Bush signs off on auto bailout

It's Friday evening at 7:15., so what should I write about? World hunger? Undiscovered galaxies? The ever-increasing price of postage stamps?

All worthy subjects, but I think I'll confine these comments to the auto bailout. It's a lot smaller than automakers were originally asking for, but $17.4 billion still sounds like a pretty hefty sum to me - certainly enough to take first class the next time I fly. Or enough to travel via private jet.

And when you come down to it, that's been part of the problem. Sure, these American automakers are saddled with huge legacy costs - the kinds of costs our foreign competitors don't have to worry about. I'll grant them that. But for cripes sake, do they have to travel by private jet everywhere they go?

The scariest part about this whole business is how these supposedly bright people allowed their budgets to get so overspent and out of whack. I like the fact that this bailout comes with some tough concessions, including limits on executive pay and the elimination of some company perks like those pesky corporate jets. 

Come back down to reality guys. Use this money wisely to begin getting things back on track. And if you can't manage it, hand the reins over to someone who can.