Budget talks: This is getting nasty

I'm siding with Ragu on this one. The airline industry is a struggling industry. They have a hard time reaching a price point where they can make a profit, especially with fuel costs where they are.

I wouldn't expect them to drop prices. They were at the right price point before the taxes went away, but it was what people were willing to pay, not what most airlines needed to make a profit.

This would be the equivalent of the newspaper industry getting a tax break and in turn, dropping ad rates or giving the papers away for free. The tax break doesn't mean they are in high cotton by any stretch.

 

Libginas.

It just needs to be repeated.

One thing I am + one thing I love.

 

As for the airline thread jack, JetBlue's problems go beyond fuel prices.

All of the airlines are facing them, and several just reported profits:

The airlines have gotten their capacity to where it needs to be. Planes are mostly full and revenue is high.

JetBlue's big problem -- and a huge cost for every airline -- is labor costs.

And, everyone saw this coming years ago. When they started out, every employee had 0 years of seniority. They had no benefits accrued.

Now, they've been around for a while and their costs are much more in line with the legacy carriers.

Here's a clip from former Continental CEO GOrdon Bethune. He's not talking abot JetBlue in this clip, but the point is the same:

 

Dems Urge Obama to Invoke 14th Amendment

By Jennifer Epstein, Politico

Rep. James Clyburn and a group of House Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling if Congress can’t come up with a satisfactory plan before the Tuesday deadline.

Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, said Wednesday that if the president is delivered a bill to raise the debt ceiling for only a short period of time, he should instead it and turn to the phrase in the Constitution that says the validity of the U.S. government’s debt “shall not be questioned.”

“If that’s what lands on his desk, a short-term lifting of the ceiling, the debt ceiling, he should put it on his desk next to an executive order,” Clyburn said at a press conference. “He should sign an executive order invoking the 14th Amendment to this issue.” The Associated Press reported that he was applauded when he suggested the idea at a caucus meeting earlier in the day.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60038.html#ixzz1TM0PJd5u

 

The idea of Boehner representing the middle is the single funniest thing I've read this month. He is sacrificing NOTHING. Raising the debt ceiling is not a sacrifice. It HAS TO BE DONE. The money's already been spent.

Fucking tea baggers aren't just reckless, they're too fucking stupid to understand the definition of simple words.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the 14th Amendment "option" only allow us to pay our debts?

Wouldn't that still prevent us from spending "new" money and still lead to a partial Government shutdown?

 

There he is, John Boehner in the middle of this picture, with President Obama on the left and Eric Cantor on the right:

 

Holy crap!

I just saw the clip of McCain referring to the "Tea Party" folks as hobbits.

The "Tea Party" isn't right, but watching the Dems, end even the old school Republicans melt down is fucking hilarious.

They do not like anybody upsetting their apple cart. And, it's not just about the debt ceiling either. It's that they don't know their place. That's what's really pissing people off.

 

Don't forget about batshit insane and/or vastly stupid to go along with total intransigence.

For one day, I felt like the John McCain of 2000 was back again.

It's high time for sane Republicans to walk away from this group and isolate them. I know they're worried about getting primaried, but if we default, the Tea Party is completely dead politically anyway.

 

Have we talked about "The Town" clip being used to fire up the GOP?

You can't write this script.

 

Oh yeah, YF, they don't know their place. No doubt, they are committed fiscal conservatives who aren't going to let The Man derail their cause.

Or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/us/politics/20freshmen.html

The story details how Tea Party types try to get the goodies for their districts, no matter what the cost, just like anybody else.

 

Nothing says hypocrisy like, well, hypocrisy. IN MY BACKYARD!!!@!#$