Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on much these days.
One place they actually do see eye to eye: They’re sick and tired of General Motors and GM closing plants and slashing jobs, all while paying its CEO, Mary Barra, nearly $22 million dollars a year — and that’s after a pay cut in 2018 — after receiving taxpayer-funded bailouts to the tune of $11.2 billion during the Great Recession.
According to Bloomberg, Barra took a 0.4% pay cut in 2018, dropping her yearly pay $87,598 to a measly $21.9 million for the year, according to GM’s proxy filing.
Portions of her salary are linked to GM’s performance, which shrank a bit as the company’s $11.8 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes fell slightly after record profits in 2016 and 2017.
GM announced in November that it was closing four U.S. factories and another in Canada by the end of this year, cutting thousands of salaried jobs due to declining sedan sales. The company is ramping up to begin development of electric and self-driving cars.
The cuts have drawn the attention to two potential 2020 election foes: President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Per Bloomberg:
Trump attacked Barra by name within hours of the announcement. He’s kept up the criticism of her and the company this year on Twitter and at rallies in Ohio and Michigan, the location of three of the factories and states that were crucial to his victory in 2016.
Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors about the Lordstown Ohio plant. I am not happy that it is closed when everything else in our Country is BOOMING. I asked her to sell it or do something quickly. She blamed the UAW Union — I don’t care, I just want it open!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019