Posted on 03/07/2009 10:01:07 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - The layoffs and furloughs at Gulfstream have some people blaming those in Washington DC for what's happening.
Thursday Gulfstream Aerospace announced they are going to lay off 1,200 workers and temporarily lay off another 1,500 this summer. A large number of those workers will be from Savannah. See Gulfstream cuts plane production, announces layoffs.
Gulfstream plans to release more information on exact numbers and what types jobs will be eliminated on Monday. Those layoffs and the company's planned furlough this summer are a direct result of our slumping economy.
But there are some who said Gulfstream's sales issue may be loosely linked to troubles between politicians in Washington and the big three automakers. And many believe that has led to negative connotation with owning what many consider a high class luxury item.
Last fall during bailout hearings for the auto industry, both republican and democratic members of Congress chastised CEOs for using corporate jets.
"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo," said representative Gary Ackerman, a democrat from New York.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a republican told the automaker executives, "Look you gotta get rid of the corporate jets you got to get rid of the executive dining room."
Getting rid of private jets is a scary prospect for those whose jobs depend on them. A couple hundred private planes and corporate jets fly in and out of Savannah on any given week.
Jason Davis flew into Savannah today on a King Air aircraft. "It's truly heartbreaking to see such a valuable asset to many companies has now become this dark horse that is almost a tabu, it's a little frustrating," Davis said.
Davis said his King Air allows him to do more business, in more cities, in a shorter amount of time. "It's something aggressive businesses cannot do on the airlines and they can't do with driving."
"I think it's an essential tool because time is money," said Billy Hair, president of Productivity Air in Savannah.
"If it's such a luxury why are our government officials flying all over the country in government aircraft," Hair said. "I think the government is being very hypocritical here."
He said their attitude toward private planes is hurting more than just manufacturing companies like Gulfstream.
"This is going to have a trickle down effect of tens of thousand of jobs and I think the government needs to understand that," said Hair.
He worries if this negative attitude toward private planes continue it will only drive the economy down farther.
The tax increases were enacted, but the agreed-upon spending cuts never happened.
Democrats saving jobs.
I assume this is an assumption on your part.
So irritating. I’ve been looking for duct tape ever since this demonizing began a couple of months ago. The training center here in Long Beach just let 10% of their staff go last week. Anyone who has ever flown privately would never go back to all the hassle of commercial aviation unless forced——at gun point. Rush, as usual, nailed it.
See my post #21.
remember george mitchell?
hatred of the rich?
he increased the taxes on yachts and put the blue collar employees out of work.
That sounds just like TEFRA in '82 (Ronald Reagan)
Sure you're not confusing the two?
You are wrong. But then again, so am I. It was passed in 1990. George Bush senior was president. Both the house and the Senate were controlled by the Rats. Repealed in 1993 because it cost more in unemployment benefits than it collected in tax revenue.
No, we don't agree that it was during Clinton.
I brought up a link to a Free Republic link from January 2003 that discussed
1) the fact that the surtax on luxury cars was expiring, and
2)the history of these little niceties.
Since you obviously didn't bother to go and read it but just insist on arguing points as they bubble up in your memory, here is the excerpt that appeared on Free Republic: (emphasis added by yours truly)
Inside Politics: A hard-earned lesson
The Washington Times ^ | January 7, 2003 | Greg Pierce
Posted on Thursday, January 09, 2003 7:44:51 PM by NonValueAdded
"Most Americans celebrated as the ball fell in Times Square New Year's Eve. But for auto dealers this new year is especially sweet. January 1 marked the expiration of the federal luxury tax on cars, the last vestige of the destructive luxury tax package in the infamous 1990 budget deal," the Wall Street Journal says.
"Starting in 1991, Washington levied a 10 percent tax on cars valued above $30,000, boats above $100,000, jewelry and furs above $10,000 and private planes above $250,000. Democrats like Ted Kennedy and then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell crowed publicly about how the rich would finally be paying their fair share and privately about convincing President George H.W. Bush to renounce his 'no new taxes' pledge," the newspaper said in an editorial.
"But it wasn't long before even those die-hard class warriors noticed they'd badly missed their mark. The taxes took in $97 million less in their first year than had been projected for the simple reason that people were buying a lot fewer of these goods. Boat building, a key industry in Messrs. Mitchell and Kennedy's home states of Maine and Massachusetts, was particularly hard hit. Yacht retailers reported a 77 percent drop in sales that year, while boat builders estimated layoffs at 25,000. With bipartisan support, all but the car tax was repealed in 1993, and in 1996 Congress voted to phase that out too. January 1 was disappearance day.
"The end of any federal tax is such a rarity that it's well worth celebrating. And the luxury-tax lesson of economic damage is worth keeping in mind as politicians begin to wail that President Bush's new tax proposals aren't punitive enough on the rich."
[END OF QUOTED EXCERPT]
Clinton was President from 1992 through 2000.
This was part of the tax "compromise" of 1990, and went into effect in 1991.
That was during George H.W. Bush, not Clinton.
Gosh, do you really think that Washington could have anything to do with fewer orders for corporate jets? Wow, I’m gobsmacked, just gobsmacked. How could anyone think such a thing?
Enjoy your $489 per week while it lasts. Consider your votes if there is a next time.
“Hope and Change” is a metaphor for:
Tough S..tskey
What was that noise going over your abandoned private airport? Urkel in your 747 and Blinky on her 757 broom. They don’t take on fuel at your puny little airport. Now you know the meaning of “flyover” country.
I said I stood corrected, you must have posted this afterword
I beleive that the Luxury Tax was part of the budget agreemant when the Rats nailed Bush 41 on his “Read my lips - No new taxes” pledge...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Some blame Washington for Gulfstream layoffs From Las Vegas Ron | 03/07/2009 10:42:50 AM PST read
Back up for your arsenal if you ever need it:
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/old/11583345.htm
Thanks for the correction
[END OF FREEPMAIL]
Good research, good sourcing, done quickly.
Please excuse my temper in my previous post.
I currently have teenagers, and have developed an acute sensitivity to having to repeat myself. (Thank God it's not a terminal condition!)
Bingo. You are correct, sir.
I guess we both stand corrected...but I was closer than you :)
And I apologized for flaming you, after the fact.
Cheers.
This ain’t darts.
:-)
Obama’s fault
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