But the lugnuts who posted on the blog about Ryan Braun signing a $105 million contract extension said that was okay! A baseball player who plays a game, is responsible for nobody but himself and his own success, is judged to be more valuable than a man who runs a billion dollar corporation employing thousands and responsible for turning out profitable products each year? Comparing the two contributions to our society, I don't think $ 2.5 million is over the top.

This CEO is one of the highest paid with taxpayer money.

Actually Bush gave $13.4 billion after Congress did not act on it, they never voted. This was the first loan that eventually became $50 billion in total loans.

Congress voted against a bailout. President Bush made the decision of circumventing Congress and divered $15.4 billion from the Trouble Asset Relief Program funds to GM in Dec of 2008. Not Obama. BTW, now the the executives get to pay less taxes because their pay is in stock, which is taxed at the capital gains tax rate not earned income rate.

just ask these overpaid ceo types.. they are after all the only ones that can run companies into the ground and still claim they deserve huge pay with a christmas bonus.

Rocky
Apr 22, 2011 at 8:42 p.m.
Suggest removal Pubsrus - go back to the pub. That was 70 years ago. Build a bridge and get over it.

Will you say the same thing about 9/11??? If weren't for a company like GM you would probably be speaking Japanese or German or worse you may have never been born. You need to read a little history before you speak.

See how all you lemmings got away from the topic of the story and my first post? You no longer care about the gross amount of money the CEO made compared to what the blue collar slug on the line makes. Its way out of wack. Corporate America runs this country and all you dolts are oblivious to it. Hell, you're doing the fighting for them. And they're in board rooms, yachts, bank vaults just yucking it up. Lemmings. Thats what you all are. Lemmings

They never mention the real chairman and CEO of GM...Barack Obama. Maybe it's because he doesn't really need the 2.5 million. I'm sure the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac fund he walked away with is treating him well.

btw, just see if your government will pony up the cash to help you with your bankruptcy. They'll fall all over themselves to help a dinosaur of a car manufacturer that probably should have died. If your corporate culture is so out of touch with reality that you couldn't see the massive corner you've painted yourself in, then you have no right to be in business. (but it's the unions that ruined GM...lol.)

They repaid the loan with the same money they got bailed out with. In fact, they reported negative cash flow in 2010. If you want to paint it as "it was GM's money to do with what they please", then go ahead. It doesn't change the fact the the repaid the loan with government money, not with profits from a company that was healthy or profitable. If moving figures from column A to column B makes them square in the "books", then I have some swamp land for you to take a look at.

politifact.com, "So the loan portion of the GM bailout was, in fact, settled with interest, five years ahead of schedule."

The bailout money bought about 60% of the company. It was GM`s money to use as they saw fit. They repaid all the loans. The only government money on the books is for the remaining stake in the company, about 31%.

"In an April 21, 2010, interview on the Fox Business Network, GM's vice chairman, Stephen Girsky, was asked if GM is just paying the government back with government money.

"That is, in effect true," Girsky said. "But a year ago, nobody thought we'd be able to pay this back. They gave us five years to pay it back, we're paying it back in nine months. ... This is one step along the way in the road to recovery here.''

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...

GM repaid the "TARP" loan with TARP money that was escrowed, not by profits made by the company. So, essentially, they repaid their bailout cash with bailout cash. How is that "repaying the loan"?

Mrs. Obama does have 22 assistants, at a cost of$1.6 million, not $100,000 each. Mrs. Bush had 18 at a cost of $1.4 million, a higher pay scale. At one point Mrs. Bush had 24 assistants. This is from factcheck.org.
GM has paid all their loans, the only government money they have is from the purchase of 31% of the stock the U.S. still owns. They owe nothing but gratitude, which was already expressed by the former chairman.
About 20% of federal employees make $100,000, or more. Obama froze salaries, he did not restrict them.

earnednotgiven wrote..."no government employee is suppose to make over 100,000. REMEMEBER?? But Michelle Obama broke that rule when she has 22 personal assistance that make over 100,000 each. Did you know that?"

Please cite your source.

OMG get over it, it amazes me how many people think that the definition of American Made doesnt include made and China and assembled in USA, that way the company can say made in America as that was the last place that the part was added. And as far as Michelle Obama, all the more power to her, and any women who says that she wouldnt do the same if given the chance wouldnt do it well then I am not sure if you should be commenting on here, cause only honest people can comment on here with true statements that everyone will agree too..

harleedude and others: When are you all going to understand that there is no 100% American made car. Go to:http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-03-21-car-content-chart_N.htm or google : Where American cars are made and you will see that there are no 100% cars made in America. I get so tired of people telling me that my Hyndai Santa Fe only supports the Koreans. My car was built in Westport GA by Americans, not Canadians or Mexicans. It has an American engine and transmission which is more than I can say about some GM cars that are made in Canada or Mexico. Do you think those people send the money back to America to spend here? The people who built my car lives in American and spent their paycheck on rent, food, etc HERE in America. Get over it. It is a global market and there are no American made cars 100% anymore. We need to add a tariff on imported products, just like they charge us. That will stop all the products from China, Korea, etc. from coming in here. Lets get smart.

Pubsrus - go back to the pub. That was 70 years ago. Build a bridge and get over it.

Hmmm. He must belong to a union.

earnednotgiven; Thank you!

I've purchased 2 new vehicles from Fagan and love my GM vehicles but I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy from that company again. Ed Whitaker lied to my face about paying back the loans etc... I think it'll be Fords from now on.

Well said Pubsrus! I couldn't agree more. Why would you want to buy a car from a country that was trying to kill your ancestors in WWII? Why would you not support Americans and American companies first? How soon some forget.

Actually NOBAMA2012 GM HASN'T paid back all the money they owe the US. They took their second installment and used it to pay the first installment back.So they stole from Paul to pay Peter. Basic Math, GM still owes the full amount because they never paid it 100% in full. AND GM shouldn't be giving any EXECUTIVE over 100,000 due to the US Government owns 40% of them and no government employee is suppose to make over 100,000. REMEMEBER?? But Michelle Obama broke that rule when she has 22 personal assistance that make over 100,000 each. Did you know that?

I will never buy another GM car ! We taxpayers bailed their butts out and they came out smelling like roses while we got it put where the sun doesn't shine !!!!
With all these high priced ceos, ballplayers and so, It will come to an end. If you watch Nascar and some of these spring baseball games the seats are MT. We can not afford to go ! I used to go to races and back then you couldn't find a seat because it was sold out but when you end up spending 1.500 in a weekend I had to quit going !
Family came 1st !!!

GM has repaid the loans they recieved from both the US and Canadian governments BOND. Nice try though.

Do you think he will take out a full page ad in the papers or pay for a thirty second spot on tv to thank the TAXPAYERS for his salary, even though Government Motors still owes the taxpayers money!

1942, Production Goes to War
General Motors converted all of its production to the Allied war effort and delivered more than $12 billion worth of goods, ranging from airplanes to tanks, marine diesel engines, trucks, machine guns, and shells. No other manufacturer delivered as much material to the Allied forces.
Additional Information: Here is a list of the WWII General Motors War Material Production 1940-45: (This is the best list I could assemble from the contemporary sources at war's end)

198,000 Diesel engines for tanks & landing craft
206,000 Airplane engines
13,000 Complete bombers and fighter planes
97,000 Aircraft propellors
301,000 Aircraft gyroscopes
38,000 Tanks, tank destroyers and armored vehicles
854,000 Trucks, including amhibious DUKWs
190,000 Cannons
1,900,000 Machine guns and submachine guns
3,142,000 Carbines
3,826,000 Electric motors
11,111,000 Fuses
360,000,000 Ball and roller bearings
119,562,000 Shells
39,181,000 Cartridge cases
540,619,000 Grand Total

That's it trash GM. You go ahead and buy your vehicles from those who tried to kill us and I will buy mine from the one who protected us. GOD BLESS GM!!!!! To this day, the government has not forgotten GM's contribution.

I will try to explain something to bella and the rest who keep thinking the wrong stuff about the collective bargaining bill.
It doesn't have anything to do with the salaries of the teachers. Look farther than just how the teachers will be effected. Collective bargaining deals with the teacher's benefits.
I say end the collective bargaining and give the teachers their retirement contribution to them in wages and let them do with it what they want. You realize, the so-called wealthy love the fact that State Taxes get automatically put into retirement for the teachers. Where do you think that "retirement" money actually goes?
Stocks, Wall Street, Bankers, Investors...automatically for them to do with what they want. All the while, they convince every middle class American, teachers included, that this is a good thing, investment with them is good, so they can give CEO's of these companies, millions.
Teachers, don't let them take your money automatically every paycheck, you should decide where your money is going, and that should be into your pocket.

What really causes all this is the majority of this country is populated by 5-year-old minds.

oops, I was redundant, you already said that stuff.

wi55lady- I like your post,but the real reason all of those people get paid that much is the multitude of American suckers paying the bill for all that stuff.....If there weren't millions of ppl who would pay to watch others kick a silly ball around, they wouldn't get paid anything to do it..etc...etc.

Aaaah..... garyprimer, it isn't just the GM execs that make an obsene amount of money versus the minions below them. I's ALL of corporate America. And the lemmings out there are too blind, or stupid to see it. Bella nailed it also.

But let's all focus on those horrible teachers' unions and their salaries....we are a nation of suckers. We play right into it every time.

The money is obscene. 40 teachers could be employed with his pay.

NOBODY IS WORTH THAT MUCH MONEY!! I don't care if you're a CEO, a professional athlete, a Hollyweird bozo or politican. Anyone making a million+ dollars a year is narcissistic!! Most people are lucky to make $30,000 a year. Unfortunately, Americans are stupid. If we would stop buying the company's products (which aren't entirely USA made) or stop going to games and movies, these self-absorbed jerks would think twice about their almighty paycheck. Case in point: Did you see how much Braun is going to make on just the salary extension??!! GOOD GRIEF!!! It's time to boycott ALL sports games!!! AND...look what Jolly did with his megabucks paycheck!! ENOUGH SAID!!!

ex-assembly line.

What assembly line?

Yeah,
Its those damn line workers.
spt, you do realize this guy makes about 100 times as much as your friends and neighbors that work on that assembly line?

I guess that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
After the US government unloads it's stock at a considerable loss to the taxpayers, GM is going to head right down the toilet again.
Big Dan will hop in his private jet and fly to Washington looking for more public assistance.

Who cares about that. And it was only for 4 months work. Why don't we get to the real reason cars cost so much-them damn no good line workers make way too much an hour. Sheesh, and for what they do, that is the real story.