Rick Wagoner, Professional Tool

Rick Wagoner was quoted today:

"Since the first of this year, our progress has been threatened as U.S. economic challenges become (more) difficult," said Wagoner, calling higher fuel costs a structural change, not a cyclical change, to which the automaker must adapt. "In the past six weeks, U.S. market and economic conditions have continued to decline. These require us to take further actions."

Who is is kidding? Even the lowest blue collar worker among us has know for years that the economy was limping in Detroit, FOR YEARS RICK! Do you even know how much a gallon of milk costs us little people? What a tool.


Some of Rickie's directives:

• A 20 percent reduction in salaried worker costs through a variety of means including normal attrition, early retirement and voluntary separation programs.

Guessing 20% of the top executive staff will NOT be removed, I figure middle management.

• Cutting health-care coverage effective Jan. 1, 2009 for Medicare-eligible salaried retirees, partially offset by increased pension payments.

Stealing from those retirees whom worked their whole lives for your company, this guy is like Mother Theresa. How is this even legal?

• No pay raises for salaried workers through the end of 2009.

HA HA HA, Like this was even going to happen anyhow.

• No discretionary bonuses for executives.

Make note of this one, I bet this is total bullshit, I see a big bonus in his future.

• Cutting and consolidating sales and marketing budgets, including motorsports activity.

Cut ALL commercial promo and marketing activity Rick, let your product sell itself on quality alone, oh wait thats crazy. You won't sell a hundred units that way.

• Holding engineering spending to 2006-07 levels through the end of 2009.

Screw that, increase engineering spending and make a revolutionary hybrid everyone will actually want. Dare to be a leader and not a follower Rick, it's not like your going to ever end up homeless.

• Reducing capital spending.

So your going to fly coach?

• Suspending the dividend on common stock, to save $800 million through 2009.

Thats COMMON stock, In other words what you and I can buy. Executives get a different type of stock which appears will NOT have dividends suspended per this quote.


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