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Former GM CEOs May Face Senate Grilling

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#1 ·
Former GM CEOs May Face Senate Grilling
LeftLaneNews
April 23, 2014
By: Justin King


General Motors' fresh CEO Mary Barra has taken most of the flak over the ignition-switch debacle, however former executives may not be immune from public grilling at congressional hearings.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a former Attorney General, has reportedly called for the company's ex-CEOs to help answer questions about what went wrong under their leadership.

The legislator suggests GM has failed to answer "a whole set of questions on why there were so many delays in taking action," according to an interview with Reuters. "Of course we have to go back to the prior CEOs."

Former GM chief Dan Akerson sits at the top of Blumenthal's list of executives to question. Akerson succeeded Ed Whitacre to take the helm in 2010, and made a well-timed exit just weeks before the ignition-switch recall was announced under the new leadership of Mary Barra.

Full article at link.
 
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#3 ·
I definitely think it would be good for Coke Can Dan, Ed, and Red-Ink Rick to come under scrutiny... surely they all must've been made aware at one point or another.... Wagoner especially since most of the decisions appear to have been made during his tenure.
 
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#4 ·
Snakes in the snake pit.

Blumenthal is an utter serpent, and McCaskill is an idiotic opportunist. These ************* deserve each other. I don't expect much out of it, other than Academy Award-class feigned outrage from our incredibly ethical and principled serpents I mean servants.

I'm sure Coke Can has already practiced his answers. Let me see. I know nussink. I see nussink. I hear nussink.



 
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#5 ·
GM should be a license to print billions of profit but here we are with a culture
that lets people do their own thing and put the whole company at risk.

"it nobody's fault"...... the cry of corporate mismanagement.

I hope GM survives this and finally sees the need to rebuild it culture and corporate philosophy
because without that happening, GM is doomed to keep repeating these fiascoes every few years.
 
#20 ·
culture that lets people do their own thing and put the whole company at risk.

I hope GM survives this and finally sees the need to rebuild it culture and corporate philosophy
because without that happening, GM is doomed to keep repeating these fiascoes every few years.

Lets people do their own thing? hardly. In which alternate dimension do this happen?

I for one hope GM bites the dust. GM is a menace to society. They knew the cause of the deaths, but they not only did nothing, they actively tried to hide the facts.......in order to save a few bucks per vehicle. IF GM acted straight away then they would have only spent a few millions, less deaths, and reputation would be in tact. But GM decided to cover it up.
 
#7 ·
Dumb witch hunt, they got rid of Wagoner, for a reason. It they conceded that management was so sh*tty enough to remove the CEO and restructure all this should boil down to GM's former crappy years. Find out what happened within reason, fix the problem and move on. What's funny is I don't hear too many people panicking over it. I haven't seen a barrage of people calling remove their Cobalts from their policies(I work in insurance) because they sold it. In fact I make a point ask people what they think about the Cobalt recall when I notice they have one on their policy, half don't know the other half almost always doesn't care.
 
#8 ·
The Senate can subpoena every living former GM CEO and drill them for weeks on end..... all they're going to do is plead the 5th on the advice of their attorneys and we will be right where we are right now as far as answers. Senators have to know this will happen, it's useless to call them as much as we all want to roast them all over an open fire.
 
#10 ·
They should call in the proles who're being thrown under the GMC bus.
That could get interesting.:)
 
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#12 ·
The CEO's and upper management of any company in the USA that has received any form of government assistance (grants, tax incentives, tax abatements, infrastructure improvements, - the list is almost endless) should be "grilled by Congress" if their company did not operate at 100% efficiency and had any product problems.

Additionally, any politician who made any campaign promises or promises in office that that did not happen should also be "grilled". Over an open fire would be best.
 
#35 ·
Still boggles my mind that we have GM's CEO in court 20 minutes after this fiasco came public and the phucking theiving politicians grandstand by grilling her yet we still have Wall Street who got bailed out along with other corporations robbing us blind; oh wait, the politicians are in on that too.
 
#23 ·
They're going to get a whole bunch of "I don't recall" from those guys.
What are they gonna do, fire 'em? In Rick's case, they already did!

Or he knew, so told Akerson he didn't want the job now?
If Mary survives he may never get it.
 
#24 ·
This problem,in my opinion appears to stem from an ongoing issue with GM in that they fielded so many models that the yearly refinement of each , which not only will limit chronic vehicle reliability issues,but also enhances customer appreciation , gets a distant second place to bringing out more new models . Again in my opinion , this was a big problem before bankruptcy and it is now again a big issue . What is the saying , familiarity brings contempt ? I still recall a product that GM sold over a million vehicles and really owned the marketplace , the Cavalier . This car ran from the 80's up to 2004 . It had too many problem areas that some were left unaddressed for years but in 2004 it finally all came together and was really a great little car . What does GM do , they can this gem and the replacement Cobalt and dissolution of the brand resulted in a few years . How can a company not grow this really important little car and continue to refine and even lengthen the body the same as Toyota did with the Corolla and Honda with the Civic . They basically gave away about the best selling little car volumes to the Japanese . ..truly unbelievable . Post bankruptcy and the onslaught of new GM models continues . To me,this illustrates an unchanged philosophy , bring in new models , we are the hostess with the mostest . Ford , in a brilliant move after near bankruptcy , severely cut down the quantity of its models and concentrated on being the best in its market segments . The net profits are amazing , I think they are about 3 times that of GM ? I think the quality and hazardous replacement part issues currently being examined by the government will cost the company untold billions and maybe much more . Once the fire starts , its amazing what can come out of the woodwork . The gnats and boulevard chasers are smelling blood , time to get on board for the ride...truly a respected american tradition , in my opinion . Kind of reminds me of a once healthy man setting out for a brisk walk...with one leg in a cast , but determined to go on , what a man , and look at the great new suit he's wearing , wow !
 
#29 · (Edited)
About what I'd expect out of Waxperson. These guys are great at blaming anyone and everyone, with the exception of themselves.
These are the same people who created so many tax-funded agencies you can't count or keep track of them, agencies like IRS who give bonuses to their own employees who are in trouble with the IRS, who all have their own goon squads for whatever reason, yet somehow the folks who birthed and sent the agencies on their way know nussink?
More like, "How dare you question me!?"

Her performance before Congress has been panned, with her many non-responses being a big problem, even ridiculed b Saturday Night Live.
If Mary Barra is found to have known well before she said she did, that would be a problem as well.
I don't think she's a long-term CEO
While her I know nussink was not the most brilliant testimony our esteemed Congress has ever viewed, nor were the Benghazi, IRS, Fast and Furious, etc. etc. etc. hearings--where genuine government employees, not exactly huge fountains of ownership of ANYTHING besides arrogance--object lessons in how to do anything other than blah blah blah as per the Waxman clip above.

Proving once again that Sgt. Schultz was far ahead of his day.

 
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#30 · (Edited)
Good. Some higher up made the conscious and informed decision that it's cheaper to pay for lawsuits and settlements than make better parts and recall defective ones. That person should be in jail.

Since that will never happen, the Ford Pinto memo mentality is alive and well in US business schools and board rooms and people will continue to get injured and die because some executive jerk is more concerned with his bonuses than the lives of customers and the reputation of the company.
 
#31 ·
I agree. Maybe, in some cases, there should be criminal penalties for civil issues, such as not properly resolving defective products when the defect is discovered early on and decisions are made to let it ride. Perhaps some executives should spend time in prison for their decisions that go against the public good.
 
#32 ·
This is ridiculous. I don't recall Senator I'm no longer privy to GM documents or GM email. I play golf and live fat off my pension. Please direct all questions and provide for my lawyer the appropriate documents and we will review when I get back from my latest trip......Thanks for your time.
 
#36 ·
I remember a certain "Co-President" who had an incredibly poor memory when testifying before various Congressional committees.

NUMBER OF TIMES that Hillary Clinton, providing testimony to Congress, said that she didn't remember, didn't know, or something similar: 250

http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-real-hillary-clinton.html

The higher the standing, the poorer the memory, methinks.
 
#39 ·
Chicago Tribune: GM Reveals 5 Recall-related Probes
"5 Government probes related to its massive recalls, including previously unreported investigatios by the SEC and a state prosecutor."
Included are; US Attorney's Office for the Southern Dist of NY, the SEC, the NHTSA, a states attorney general and Congress. Well, it looks like GM's top people are going to have to keep their suits on for awhile.
 
#41 ·
GM's problems go back to years ago when Roger Smith was at the helm. His direction at that time was pathetic and almost bankrupted the Company. Some of the assets they sold off were the major money makers. They even shut down their best plants which just shows their thoughts on quality products. I know as I worked in one of those Divisions.
 
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