I'm lovin' it

I love stupid and brazen gestures like this:  The executives from the big three automakers drove from Detroit to Washington to again address congress about possible bailout funds.  The financial situation of the big 3 US automakers is further discussed in the following two articles, Article 1 and Article 2.  Why did these executives drive instead of fly?  Some senators thought it would be cute (and it certainly got television coverage) to ask the auto executives why they needed to take private jets to fly from Detroit to Washington on the executive's first trip to Washington for bailout discussions.

I'm not here to defend the private jets the automakers took because I don't know the details the situation.  The jets may or may not have been merited.  When you think about it, executives are not that different from any other employee.  They only have a limited amount of time to dedicate to work and the private flight may have actually made financial sense when you consider what their time costs the company and what else they need to accomplish that week.  This may lead you to say that their salaries are too high, but really that is a separate issue.  Of course with high profile events like this its not about what makes sense, its about how things look.

My big complaint with this whole scenario is the glariing hypocracy.  I'm willing to bet that every senator sitting on that committee has flown on a private jet at some point in recent history (on the taxpayers dime).  Sadly, our government doesnt have to worry about their budget like GM does, they just spend, and spend, and then spend more.  When you think about it, our government shows Americans the solution to managing finances.  Just don't manage them.

Which brings me back to these executives driving from Detroit to Washington.  Kudos on a clever response to a stupid issues that is distracting everyone from the actual issue at hand (the whole "is the bailout in the best interest of America" thing).