The Department of Boneheadedness.

[Falcon Horus]

Texans should know it will be approx. 25 billion dollars -- however, it will also bring jobs.

[Annoyed]

So, you'd rather the middle class goes down with the ship than that there are enough lifeboats?

No, this was a reference to other discussions that I've had with GF76 where he advocates higher taxes on "the wealthy" and "rich corporations" and I maintain that those taxes get passed to the middle class one way or another, regardless of the intended target.

[Annoyed]

Corporations face no consequences, they are "job creators", so don't you dare stop pandering to them.

You are aware that I opposed Bush II's bailout of GM, Chrysler and the big banks in 2008, right? As well as Carter's bailout of Chrysler in 1979.

The management of those companies screwed up. What should have happened is they should have been allowed to go bankrupt. After which some investor or group would have bought the smoking remains for pennies on the dollar and perhaps rebuilt, hopefully doing a better job running them. Where is it written in the Constitution that the government as either the right or responsibility to bail out a failed private business?

[Womble]

The management of those companies screwed up. What should have happened is they should have been allowed to go bankrupt. After which some investor or group would have bought the smoking remains for pennies on the dollar and perhaps rebuilt, hopefully doing a better job running them.

...in China.

[Annoyed]

...in China.

Perhaps, but that still doesn't justify a taxpayer funded bailout of a private business.

The offshoring issue is another, much larger problem which should be tended to, but not by taxpayer bailouts of failed businesses. We need to scrap the trade deals that have encouraged outsourcing our jobs and standard of living in general.

[garhkal]

she's an idiot but american law is idiotic - commoners can get indicted for getting injured?

(knowing that country I bet the elites & the ss are exempt from such legal risks)

Aren't they always!?

Speaking of actual boneheadedness, I could SO tell some stories from my travel agent experience.

One girl, a customer of ours, took a taxi somewhere in Mexico after having smoked some local weed. Some time into the trip she became paranoid of her driver and called her father in Israel. Her father called our travel agency and demanded that we change his daughter's driver. I kid you not.

Whha.. That's not just boneheadedness, but down right moronic!

A more recent case involved a couple who had a huge fight in the plane just before take-off. The woman, out of spite, faked illness and forced the airline crew to let them off the plane. They thought they'd just take the next one, as if an international flight is a train or an elevator. Then they spent several hours calling our agency over and over again, screaming at us, insulting anyone they talked to and spamming up our Facebook with libelous complaints because we told them that changing their flight was going to cost them some $200 per ticket. When they finally realized that they had to pay or they would lose $2000 that they paid for the original tickets, we tried to change their flights... and couldn't, because the airline had them marked in the system as unfit to fly for medical reasons, and required a medical statement to the contrary in order to allow them to board.

Serves them right!

P.S. And don't get me started on name spelling in airline tickets. NEVER book from your phone or tablet, and if you must book from one, at least SWITCH OFF THE AUTO CORRECT. We've seen a man named Dimitry corrected to "Dirty", Jacob to "Takeover" and "Paulette" to "Toilet".

OR rather than TYPING it in, how's about use a phone for, ya know, actually TALKING!
I know.. That's a novel concept.

I bet you could probably write a good book. And then people will read it and without a doubt smack themselves when they realize that "Oh... *blush* ...sounds familiar."

Knowing today's Litigious society, they would probably sue you for emotional distress and humiliation that your book caused them..

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

OR rather than TYPING it in, how's about use a phone for, ya know, actually TALKING!
I know.. That's a novel concept.

You want to talk to an online booking form?

[jelgate]

I want to talk to PH. My number is 1-800-Bacon16

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

*dials*

It's ringing

[jelgate]

Of course. Jelgate wouldn't lie

[garhkal]

You want to talk to an online booking form?

How's about picking up the phone and calling the booking agent person to person. Rather than type to a computer!

[Annoyed]

How's about picking up the phone and calling the booking agent person to person. Rather than type to a computer!

To be fair, most companies have complex automated telephone answering systems with layers and layers of convoluted menus designed to prevent the caller from actually getting to talk to a person.

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

How's about picking up the phone and calling the booking agent person to person. Rather than type to a computer!

But what if I want to buy something at 3AM? Online forms mean bookings can be made at any time, making the business more efficient and allowing them to handle more bookings than a human on a phone could do.

[Womble]

How's about picking up the phone and calling the booking agent person to person. Rather than type to a computer!

For one, you won't get the online discounts.Or will miss that last seat for the price.

Secondly, if you think people can't make a colossal screw-up in a phone reservation, I've got serious news for you.

One recurring classic screw-up in phone bookings is a man booking tickets for himself and for his wife and giving his wife's maiden name despite her having changed her last name to his after marriage. Because names in international airline tickets cannot be changed, it just about guarantees that the airline won't let her board, and we can't always help. Now, when this happens to newlyweds, it's kind of understandable.. but I've had cases when men booked their wives' tickets on their maiden name after 10-15 years of marriage!

(Some airlines will change the passenger's last name in such cases if the woman married and changed name within several months to a year from ticket purchase, so I do ask such people how long they've been married).

[garhkal]

To be fair, most companies have complex automated telephone answering systems with layers and layers of convoluted menus designed to prevent the caller from actually getting to talk to a person.

Its almost like they DON'T want you to interact with people, isn't it..