FYI he just cut them, the administration and their Republican ilk a new asshole.

-- (@ .), October 17, 2001

Answers

It's about time. Got some linkage?

-- (glad@to.hear.it), October 17, 2001.

It's all just a conspiracy theory. Stossel is delusional.

-- KoFE (your@town.USSA), October 18, 2001.

Stossel is the finest reporter working in TeeVee today, IMHO. I'm sorry I missed the show.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeeD@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

Yes -- someone please find us a link if this has been put to text. Stossel's a precious commodity. And cute, too -- which, of course, just adds to his credibility.

Anyone seen Stossel's fantastic special on greed from a few years ago? It's now being shown in classrooms -- my son had to do a report on it last year.

-- Eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

Stosel is pretty much on the money whith his reports. He goes to the source snd doesn't use guesses, jut fscts.

-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), October 18, 2001.

text of Stossel's commentary

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), October 18, 2001.

I would like to make these observations regarding the $15B airline bailout.

1) Two of the major US carriers (I believe Continental and American) were profitable in Q1 and Q2 of 2001. Q3 hasn't even been reported yet. So how do they all know they're broke?

2) Just DAYS after the bailout was announced, both United and Delta made multi-billion-dollar commitments to purchasing small, luxury jets for their soon-to-be-launched business jet charter, fractional ownership and management businesses. In United's case, the payout was $11.5 billion. A broke company spends that kind of money on a new venture?

3) United was trying to buy US Air earlier this year. Now UAL suddenly claims to be broke? As we used to say in the Army, "What the fuck? Over."

4) It's not 9/11 that is cutting the guts out of the airlines; it's their best customers, the business travelers. The major carriers have steadily eroded their service and their frequent-flyer benefits programs, and the people they piss off when doing that are the last- minute business travelers. Business travel has been down since last fall, and it continues to drop. Lots of fare sales have been announced, but few of them have been aimed at business travelers. Who do you think keeps airlines flying -- customers that travel 2-5 times a week on expensive full-fare tickets, or little old ladies that fly on super-discounted advance fares once a year to visit their sisters in Sarasota?

If costs are high, service is poor, benefits are shrinking and security lines at airports are growing, why should businessmen fly anyway? If President Bush wants to get butts in seats on airliners, making travel deductible on income tax isn't the way to do it. Perhaps imposing some reason into the airline pricing structure is the way to do it.

The administration said that the bailout package came with strings attached. Well, I see a big fucking rope sticking out of that package, and nobody in Washington is grabbing on.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), October 20, 2001.

Bump for Lars.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), October 27, 2001.