Do the Right’s Thing

All of the above??

The economy, stupid.

Despite everything I’ve some capacity for surprise left, because I didn’t see this one coming:

On Friday, Congress failed to approve the extension of a bill to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running. Among other things, that meant the agency no longer had the authority to impose the various federal taxes that airlines add to the price of each ticket.

So as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the federal government began losing an estimated $25 million a day in tax revenue.

But did airlines simply pass on this savings to customers?

No, they did not.

Last week, evidently in anticipation of the tax’s expiring, some airlines quietly began raising fares — on average, roughly by the same amount as the federal taxes. Others did the same over the weekend, and most of the rest joined in on Monday.

I salute you, Alaska Airlines and Spirit Airlines, for resisting such cravenness.

@mellbell: It’s ok, most of the consumers will never even know. ‘Cause the price stayed the same! It’s like everybody wins. You know, except by “everybody” I basically mean “the airlines.” And specifically not “us.”

@mellbell: so were the teabaggers telling lies about how big business passes on tax cuts and savings from govt deregulation to customers?

@jwmcsame:
A little bit from Column Falsehood and a little bit from Column Delusion

Saw the Ned Beatty photo and went “Three Days of the Condor” for a second, remembering Cliff Robertson’s bit at the end – but then Network surfaced. If any of you haven’t seen 3 Days, watch it now. Netflix has it on streaming. It’s in the top 50 movies ever made, IMHO.

TJ: Cynica will have a new Congresscritter, as Pelosi got Rep. Wu to resign.

Asking the Tea Klux Klan-crazed American People about the kuntree’s problems is pointless. We’d receive the same answers after schlepping down to the local mental health clinic and asking an unmedicated schizophrenic what he thinks about the TED spread.