Citigroup Uses bailout money to buy luxury jet

Truthed · 01-27-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

he New York Post's Jennifer Keil and Chuck Bennett reported in Monday's paper that Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in government bailout funds, is about to upgrade to a new $50 million, twelve-seat corporate jet. The plane, the Dassault Falcon 7X, is a luxurious jet with a range of 5,950 nautical miles (meaning it can fly from New York to all of Europe and South America, as far east as Riyadh, and as far west as Honolulu or Petropavlovsk, Russia). The Post reports it has "plush interior with leather seats, sofas and a customizable entertainment center."
The Dassault website describes the wide, generously appointed cabin, but says the "the airplane's most welcome feature may be Dassault's breakthrough environmental system." It touts "quieting acoustics" and advanced temperature monitoring that contribute to a more comfortable passenger experience.
The Post also reports that Citi executives are "quietly trying to unload two of their older Dassault 930EXs," worth approximately $27 million each.

Truthed · 01-27-2009, 10:03 AM

Haha that was quick!

Quote:

Chastised Citigroup grounds plans for plane

Announcement comes after President Obama frowns on purchase

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc , which received a massive taxpayer-funded rescue last year, canceled plans to buy a $50 million executive jet after news of the new plane drew rebukes from politicians. The bank is under heavy pressure from regulators and elected officials after receiving $45 billion of capital from the U.S. government last year, including a $20 billion emergency infusion in November.
On Monday, Citigroup said it was going through with plans to buy a $50 million jet, which a person familiar with the matter said was a Dassault Falcon 7X. The bank said the new plane would cut its costs and it was financing the purchase by selling older jets.

But on Tuesday, a spokesman said Citigroup has no intention of taking delivery of any new aircraft.
On Tuesday, CNBC said it has learned that the Treasury Department put pressure on Citi not to accept the plane. Citing sources, CNBC said someone in the department called the bank to express "disappointment" in Citi's original decision to take delivery. The call was said not to be from new Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Citigroup had ordered the executive jet in 2005, and was scheduled to receive it later this year. The bank said on Monday that canceling the deal would force it to pay millions of dollars of penalties.
The jet quickly became a lightning rod of criticism. A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama does not believe "that's the best use of money" by companies receiving taxpayer assistance.

okirun · 01-27-2009, 10:13 AM

LOL this bailout business has gone out of hand.

Mingus · 01-27-2009, 11:02 AM

... Citigroup plans to use bailout money on things that isn't specifically tied to the business and all they get is a frowny face? Where is the accountability? Obviously, the people who should be overseeing this is the public; but then again, we're perceived to be too stupid to be able to do just this thing. I wonder how smoothly the government could be run if the citizens were given an opportunity to participate a little more than just voicing opinions and voting.

kidflash2008 · 01-27-2009, 11:57 AM

Unfuckingbelievable!

This is what happens when the foxes guard the henhouse. If they want the rest of their bailout, the banks should come up with a plan the automakers were forced to do.

raves475 · 01-27-2009, 07:40 PM

Instead of bailing these corporate cocksuckers out, we should be paying off some of that super huge debt. Or just maybe feed some of our less fortunate Americans. Maybe we need to get rid of Federal Taxes since they don't know what to do with it.

Truthed · 01-27-2009, 10:03 PM

Jon Stewart has a good trickle up theory tonight. Give the people the money to pay off their debt and in turn they will then be able to put money back into the market and allow the freemarket to work. It is like pressing RESET

Mingus · 01-28-2009, 08:31 AM

Trickle down economics always sounded to me like the Medieval age economics of fiefdom. The King had the most wealth, he trickled it down to the Dukes and such, they passed it down to their subordinates and, eventually, the peasants get what pittance is left. This is exactly what trickle down has done, as applied today as well. Bill Maher had a graph showing what the distribution of wealth was from the economic plan enacted in 2002. Between then and 2006, the top 1% got, out of 863 billion, 626 billion. The rest of the top ten percent got 195 billion. The other 90% got a grand total of 42 billion.

This is akin to the Medieval era, where a king would demand more wealth and the result would be a wealth redistribution from the working poor to the king, with a slight increase for those beneath the king. The same thing is happening with neoconservative economics. Luckily, unrestricted capitalism has failed miserably in it's current manifestation and hopefully we can restore some of the basic tenets of modern economics (oh like... ethics?) so we can have some faith in it.

SuperJesus · 01-28-2009, 08:25 PM

god... god damnit...

kidflash2008 · 01-29-2009, 10:59 AM

It was interesting to watch Rachel Maddow interview a Republican. She is upset there is not enough infrastructure in the stimulus package, and the Republican said there should not be any. Infrastructure requires the hiring of hundreds of thousands of people to fix the roads, bridges, electrical grid, water and sewage treatment plants and all the rest of our aging infrastructure. That would create jobs, and more jobs would also be created to support the infrastructure orders.
It is stated $2 trillion is needed in the next five years to make everything up to date. The US has ignored infrastructure for too long.

01-27-2009, 10:13 AM	#3
okirun Investigator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 225	LOL this bailout business has gone out of hand. __________________ "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young, but becomes constantly more valuable regardless of physical capacity."

01-27-2009, 10:03 PM	#7
Truthed Administrator Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,083	Jon Stewart has a good trickle up theory tonight. Give the people the money to pay off their debt and in turn they will then be able to put money back into the market and allow the freemarket to work. It is like pressing RESET __________________ "You Want To Believe" http://www.truthed.com truthed@truthed.com

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01-27-2009, 11:02 AM	#4
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 336	... Citigroup plans to use bailout money on things that isn't specifically tied to the business and all they get is a frowny face? Where is the accountability? Obviously, the people who should be overseeing this is the public; but then again, we're perceived to be too stupid to be able to do just this thing. I wonder how smoothly the government could be run if the citizens were given an opportunity to participate a little more than just voicing opinions and voting.

01-27-2009, 11:57 AM	#5
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,726	Unfuckingbelievable! This is what happens when the foxes guard the henhouse. If they want the rest of their bailout, the banks should come up with a plan the automakers were forced to do.

01-27-2009, 07:40 PM	#6
raves475 Investigator Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: United States Posts: 123	Instead of bailing these corporate cocksuckers out, we should be paying off some of that super huge debt. Or just maybe feed some of our less fortunate Americans. Maybe we need to get rid of Federal Taxes since they don't know what to do with it.

01-28-2009, 08:31 AM	#8
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 336	Trickle down economics always sounded to me like the Medieval age economics of fiefdom. The King had the most wealth, he trickled it down to the Dukes and such, they passed it down to their subordinates and, eventually, the peasants get what pittance is left. This is exactly what trickle down has done, as applied today as well. Bill Maher had a graph showing what the distribution of wealth was from the economic plan enacted in 2002. Between then and 2006, the top 1% got, out of 863 billion, 626 billion. The rest of the top ten percent got 195 billion. The other 90% got a grand total of 42 billion. This is akin to the Medieval era, where a king would demand more wealth and the result would be a wealth redistribution from the working poor to the king, with a slight increase for those beneath the king. The same thing is happening with neoconservative economics. Luckily, unrestricted capitalism has failed miserably in it's current manifestation and hopefully we can restore some of the basic tenets of modern economics (oh like... ethics?) so we can have some faith in it.

01-28-2009, 08:25 PM	#9
SuperJesus Junior Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 36	god... god damnit...

01-29-2009, 10:59 AM	#10
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,726	It was interesting to watch Rachel Maddow interview a Republican. She is upset there is not enough infrastructure in the stimulus package, and the Republican said there should not be any. Infrastructure requires the hiring of hundreds of thousands of people to fix the roads, bridges, electrical grid, water and sewage treatment plants and all the rest of our aging infrastructure. That would create jobs, and more jobs would also be created to support the infrastructure orders. It is stated $2 trillion is needed in the next five years to make everything up to date. The US has ignored infrastructure for too long.