Should Taxpayer Owned Companies Really Be Handing Out Record Bonuses?

Of course not. Most of these bonuses are going to run of the mill line workers that are easily replaceable. When they did bonuses at the TARP banks, at least most of those was to retain good talent.

Sort of reminds me of a college student begging for money from home. Then when the check arrives he buys rounds of drinks at the bar for his friends.

Nope!

Should companies that get all these special handouts and welfare give bonuses? In some areas of the country large parts of companies with people who work 40hrs a week get section 8 housing and food stamps because the companies they work for pay such pitiful wages they would have to live in a box next to the store otherwise. HSCenterconsole... like those bank execs who got all those bonuses have lots of places to go. They should have fired em all and brought in some lower/middle management who perhaps warned of the problems they were about to run into and paid them a "normal" salary ie something along the lines of 40X the average worker in the company... you know like we had basically throughout history until recently when it went through the roof. Corporate salaries should be at least throttled by the shareholders that is for sure. As for this pittance going to the Union workers I think it is probably ok, probably less than a couple toilet seats cost the military. At least they will spend it (ok not always on the right thing but every company has those problems and just fire anyone caught like any other company would), injecting it back into the economy.

Don't disagree that many things the govt does is a mess but that is true of private companies as well. And I sure don't see private companies building our highway system or getting to medicare efficiencies (way more efficient than our private insurance companies). I think if our nation decides to build a modern infrastructure that includes things like high speed rail it wont be private companies that jump in and do it ... it will be the government. In any case I am glad they did bail the car companies out. We have very few large scale manufacturing companies in the US, that were actually designed, engineered and built by US. I think it would have been a tragedy to lose that. I know Germany would never let that happen, nor Japan, nor China...

I like the vehicles but I hate the bussiness practices. Idiots.

Where are are UAW guys on this thread? I guess they went back into their bunkers after I ripped them on the UAW/OBAMA/DELPI conspiracy!!! Every dog has his or her day!!
PM

actually you got ripped.