Jalopnik 
Enter your username and password.
Detroit, 7:48 AM
Mon Nov 16
16 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jalopnik.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Ray Wert | Email | AIM
Road Test Editor:
Wes Siler | Email
Weekend Editor:
Murilee Martin | Email
Associate Editor - Houston:
Matt Hardigree
Associate Editor - Detroit:
Ben Wojdyla
Editor-at-Large:
Mike Spinelli
Contributors:
Mark Arnold
John Krewson | Email
Andy Didorosi
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
01:02 AM
I can add little to the conversation.
But its a sunday night, and I've been drinking so, you know what? GM, you are officially on notice. Don't fuck this up. Pay when you profit, I don't want to have to bail your ass out again.
Your brother Ford wouldn't do this to us.
But I guess we dropped Chrysler on their head too many times. #newgm
12:36 AM
I cannot, however, wrap my mind around the concept of $50 billion dollars given to a single company.
I love you, GM, despite the massive pains you went through the the past thirty years. You have matured from a spunky start up, to a wild child 'tweener. And you are at last just barely emerging from a state of chaotic metamorphosis into the beautiful butterfly you were always meant to be with excellent cars.
But dammit, child, why the hell did that cost so god-damned much!?
12:20 AM
I need to borrow $75 bucks to get my car out of the impound lot, so I'm going to really borrow $100 bucks from my brother and tell him I'll pay him back in a week.
Then after I get my car, I wait a day and give him $25 and say that I won't be able to get the rest until two paychecks from now. #newgm
12:08 AM
Paying off the loans at an accelerated rate should boost investor confidence, and lower long term financing costs. But it also cuts into cash reserves and will affect any dividend payouts in the short term. #newgm
11/12/09
I spy a '58 Oldsmobile coupe.
/curls up into a ball in the corner #cashforclunkers
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
I'll take one for the team and settle for 500k any day. #edwhitacre
11/11/09
SHUT UP, ED WHITACRE, YOU COCK! #edwhitacre
11/11/09
It should read WTF?!
You can find top-level people who will work for minimum wage. I've had lunch with homeless doctorate bearers who were literally working for food.
So then, how much is Whitacre paid? It should be a matter of public record, considering how Uncle Sam is the majority shareholder, FIA and all that. And is he worth it? Could we get some kid fresh out of college with a BA in Business Management who could do, if nothing else, no worse than GM has managed to do over the past five years? If GM's executive offices closed for a year and the lines simply kept doing what they were doing, internal expenses would plummet, there wouldn't be anyone to bitch about pay caps (the UAW might, but that's another, different can), and I strongly suspect everything would get done with no problems.
It's like a cockroach. Cut off the brain and the body keeps going. #edwhitacre
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
However, the government, who votes on its own pay raises while being entirely devoid of talent, is probably not going to comprehend this. #edwhitacre
11/11/09
Executives should be paid at a level that accurately corresponds with their value to the corporation. In recent years that often hasn't been happening here in the US -- and not just with the auto industry. Somehow it is considered "normal" and "acceptable" that unbridled greed has trumped basic fairness and good business practices. No wonder our economy is in the tank. #edwhitacre
11/11/09
It is these idiots being propped up by my wages that is the problem. #edwhitacre
11/11/09
It's the flip side of the UAW/competitive wage argument : If other companies are willing to pay more than 500K for execs, GM is SOL.
11/11/09
At any rate, I don't buy the argument that money is always going to be the key motivator to attracting the talent that GM needs. Essentially they need another Lee Iaccocca. When he became head of Chrysler his salary demands were quite affordable.
Think about it: Any exec with the talent to turn around GM will be more than amply compensated both in reputation and, down the road, financially. Given the stakes involved, inspired leadership will inevitably get on the cover of Time magazine and into the history books. That's career making. The money will surely follow. #edwhitacre
11/12/09
GM is not looking for the next Jesus to try their luck on, they need seasoned professionals that know what they're doing. Those people know how much they're worth, so capping their salaries amounts to shooting yourself in a foot.
All your arguments are applicable to non-Tarp companies also, which will pay their desired comp. If i turn around HP or eBay, I will get the same reputation and don't have to work for 1/10th of my market salary.