Re: GM Gives Up 2 Jets

Make the C-Level execs drive the cars they actually expect us to buy on limited warrenties. A few winter trips from Detriot to D.C. in a Aveo and Focus will help them learn how to put a business plan together BEFORE they beg for 25 billion dollars.

Use Dingell for firewood.
Sell tickets for Palin Dunk-Tank.
Throw keg-er, charge $5 per cup.
Make Hondas.
Have Rev Murthee remove all witches from assembly lines.
Marry beer heiresses.
New SUV: The Chevy POW, runs on hot air.

Merge with Boeing.

Make flying cars (don't require wheels)
Stop printing owners manuels (does anyone read them???)
Don't paint cars (steel silver is the new 'in' look)
Lobby for pre-emptive war against Japan (they're building WMDs)

Top ways for GM execs to save money.

Pretend they are AIG execs and take huge bailout sums from the government and dump that money back into their companies while simultaneously pulling a Palin and pretending to sell their jets on eBay.

And then hold a press conference at a turkey slaughterhouse.

KT
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Have you heard about the letter Mitch McConnell sent to Harry Reid basically telling him the Republicans are gonna b!tch slap him of he doesn't bow to their will? Funny thing is, I think he will do it.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/21/134447/20/413/664723

One word; Holograms.

Market is rallying from Andrea Mitchell reporting on MSNBC that Tim Geithner is going to Treasury.

KT
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Not at all. Hell I LOVE the stories you tell. By the way how is the book coming?

Well, Huff Post was saying that McConnell refused to talk to Reid for over 9 days after the election, because he was mad that the DSCC put so much money into his Tennessee race to get him unseated.
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All he has to do is return the favor in 2010 when Reid is up.

KT
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Great story on Daschle, but ill bet he never sent Newt a letter telling him he was going to bust him upside the head if he got out of line and had the nerve to want to pass some conservative legislation. Also its remarkable to see that back in 96 people had the same historical view of Democrats as they do now, that is as spineless jerks.
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OT I hear SNL is audtioning people to play the role of Barack Obama. If you have any juice with NBC you should tell them to give this guy a chance. He had me falling out my chair the first time I saw this youtube clip
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Completely OT but it is looking more and more likely that Franken will end up winning in Minnesota.
A high ranking elected republican in the state is telling people that the recount will be fair and that "statistically it doesn't look hopeful" for Coleman.

sgw, I second your vote for the SNL Obama. That guy is great.
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As for McConnel and the GOP, Benen has some thoughts, that start with: In the 110th Congress, the Senate Republican minority, with 49 seats, filibustered more legislation than any Senate minority in congressional history. Can the GOP break its own record in the 111th?
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Reid has to force them to do real filibusters. But that does seem unlikely, doesn't it. Because it would be rude. Yesterday we got to see that senatorial comity went so far as standing ovations and two hours of stirring oratory praising a convicted felon.

wvng
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EXACTLY!

Correction: Kentucky, not Tennessee. Whatever.

KT
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A storm is brewing over John Brennan potentially being named CIA director. Have you heard anything?

As for KT's wonderful contest, my brain is tired from filling in federal financial forms. Funny has flown. So I'll say something serious. US automakers and US corporations in general will do better if they start caring more about their employees than their shareholders.
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As far as the GM execs, they could give up their bonuses, sell their extra homes to John and Cindy, and have Townesend's criticisms of fat-cat management tattooed on their foreheads.

Reid has to force them to do real filibusters. But that does seem unlikely, doesn't it.
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On this one, i say wait and see. I really believe that Reid was letting the Republicans hang themselves for the last two years. If they wanted to vote in a bloc with Mr. 24% and stop good, popular legislation, well, fine with him.

KT: Question: How many pre-1994 Dems are still in the House and Senate? Is this number too high to help enable change?
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I ask because back in the late 80's and early 90's, I remember feeling that the Dems had overstayed their welcome. Guys like Wright, Foley, and Mitchell seemed to be the embodiment of the "old boy network". At the time, I was happy (as I am now, only more so) to "throw the bums out".
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Seeing the Dems back at the helm and these unsightly "seniority" catfights, I can't help but wonder...have we voted the foxes back into the hen house? Sure, they've had 12-14 years in the wilderness to find religion, but this "settling in" period has the smell of a bunch of cronies getting fired up for more of the same-ol', same-ol'. (Except maybe Waxman.)
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Thoughts?

jay, you are right we'll have to wait and see. But have you ever seen a hint of badass in Reid? The repugs never fail to throw their weight around, even when they don't really have any to throw. He's got to stomp on them so they pay attention. I wouldn't even be surprised if he apologized to McConnel for the campaign against him.

My suggestion?
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1. Stop paying royalties on 70's and 80's rock songs for their stupid commercials.
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2. replace all executives with Wall-E.

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Funny...I don't recall such scrutiny of Halliburton, Exxon-Mobil, or many other companies that went to DC asking for government assistance. Freakin' grandstanding on the part of Congress and by a bunch of other people who have no idea what it takes to build a car or run a global corporation.
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KT: Topic: Top ways for GM execs to save money.
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One: Cut advertising in media outlets that keep pushing this non-story.
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I understand that this post is supposed to be lighthearted in tone, Karen, but I've seen too much hyperventilation over inconsequential crap like flag pins, how much someone's outfit cost, etc...I'm exhausted, and would rather see speculation on how the automakers - and other companies, for that matter - should fix things...like a federal mandate requiring, say, 50% of the parts in a vehicle to be made here in the US. Or a $1600 tariff on non-US car manufacturers to sell their vehicles here ($1600 being the approximate per-vehicle cost of healthcare that US automakers have to add to each vehicle produced. Stuff like that, so the domestic companies don't have as much of an uphill fight.
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Two: Renegotiate existing labor contracts. From the previous link:

If an assembly plant with 3,000 workers has no dealer orders, it has two options. One is to close the plant for a week and not build any cars. Then the company still has to give the idled workers 95 percent of their take-home pay plus all benefits for not working. So a one-week shutdown costs $7.7 million or $1,545 for each vehicle it didn't make.

It's not just the management, it's the business environment.
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alaskanturkey: Change name of company to "G", saving millions on printing costs.
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Oddly enough, GM has done studies on ways to increase productivity...one of the conclusions was to drop the second 'e' from the end of the word 'employee'...Turns out that additional typing of one character in a frequently used word could create a small but measurable savings. You can still see signs that say things like 'Employe Development'...