevin Garnett, who was serving a one-game suspension. Pierce, guarded by Richardson, started slowly but scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 22. Leon Powe (14 points) and Kendrick Perkins (16 points) took turns pounding the Knicks inside, leading the Celtics to 50 points in the paint. But the Knicks clamped down in the fourth quarter, when Coach Mike D’Antoni used Malik Rose and David Lee in the frontcourt, a move that nearly turned the game around. The Knicks used an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 6 points, then stayed within single digits the rest of the way. Wilson Chandler scored twice in the paint and Chris Duhon hit a 3-pointer as they knocked the Celtics lead down to 103-99 with 2 minutes 6 seconds left. But Chandler, who led the Knicks with 23 points, missed a layup in traffic down the stretch, and Richardson missed a 3-pointer and a layup as the rally died. Brian Scalabrine hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 107-99 and seal the victory. D’Antoni had spent most of the night in states of rage, and earned his first technical foul of the season for screaming profanities as the referee Ed Malloy as the third quarter ended. But the late rally seemed to soothe his nerves. “The last 16 minutes, I thought we upped our intensity to where we had to have it the whole game,” D’Antoni said. “And really, I’m kind of energized right now, because we can do that. We took it up, I thought we played harder than they did the last 16 minutes. I see some good stuff. We just got to build on it.” Duhon had another solid night for the Knicks, with 15 points and 5 assists. Zach Randolph was out of sync early but finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and a chip on his shoulder. “A lot of them guys, I ain’t never heard them say a word,” Randolph huffed, “but all of sudden now this year, they’re doing a lot of talking.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/sports/basketball/19knicks.html?em
Downturn to last at least 12 months: JPMorgan head
Thursday November 06, 2008 SEOUL (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economic downturn was likely to last at least 12 months, further hurting the global economy, South Korea's Yonhap News reported. Speaking on Thursday at a lecture to Korea Development Bank staff, Dimon was quoted as saying global financial market conditions would somewhat stabilize in three to four months time, thanks to bold stimulus measures taken by central banks and governments worldwide. But markets would not recover to their level before the financial crisis for the time being, Yonhap quoted the head of the biggest U.S. bank as saying. Dimon also predicted the investment banking industry would see sophisticated derivatives trading and principal investment using borrowings shrinking significantly. Growth could continue in the areas of advising mergers and acquisitions, credit markets and risk hedging, Dimon said, according to Yonhap. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by David Cowell) |
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