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Double Standard In Washington

I’ve been thinking all along that Washington is going about the “bailouts” of the banking industries and the auto industries completely unfair.  Whether you are for or against the bailouts of either sector, I think that should be one thing you can agree with.  Banks have received money numerous times, CEOs still intact, wasting millions of taxpayer money in bogus bonuses, etc., while the auto industries are being treated in a completely different manner.

Today Rick Wagoner (CEO of GM) was asked to step down, a man that worked his way from the bottom to the top, working for $1/yr salary, and obviously wanting to see General Motors succeed.  He sat in front of Congress for hours getting grilled when he could have easily stepped down.  That is a man that wasn’t there just for the pay, but one that wanted to see a turnaround in his company to become a viable company once again.  While the CEOs of Citi, and others, are still being paid their handsome salaries and are no where near being profitable businesses.  This doesn’t set well with me.

I for one would like to see this — if Rick Wagoner needed to step down in order for his company to receive any additional taxpayer loans, then I would like to see the administration hold the banking companies to the same standard and have them follow the same strict path as General Motors and submit viability plans and replace their CEOs in order to receive any additional loans.

It’s like one site I read today said:

You’re telling one kid don’t play with fire while the other kid is being given a pack of matches. There should be some consistency.