Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested for corruption charges.
Apparently, being a governor just does not pay enough, have the right amount of benefits or have a good enough retirement plan.
nice article from the Wall Street Journal. you know how i roll.
Highlights of the Blagojevich Corruption Charges
Susan Davis reports on politics.
Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today in Chicago amid charges of political corruption. The two were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. According to the Justice Department, the two men allegedly engaged in “ongoing criminal activity” including:
–Conspiring to obtain personal financial gain through the appointment to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. According to the indictment, Blagojevich sought a highly paid job at either a nonprofit foundation or labor organization, as well as a job for his wife on a corporate board where she would earn at least $150,000 a year.
well i found this nice article that tells me Rod was pulling in about $155,000 in 05/07 and was ranked 7th highest paid. Arnold is #1, but he gives his check back to the state.
Govs' salaries range from $1 to $206,500
By Andrew Knapp, Special to Stateline.org
"“It’s a good political ploy to (not accept a salary),” said Thad Beyle, a University of North Carolina professor who studies U.S. governors. He said politicians run for the top state job not for the money, but sometimes to parlay the post into higher office, including the presidency. Four of the last five U.S. presidents served in the governor’s office before the Oval Office. “It’s just the next step to bigger things,” Beyle said."
this is a good article, but knowing what we know now a year later and the trouble going on.
check it out the Disgraced NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer made the article.
"A list of 2007 gubernatorial salaries compiled by the Council of State Governments shows the largest at $206,500 in California, though the governor doesn’t accept it, and the smallest at $70,000 in Maine, where the governor hasn’t gotten a raise in 20 years. At $179,000, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) draws the largest salary among governors who actually accept one."
Well, we know where some of his wages went.
All I can do is shake my head.
Live in a mansion. State pays all the household bills.
24 armored guard.
sign bills in State Law.
pardon people.
Set policy.
create jobs.
enact programs that spend millions of dollars.
command the national guard.
people listen to what you have to say.
people love you.
people hate you.
Well anyway. I can only say that Illinois has a major headache because of this.
UPDATE
The Illionis state house voted to impeach. of course he is fighting to the finish.
2-17-09
The former governor has not been heard from since...,but the governor's selection for US Senator has made some news... Apparently, Mr. Burris was not entirely truthful as to his dealings with the disgraced former governor.
Per this nice story :
Burris Admits to Fundraising Attempt
Senator Now Says He Tried to Solicit Money for Blagojevich
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 18, 2009; Page A03
said that he tried to start something, but nobody was helping so he quit helping.
"In the latest in a series of shifting accounts of his conduct, Sen. Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.) told reporters that he tried to raise money for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich at the same time he was asking Blagojevich to appoint him to the Senate.
Burris said he contacted "some people" about holding a fundraiser at the request of Blagojevich's brother, Robert, only to learn that no one was willing to help the governor. He said he later changed his mind, raised no money and contributed none.
The account to reporters in Peoria, Ill., was Burris's fifth version of his contacts with close associates of Blagojevich and the first time he acknowledged trying to raise money for the former governor, who was arrested and forced from office on corruption charges. "
Damn It!
that is all I got for now on this.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Auto Industry Bail-Out
Ok. Hmmm. No.
I am going to have deny the request.
2 of the 3 are being run by a chief executives that are "new" the the auto business. It is painfully obvious that these guys have no clue how to sell cars to the American buying public. Obviously, it is much different than just being a dominate manufacture in an transportation industury (Boeing) or selling multiple and/or bulk units of identical products to the general public at low margin (Home Depot). Apparrently, the actual experience of overcoming the objections of the customer to the sale of your vehicle could have helped guide you to learn how to sell your vehicle to your customer.
Then this gimmick ploy I read somewhere that Chrysler said its chief executive annual pay is $1.
Well, guess what.
When you work on a car lot and you do not sell many cars your pay check not much more than that.
Not like he needed the money anyway ... i found this
Seeing Red Over a Golden Parachute
Home Depot's CEO Resigns, And His Hefty Payout Raises Ire
By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 4, 2007; Page D01
Robert L. Nardelli has abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of Home Depot, pocketing a lavish severance package and leaving shareholders with a stock that has languished even as sales have nearly doubled during his six-year tenure.
In a statement released yesterday, Home Depot's board of directors and Nardelli said they "mutually agreed" to the resignation, which took effect Tuesday. Under the terms of a separation agreement negotiated when he joined the company in 2000, Nardelli, 58, is to receive about $210 million in cash and stock options, including a $20 million severance payment and retirement benefits of $32 million.
then in a different article
Robert Nardelli named CEO of Chrysler
Under the terms of the deal for Cerberus to buy Chrysler, the ex-Home Depot chief took the helm at the struggling carmaker.
FORTUNE Magazine
By Katie Benner, Fortune reporter
August 6 2007: 12:37 AM EDT
(Fortune) -- As the deal to sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management finally came to a close on Friday, there was one rather salient fact that slipped under the radar. Robert Nardelli was appointed Chrysler's chairman and chief executive officer upon the deal's completion.
Chrysler is American again
That's right. Ceberus has confirmed that the disgraced former CEO of Home Depot (Charts, Fortune 500), who became the poster child for excessive CEO compensation, has taken the reigns at Chrysler. On the day the deal was finalized, August 3, Nardelli was elected to the Chrysler board. Soon after, the directors appointed him chairman and chief executive.
This is just me cutting and pasting articles, but from respected published sources. Because that is how I roll.
Main Entry: disgraced
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: discredited
Synonyms: in disgrace, dishonored, degraded, demoted, shamed, downtrodden,
humiliated, discharged, defrocked, mocked, abject,
down and out, tarred and feathered
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/disgraced
If the editors at FORTUNE Magazine approved the use of this adjective what are you to think?
Now on to Ford's CEO
well according to this web page
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/12/lead_bestbosses08_Alan-R-Mulally_N5DJ.html
a million dollars a month. 2nd year on the job. wow Mr. Wizard what have you brought to the table as a success? Do you have a clue how many commission vouchers would have to be earned to generate $1,000,000.00? per month, but to add to the difficultly you have to sell the Ford product to do it. Let's just say a car salesman earns $333 average for every new Ford Product he sold. Well lets see... 3003 new cars each month.
I really have lost interest in beating on this guy.
Ok this is how it should go down. GM gets the loan it wants. Ford said it did not need any money and Chrysler gets nothing.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. thinks Chrysler is just trying to get the loan to stay in business long enough to be bought by another automaker and I agree.
Update:
WSJ reports that this bailout may come in the form of ownership positions that Rich Uncle Sam would get in the auto industry for the billions invested. I like this idea better than just handing billions of dollars to management with this track record. I can see the high fuel efficient cars being made. This battery challenge that is stumping the progress of electric cars would be solved soon. This new power source/container is very important to the world's future.
Update: 2/17/09
Hot off the press..
GM, Chrysler seek more gov't aid, to cut more jobs
By TOM KRISHER and KEN THOMAS – 40 minutes ago
DETROIT (AP) — "General Motors and Chrysler said Tuesday their request for federal aid ballooned to a staggering $39 billion — only months after receiving billions in loans — in new plans that envision massive job losses and intense restructuring to survive a deepening recession."
"General Motors Corp. presented a survival plan that calls for cutting a total of 47,000 jobs globally and closing five more U.S. factories, a move that represents the largest work force reduction announced by a U.S. company in the economic meltdown. Chrysler LLC said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models."
Now the best thing to do is let these 2 companies break up and reform again under a new name. These companies are too big to be managed. It might have been possible to save these two companies with "car guys" leading the charge, but all they have are suits.
Sales have not improved. They want to fire/lay-off 40,000 anyway. Obviously, this is too much. I envision separate companies. Each would grow on its own merits.
Update
3/16/09
Chrysler is asking for another $5,000 million on top of the $4,000 million it received recently. So Cerrius this management company is basically asking for same amount it invested to save this wreck. I say total it. Good Bye... and where is my $4 billion dollars? This is what you get when you want to play car dealer.
The management team may be good at selling something, but it is not good at selling cars.
Update 3/31/09
O.K. Rick Wagoner resigned. Now GM has 60 days to come up with a better plan. Chrysler has 30 days to forge a deal with Fiat. The US government is backing the warranties of these companies.
People in Michigan are upset that GM's CEO got fired and Chrysler has 30 days. Well, let me clue you in on something. Chrysler was doomed a long time ago. If the government would not have came in saved it a 2d time it would have died in couple of months ago. The management of Chrysler has 30 days to get it's money out. As for the firing. The CEO of failed company always loses his job. Just like the 40,000 he laid off recently. He too knows how it feels and what it is like to be jobless.
I told you so.
Update 4/26/09
Back in February I asked Why are not these car companies broken up?
Apparently, there must be legal issues, but when the very government is so heavily invested in the companies would they even have to change the law? I mean really, the government, being the largest shareholder or majority owner just "tink" break it up. At least there would be more administrative positions opening up. Each brand would need it's own independent administration, design and marketing teams. I heard there are enough idle factories that could be tapped if needed.
Now what this does is risky, but isn't selling a brand the same as spinning it off?
Where is the money? Well, they are bank rolling it now. New term for me... Cash Burn It is funny because this definition I found make references to "start-up" companies.
Burn rate
"Used in venture capital financing to refer to the rate at which a startup company expends capital to finance overhead costs prior to the generation of positive cash flow." thefreedictionary.com
If Saturn, Saab, Hummer and Pontiac could not survive on there own then they die. Oh Cadillac and the rest all go solo too plus R&D now solo. Bell/Lucent Labs anyone?
Sure it can charge a flat rate for services each company can invest what it needs.
Well the union debt will have to backed up by the productivity of the current worker. The union will have a ownership position in the companies of it choice or each...whatever details,
but the point is...
Yesterday's worker is directly dependent on today's worker.
What the irony of it all is... the workers become the owners and now the workers become thier own proplem. At least that is what I get when you hear the current management access this problem they are experience.
Then, I guess this question could be directed at the union.
Are you ready to invest in yourself?
Update: 06/23/09
Well, both companies declare bankruptcy. The dealership network was "trimmed" back on both companies.
China buys Hummer, Some high-end European automaker buys SAAB, Saturn got sold to the Penske Organization, Pontiac just goes away and dies ... I think... The US government has a majority ownership in GM. the unions own most of Chrysler with Fiat getting a 20-30% cut.
Ford just received a 5,800 million dollar loan for new car technology. Nissan got a loan and so did Tesla.
I am going to have deny the request.
2 of the 3 are being run by a chief executives that are "new" the the auto business. It is painfully obvious that these guys have no clue how to sell cars to the American buying public. Obviously, it is much different than just being a dominate manufacture in an transportation industury (Boeing) or selling multiple and/or bulk units of identical products to the general public at low margin (Home Depot). Apparrently, the actual experience of overcoming the objections of the customer to the sale of your vehicle could have helped guide you to learn how to sell your vehicle to your customer.
Then this gimmick ploy I read somewhere that Chrysler said its chief executive annual pay is $1.
Well, guess what.
When you work on a car lot and you do not sell many cars your pay check not much more than that.
Not like he needed the money anyway ... i found this
Seeing Red Over a Golden Parachute
Home Depot's CEO Resigns, And His Hefty Payout Raises Ire
By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 4, 2007; Page D01
Robert L. Nardelli has abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of Home Depot, pocketing a lavish severance package and leaving shareholders with a stock that has languished even as sales have nearly doubled during his six-year tenure.
In a statement released yesterday, Home Depot's board of directors and Nardelli said they "mutually agreed" to the resignation, which took effect Tuesday. Under the terms of a separation agreement negotiated when he joined the company in 2000, Nardelli, 58, is to receive about $210 million in cash and stock options, including a $20 million severance payment and retirement benefits of $32 million.
then in a different article
Robert Nardelli named CEO of Chrysler
Under the terms of the deal for Cerberus to buy Chrysler, the ex-Home Depot chief took the helm at the struggling carmaker.
FORTUNE Magazine
By Katie Benner, Fortune reporter
August 6 2007: 12:37 AM EDT
(Fortune) -- As the deal to sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management finally came to a close on Friday, there was one rather salient fact that slipped under the radar. Robert Nardelli was appointed Chrysler's chairman and chief executive officer upon the deal's completion.
Chrysler is American again
That's right. Ceberus has confirmed that the disgraced former CEO of Home Depot (Charts, Fortune 500), who became the poster child for excessive CEO compensation, has taken the reigns at Chrysler. On the day the deal was finalized, August 3, Nardelli was elected to the Chrysler board. Soon after, the directors appointed him chairman and chief executive.
This is just me cutting and pasting articles, but from respected published sources. Because that is how I roll.
Main Entry: disgraced
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: discredited
Synonyms: in disgrace, dishonored, degraded, demoted, shamed, downtrodden,
humiliated, discharged, defrocked, mocked, abject,
down and out, tarred and feathered
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/disgraced
If the editors at FORTUNE Magazine approved the use of this adjective what are you to think?
Now on to Ford's CEO
well according to this web page
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/12/lead_bestbosses08_Alan-R-Mulally_N5DJ.html
a million dollars a month. 2nd year on the job. wow Mr. Wizard what have you brought to the table as a success? Do you have a clue how many commission vouchers would have to be earned to generate $1,000,000.00? per month, but to add to the difficultly you have to sell the Ford product to do it. Let's just say a car salesman earns $333 average for every new Ford Product he sold. Well lets see... 3003 new cars each month.
I really have lost interest in beating on this guy.
Ok this is how it should go down. GM gets the loan it wants. Ford said it did not need any money and Chrysler gets nothing.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. thinks Chrysler is just trying to get the loan to stay in business long enough to be bought by another automaker and I agree.
Update:
WSJ reports that this bailout may come in the form of ownership positions that Rich Uncle Sam would get in the auto industry for the billions invested. I like this idea better than just handing billions of dollars to management with this track record. I can see the high fuel efficient cars being made. This battery challenge that is stumping the progress of electric cars would be solved soon. This new power source/container is very important to the world's future.
Update: 2/17/09
Hot off the press..
GM, Chrysler seek more gov't aid, to cut more jobs
By TOM KRISHER and KEN THOMAS – 40 minutes ago
DETROIT (AP) — "General Motors and Chrysler said Tuesday their request for federal aid ballooned to a staggering $39 billion — only months after receiving billions in loans — in new plans that envision massive job losses and intense restructuring to survive a deepening recession."
"General Motors Corp. presented a survival plan that calls for cutting a total of 47,000 jobs globally and closing five more U.S. factories, a move that represents the largest work force reduction announced by a U.S. company in the economic meltdown. Chrysler LLC said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models."
Now the best thing to do is let these 2 companies break up and reform again under a new name. These companies are too big to be managed. It might have been possible to save these two companies with "car guys" leading the charge, but all they have are suits.
Sales have not improved. They want to fire/lay-off 40,000 anyway. Obviously, this is too much. I envision separate companies. Each would grow on its own merits.
Update
3/16/09
Chrysler is asking for another $5,000 million on top of the $4,000 million it received recently. So Cerrius this management company is basically asking for same amount it invested to save this wreck. I say total it. Good Bye... and where is my $4 billion dollars? This is what you get when you want to play car dealer.
The management team may be good at selling something, but it is not good at selling cars.
Update 3/31/09
O.K. Rick Wagoner resigned. Now GM has 60 days to come up with a better plan. Chrysler has 30 days to forge a deal with Fiat. The US government is backing the warranties of these companies.
People in Michigan are upset that GM's CEO got fired and Chrysler has 30 days. Well, let me clue you in on something. Chrysler was doomed a long time ago. If the government would not have came in saved it a 2d time it would have died in couple of months ago. The management of Chrysler has 30 days to get it's money out. As for the firing. The CEO of failed company always loses his job. Just like the 40,000 he laid off recently. He too knows how it feels and what it is like to be jobless.
I told you so.
Update 4/26/09
Back in February I asked Why are not these car companies broken up?
Apparently, there must be legal issues, but when the very government is so heavily invested in the companies would they even have to change the law? I mean really, the government, being the largest shareholder or majority owner just "tink" break it up. At least there would be more administrative positions opening up. Each brand would need it's own independent administration, design and marketing teams. I heard there are enough idle factories that could be tapped if needed.
Now what this does is risky, but isn't selling a brand the same as spinning it off?
Where is the money? Well, they are bank rolling it now. New term for me... Cash Burn It is funny because this definition I found make references to "start-up" companies.
Burn rate
"Used in venture capital financing to refer to the rate at which a startup company expends capital to finance overhead costs prior to the generation of positive cash flow." thefreedictionary.com
If Saturn, Saab, Hummer and Pontiac could not survive on there own then they die. Oh Cadillac and the rest all go solo too plus R&D now solo. Bell/Lucent Labs anyone?
Sure it can charge a flat rate for services each company can invest what it needs.
Well the union debt will have to backed up by the productivity of the current worker. The union will have a ownership position in the companies of it choice or each...whatever details,
but the point is...
Yesterday's worker is directly dependent on today's worker.
What the irony of it all is... the workers become the owners and now the workers become thier own proplem. At least that is what I get when you hear the current management access this problem they are experience.
Then, I guess this question could be directed at the union.
Are you ready to invest in yourself?
Update: 06/23/09
Well, both companies declare bankruptcy. The dealership network was "trimmed" back on both companies.
China buys Hummer, Some high-end European automaker buys SAAB, Saturn got sold to the Penske Organization, Pontiac just goes away and dies ... I think... The US government has a majority ownership in GM. the unions own most of Chrysler with Fiat getting a 20-30% cut.
Ford just received a 5,800 million dollar loan for new car technology. Nissan got a loan and so did Tesla.
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