Road trip! GM CEO drives himself to Washington

A couple weeks ago, America was in a twitter over the gall the Big 3 automaker executives had in taking private jets from Detroit to Washington D.C. to ask for funds to save their faltering companies.

Yesterday, they were back in D.C. to re-state their cases for taxpayer loans. This time, though, they didn't risk more patronizing at the hands of the media or Congress; this time, they drove.

The fracas raised by the media and Congress was aimed at the populist trends in today's America; the same populist trends that helped make Obama the president-elect. These trends pattern themselves in the vogue disdain for big and successful corporations, resentment of successful individuals, or pretty much any entity that has raised itself to a position of financial prominence.

One columnist talks about "plain, hard-working Americans who will never even see the inside of a private jet" as she lambasts the three CEOs for their crime of flying in such a reliable...er, I mean...private manner.

But, really, let's ignore all the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth for a moment and look at this from a logical perspective. (Can we? Is that possible?)

I think Time scribe Bill Saporito brings such a healthy view to this matter in his article "Why the Big Three Should Fly Corporate Jets."

Consider just what a pain in the ass it is for you to go to fly home to see your relatives. If you are flying commercial nowadays, most airports will advise you to arrive at the airport 60-90 minutes ahead of your scheduled departure time. That's not beam-me-up-Scotty-then-plop-down-and-do-some-work time. That's driving there, mastering airport traffic, finding parking or getting dropped off, checking in, standing in the security line, standing in the security line, more standing in the security line, taking off your shoes, removing your laptop from your bag, taking off your jacket, putting your loose change and/or metallic items in the little composite bowl, getting the random pat-down, gathering your phone/keys/change, putting the laptop back in the bag, putting your shoes back on, leaving security, checking the departures list only to see your flight is 25 minutes late because there was a storm 1500 miles away in Texas, walking the mile-plus to your gate, boarding, boarding, boarding, (did I mention boarding?), taxiing, waiting in the long line of other poor souls for the blessing of the control tower so that you can finally take off and be on your way to your destination.

Time is money. I heard a successful businessman say that he doesn't mow his own lawn anymore. Why? Because then he'd become a $15/hour laborer for the time that he's mowing his lawn.

Are the Big Three CEOs successful businessmen? Well, some would argue no, but they are at least successful to the point that they have worked their ways up to become the heads of multi-billion-dollar companies that have managed, somehow, to stay afloat over the past decades even while being consumed from within by their own labor force and working against uneven trade policies. They have managed to work themselves into these positions where they are paid millions each year for their wisdom, experience and business acumen.

How much is their time worth? How much does it cost GM while Wagoner is taking off his shoes for the TSA to inspect for explosives?

Worse, how much does it cost GM when their head honcho takes 10 hours to drive a car instead of flying (just being in the car, let alone driving himself)?

And all this flak coming from the same Congressmen and women who have been operating their own business at a net loss for the past several decades.

Talk about disgraceful.