Several post-debt deal articles have lumped it with the President’s other successes: ObamaCare, auto bailout …
According to the WSJ …
“To break even, the U.S. Treasury would need to sell its remaining stake — about 500 million shares—at $53 apiece.”
Bad news: Stock closed on Aug. 2 at $27.05 … approximately 20% below the IPO price … about a $13 Billion loss.
IBD put the debt deal’s spending cuts in perspective …
“In the short term, the reported “deep,” “sharp,” “slashing” cuts will still leave the federal government spending roughly 4% more in 2012 than it did in 2010, and 20% more than it did in 2008.
The deal’s $2.4 trillion in 10-year cuts amounts to a mere 5% trim off total projected federal spending during that time.
It’s like a 400-pound man boasting that he plans to drop 20 pounds over a decade, while his doctors warn about the risks of losing weight so fast.
Even calling these “cuts” is a bit of a stretch, since spending will continue to increase, just at a slightly slower pace.”
Ken’s Take: Back-loaded, illusory cuts … strictly funny money.
Only upside: wild spending may have reached America’s consciousness.
We’ll see.
Punch line: To “hook” business folks traveling in & out of Boston. JetBlue is offering BluePass – a 3 month all-you-can-fly promotional price.
From The Economist …
JetBlue selling “BluePass” allowing unlimited travel
JetBlue announced a promotion called “BluePass” that will allow travellers unlimited flights in a three-month span for one fixed price.
The three-month promotional period runs from August 22nd to November 22nd.
Travellers have three plans to choose from:
- Three months of unlimited travel between JetBlue’s Boston hub and any JetBlue city, all for $1,999.
- Three months of unlimited travel between JetBlue’s Boston hub and any of 13 selected JetBlue cities (non west of Chicago), this time for $1,499.
- Three months of unlimited travel between JetBlue’s Long Beach, California hub and any of nine selected JetBlue cities (non east of Chicago) for $1,299.
BluePass is targeted squarely at frequent business travellers, which seems likely given the pricing and the “Get Down to Business” promotional tagline
* * * * *
Right now, most airline pricing schemes are the kind that annoy travelers, not the kind that offer greater flexibility and customization.
It would be great if JetBlue’s offer starts to alter that dynamic. ZipCar, the popular American car-sharing firm, does a much better job than the airlines do of offering pricing plans to fit every need.
Ken’s Take: “All-you-can eat-plans” often push suppliers up against their capacity constraints and end up disappointing customers – think AOL’s unlimited monthly dial-up program.
At least JetBlue is time-limiting, and location-restricting the offer so they’re not stuck with it if it blows up on them.
Thanks to Tags for feeding the lead
The Homa Files 