I think BT has it right with regards to the jet, somethings like this just get out of hand with the media and public. But also sometimes, esp now, the companies need to be pretty cognizant of the media environment that they work in today. Instead of buying the most opulent CEO type of jet avaiable they need to go minimalist. There was a whole thing on the Merrill CEO and how he spent money on opulent furnishings for the corporate offices, it's just stupid to do those sorts of things in this environment. He didn't have to go to IKEA but he sure should have used some better judgement.
Hey Dave, Did you see that Citi was actually (before this became an issue) getting rid of 2 older jets to make room for the new one? I am betting that the new jet has a better carbon footprint than the old ones. So they were actually reducing their number of planes and they are 'out of control'...........?
....as a practical matter they had committed to upgrading the fleet and purchasing the jet well before the meltdown.....similarly with Thain at Merrill. The office was redecorated last year as I understand it......and the plane and the office were none of anybody's business except the owners and I assure you, they were given authorization to proceed. Simply because you now have additonal owners - with meaningful stakes to be sure - it is nonsense to go back and b!tch about every previous decision that was made before your time......except that its politics and now its popular. Most Wall Streeters/Bankers/Investor/Financial types that I know - and I include myself in that group - fully appreciate the fact that we are now the community pariah.....these things go in cycles. We had our day in the sun and now we are the popular a$$hole of the world. We're a tough group.....we'll be back and let's be clear, in spite of the trough the system is going through today, our capital markets and financial system are the standard by which the rest of the world aspires to.....it was the envy of the world prior and once stabilized, will continue to be the envy and from a business standpoint dominate the world competitors......there are many industries in our nation who cannot say that today and who have not been able to say that for a generation....
And now we have this: "Once the plan is put into action, a new website -– recovery.gov -– will allow any American to watch where the money goes and weigh in with comments and questions –- and I encourage every American to do so," he said. "Ultimately, this is your money, and you deserve to know where it's going and how it's spent." I actually think if implemented with fact and clarity that this beats the hell out of the first 380 billion of TARP funds....the whereabouts of which not many have a clue.
It's really too bad that the American public didn't get a chance to read the bill before it was voted on. Well let me correct that, they actually waited 11 hrs between finalization of the bill and the vote. Of course this wasn't really to allow us any time to read the bill and contact our congress folks. No it took that long for the Dems to get a Senator away from a memorial service for his mother. And they needed every vote. They literally rammed this ******** bill full of green and liberal pork through without the public knowing much if anything about what was in it. On top of that the Republicans didn't even get a chance to watch as they loaded up with their "special interests" as the Dems negotiated with themselves. The bill is passed the money will be spent and the big thrill is that they are going to let you know afterward which hole they pissed it down. My suggestion is that they change the name of the website to "locked empty barn.com"
.....what a pretty picture that's gonna be...... :shock: Can't wait to see how Pelosi's marsh rats are doing....