Trump 2.0

[billvon]

Had the Jet Blue and Spirit merger gone through it might have survived.

Jet Blue is having troubles too. Their Q1 2026 earnings on April 28, 2026 showed a higher than expected loss of $0.87 per share on $2.24 billion in revenue. This was due primarily to increased fuel prices. In the past three months their stock is down about 8%.

If they had had to deal with Spirit's losses as well, we would likely have lost two carriers instead of one. As it stands now, JetBlue will likely survive by picking up some of Spirit's routes - and charging more for them.

 

[Seattle]

Jet Blue is having troubles too. Their Q1 2026 earnings on April 28, 2026 showed a higher than expected loss of $0.87 per share on $2.24 billion in revenue. This was due primarily to increased fuel prices. In the past three months their stock is down about 8%.

If they had had to deal with Spirit's losses as well, we would likely have lost two carriers instead of one. As it stands now, JetBlue will likely survive by picking up some of Spirit's routes - and charging more for them.

If Sears had been Amazon, it might have survived.

 

[Randwolf]

It has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with economics.

Of course, tRump's actions do not affect the U.S. nor the global economy....

For example, his SocMed posts do not influence the stock market, and the wars he starts have no impact on the price of oil.

Right, Seattle?

 

[parmalee]

It has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with economics. I'm sure someone has had to sell a house but it's not common.

_________________
While 100 million Americans have at least some medical debt, about 7.4% of U.S. residents experience catastrophic healthcare expenses annually, more than double the rate of any other developed nation. Here, medical debt is defined as experiencing problems paying or being unable to afford any medical bills in the past 12 months, including those for doctors, dentists, hospitals, therapists, medication, equipment, nursing home or home care. And the term catastrophic is defined as out-of-pocket spending exceeding 40% of a household’s income after basic necessities have been met. Further, estimates suggest that inability to afford costs of medical care contributes to at least 530,000 personal bankruptcy filings annually. Approximately two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are associated with medical expenses or illness-related loss of work.
_________________

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2026/04/05/increasing-burdens-of-medical-debt-and-bankruptcy-are-uniquely-american/

(Emphasis added.)

 

[Seattle]

Of course, tRump's actions do not affect the U.S. nor the global economy....

For example, his SocMed posts do not influence the stock market, and the wars he starts have no impact on the price of oil.

Right, Seattle?

I'm talking about my comments. Who would imply that Trump's actions don't affect the US or global economy?

 

[Seattle]

_________________
While 100 million Americans have at least some medical debt, about 7.4% of U.S. residents experience catastrophic healthcare expenses annually, more than double the rate of any other developed nation. Here, medical debt is defined as experiencing problems paying or being unable to afford any medical bills in the past 12 months, including those for doctors, dentists, hospitals, therapists, medication, equipment, nursing home or home care. And the term catastrophic is defined as out-of-pocket spending exceeding 40% of a household’s income after basic necessities have been met. Further, estimates suggest that inability to afford costs of medical care contributes to at least 530,000 personal bankruptcy filings annually. Approximately two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are associated with medical expenses or illness-related loss of work.
_________________

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2026/04/05/increasing-burdens-of-medical-debt-and-bankruptcy-are-uniquely-american/

(Emphasis added.)

How many lose their houses, rather than just their debt?

There's also a lot of click bait in that article such as 100 million with some debt. When you make it more than $250 in unpaid debt it drops down to 20 million.

 

[Sarkus]

How many lose their houses, rather than just their debt?

There's a study from 2008 (https://www.philadelphiafed.org/con...ership-experience-of-households-in-bankruptcy) that suggests c.30% of personal bankruptcies where they are a homeowner ends in foreclosure: "close to 30 percent of the filers lost their houses in foreclosure despite filing for bankruptcy."
Now, as to what proportion of bankruptcies are by homeowners, my Google-fu typically suggests around 50%. Therefore one could expect c.15% of all bankruptcies to result in loss of home. It's a back-of-fag-packet calculation, as there's plenty of fuzzy area, but it gives an idea. So, if there are c.530k filings involving medical costs, you're probably talking about c.80k resulting in loss of home.

 

[Seattle]

There's a study from 2008 (https://www.philadelphiafed.org/con...ership-experience-of-households-in-bankruptcy) that suggests c.30% of personal bankruptcies where they are a homeowner ends in foreclosure: "close to 30 percent of the filers lost their houses in foreclosure despite filing for bankruptcy."
Now, as to what proportion of bankruptcies are by homeowners, my Google-fu typically suggests around 50%. Therefore one could expect c.15% of all bankruptcies to result in loss of home. It's a back-of-fag-packet calculation, as there's plenty of fuzzy area, but it gives an idea. So, if there are c.530k filings involving medical costs, you're probably talking about c.80k resulting in loss of home.

Houses are exempt in some states, like Florida and Texas and have high exemptions in others such as California. These numbers also aren't just limited to bankruptcy as the predominate reason. I think it's in the low 10s of thousands.

 

[candy]

Jet Blue is having troubles too. Their Q1 2026 earnings on April 28, 2026 showed a higher than expected loss of $0.87 per share on $2.24 billion in revenue. This was due primarily to increased fuel prices. In the past three months their stock is down about 8%.

If they had had to deal with Spirit's losses as well, we would likely have lost two carriers instead of one. As it stands now, JetBlue will likely survive by picking up some of Spirit's routes - and charging more for them.

Had the merger gone through there would have been no Spirit to fail.
An integrated company might have meant Jet Blue would be in a better position than it is.

 

[exchemist]

Had the merger gone through there would have been no Spirit to fail.
An integrated company might have meant Jet Blue would be in a better position than it is.

Might. A lot of mergers fail to add value, or only do so by removing a competitor and then eliminating the duplication, which has much the same effect as allowing it to go bust.

 

[TheVat]

Darlene of Ohio tries on some understatement:

"he's gone a little overboard this time"

‘We’re a perfect example of being lied to’: Democrats vie to flip Ohio in a battle for trust

Trump’s war in Iran and gas prices dominate messaging as state prepares for special election to fill Senate seat

www.theguardian.com

...Two years ago, Ron Yacobony, 71, spurned both Trump and Kamala Harris to vote libertarian in the presidential race, but backed Moreno over Brown because he agreed with his conservative ideology. This year, he’s planning to vote straight Democratic, angry about what he sees as overreach by the president in his second term.

“Republicans are so way out of line … I have to go all Democrat. I try and change from time to time, depending on the situation, but we have to get some change in Washington, so I’m gonna go with as many Democrats as I can,” he said.

His wife, Darlene Yacobony, supported Trump and Moreno in 2024, but ahead of the midterms is considering voting Democratic.

“I like Trump, I voted for Trump, but I think he’s gone a little overboard this time,” she said.

 

[Tiassa]

The Burning Question

Why do people ostensibly opposed to something help it out by euphemizing and talking around it?

Why continue to make excuses for it, if we oppose it?

It's one thing if Trump supporters hope to mitigate their culpability, but there is no good reason for anyone else to help them out.

Thus, the burning question: Why support Trump in this way?

 

[Roosters for ever]

How many lose their houses, rather than just their debt?

I don't know. But I bet my short n curlies, you wouldn't be too concerned about statistics, if you were one.
You seem proud in not having a universal health care system.

 

[billvon]

Had the merger gone through there would have been no Spirit to fail.

There would have been a JetBlue/Spirit to fail.

An integrated company might have meant Jet Blue would be in a better position than it is.

Or it might have been worse.

At the point where JetBlue and Spirit merged, JetBlue would have taken on Spirit's massive debt - $8 billion dollars. JetBlue makes a total of $9 billion a year total - which means they'd have to divert every single penny of their revenue for an entire year (without paying for fuel, pilots, maintenance) to pay it off.

How long would it take if they just took it out of Jetblue's profits? Forever. JetBlue is currently losing $1.2 billion a year.

How long would it take if they could repeat their best years ever for the next decade? The best year JetBlue had occurred about ten years ago, where they made about $1 billion. It would take them eight years, during which they would not be able to reinvest in the company or do any of the other things (other than operation) that you need money for.

So why would they even propose it, if they would take such a massive hit? Two main reasons -

One, you get some small economies of scale. But they are small. You might be able to reduce standby crews or overnight counter workers - but since both companies run their employees as hard as they can to begin with, you can't get rid of (say) half the pilots or half the gate agents from Spirit to make it cheaper.

Two - and this is the big one - you get their routes. Airlines generally charge the lowest price they can per route to be competitive. Thus the most profitable routes are routes that have no other competition. There's so much air travel now that there aren't many of them, and they are generally local (flights into Islip Long Island, to use an example.) But they are also short, and those also have competition from driving/buses/trains.

If the merger results in JetBlue owning both popular routes between two airports, they can significantly increase prices (and thus revenue) on that route - because now they have no competition. They WILL have competition once other carriers take over that route, but for the time that other carriers take to adjust (months, perhaps a few years) they have something of a monopoly. Thus, there is a window during which they could potentially make a lot of money.

Now, it should be noted that this is not good for consumers, because it results in a significant increase in ticket costs. And since JetBlue will start moving away from Spirit's model (which is the cheapest tickets period) the rest of their tickets will rise in price as well. Which means fewer people can fly, those that do will pay more, and inflation will (slightly) increase. But for that short time they could make more money, which may make such a merger worth it. And if they then drop prices slightly, they might even be able to keep those routes - JetBlue is a "hybrid" airline that charges more than discount airlines for a perceived increase in quality (legroom, better first class etc.) So people may pay more even on those former Spirit routes.

But that's all a big assumption. Would it have worked out? With the rapid rise of jet fuel, it would certainly have been a HUGE blow to the new hybrid airline. JetBlue (and every airline out there actually) is already struggling; taking on all that debt with the (now-slight) rise in income would have likely been a deathblow.

Compare that to the recent Alaska/Hawaiian merger. Hawaiian came in with $900M in debt - about 10% of what Spirit had. And neither Hawaiian nor Alaska is a discount airline, so they don't have as much price pressure. And even so, they posted $193 million in losses in Q1 2016. Will they survive? They have a much better chance, because they have 10% of the debt to pay off, and can probably deal with a few years of losses before having to shut down. And after a few years, it is likely that 1) fuel prices will come down or 2) fuel prices will drive price of ALL airfares up, and they can then charge more.

I suspect there are a lot of JetBlue employees are breathing a sigh of relief today.

 

[Seattle]

I don't know. But I bet my short n curlies, you wouldn't be too concerned about statistics, if you were one.
You seem proud in not having a universal health care system.

You seem "proud" to have one. I'm all for having the best system that we can have. We don't have that at the moment. That applies to more than just the health system however. A good economy lets more people have more choices (and it's sustainable).

 

[Roosters for ever]

You seem "proud" to have one. I'm all for having the best system that we can have. We don't have that at the moment. That applies to more than just the health system however. A good economy lets more people have more choices (and it's sustainable).

I'm thankful we have one and have since 1972. I'm also thankful we have a PM despite having a huge majority in parliament, that does not reward fear, violence and criminality, as Trump does. I'm also thankful I live in a country with a decent average wage of around $100,000 as compared with the average wage of the USA of around $70,000. I'm thankful that Australia, has a decent old age pension of around $900/fortnightly with many associated benefits like free car registration, reduced public transport fares, electricity and water bills reduction and many others. I'm thankful I live in a country that governs with empathy for all Australians irrespective of ethnicity, race or colour.

 

[Seattle]

I'm thankful we have one and have since 1972. I'm also thankful we have a PM despite having a huge majority in parliament, that does not reward fear, violence and criminality, as Trump does. I'm also thankful I live in a country with a decent average wage of around $100,000 as compared with the average wage of the USA of around $70,000. I'm thankful that Australia, has a decent old age pension of around $900/fortnightly with many associated benefits like free car registration, reduced public transport fares, electricity and water bills reduction and many others. I'm thankful I live in a country that governs with empathy for all Australians irrespective of ethnicity, race or colour.

God Bless You.
The median wage in the US is $51,000 and in Australia $47,000
The average wage is US $87,000 and Australia $70,000.

 

[Roosters for ever]

God Bless You.
The median wage in the US is $51,000 and in Australia $47,000
The average wage is US $87,000 and Australia $70,000.

You're either a liar or a clown....
(google) As of August 2025, the median weekly earnings for all employees in Australia was approximately $1,436, which translates to about $74,672 annually. For full-time employees, the median is significantly higher, around $1,887 per week or roughly $98,124 per year. [1, 2, 3]
As of Q2 2025, the median weekly personal income for full-time workers in the U.SA. was $1,196, translating to roughly $62,200 annually. For the full year 2024, estimates show the median annual earnings for full-time, year-round workers was $63,360, while the overall median for all workers (including part-time) was $51,370
As of November 2025, the average full-time adult total earnings in Australia are approximately $2,129.00 per week ($110,700+ annually), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults are roughly $2,051.10. Median earnings, often considered more representative of the "typical" worker, are lower, sitting at roughly $90,000–$95,000 annually. [1, 2, 3, 4]
As of early 2026, the average annual wage in the USA is approximately $69,846, while the median annual earnings for full-time workers is roughly $63,360. Average hourly earnings have reached around $32.07. Wages vary heavily by education, age (peaking at $77,824 for ages 45-54), and location

 

[Seattle]

You're either a liar or a clown....
(google) As of August 2025, the median weekly earnings for all employees in Australia was approximately $1,436, which translates to about $74,672 annually. For full-time employees, the median is significantly higher, around $1,887 per week or roughly $98,124 per year. [1, 2, 3]
As of Q2 2025, the median weekly personal income for full-time workers in the U.SA. was $1,196, translating to roughly $62,200 annually. For the full year 2024, estimates show the median annual earnings for full-time, year-round workers was $63,360, while the overall median for all workers (including part-time) was $51,370
As of November 2025, the average full-time adult total earnings in Australia are approximately $2,129.00 per week ($110,700+ annually), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults are roughly $2,051.10. Median earnings, often considered more representative of the "typical" worker, are lower, sitting at roughly $90,000–$95,000 annually. [1, 2, 3, 4]
As of early 2026, the average annual wage in the USA is approximately $69,846, while the median annual earnings for full-time workers is roughly $63,360. Average hourly earnings have reached around $32.07. Wages vary heavily by education, age (peaking at $77,824 for ages 45-54), and location

You are comparing Australian dollars to US dollars.

 

[Roosters for ever]

You are comparing Australian dollars to US dollars.

Of course! In Australia we use Aussie dollars not USA dollars.
But I accept your correction.
Now lets look at it more thoroughly .

The United States has a higher average annual wage in terms of purchasing power (PPP) than Australia, particularly for middle-to-high income earners. While Australia has a higher minimum wage, average US salaries are roughly 14% higher when adjusted for cost of living and international dollars, placing the US in the top tier of OECD nations alongside Switzerland. [1, 2, 3]

Key Purchasing Power Findings for 2026:

• Average Wages: The US average wage is approximately USD 80,000–83,000 (PPP), whereas Australia’s is lower at around USD 67,000–71,000 (PPP).
• Top-End Earning: The US offers significantly higher purchasing power for specialized roles (e.g., tech, finance).
• Bottom-End Earning: Australia has a much higher minimum wage, meaning lower-income workers often have higher purchasing power in Australia than in the US.
• Cost of Living/Taxes: While gross wages are higher in the US, Australia often provides better work-life balance and lower healthcare costs, which affects "disposable" purchasing power.

Conclusion: For the average, full-time worker, the USA offers higher purchasing power. However, for lower-wage earners, Australia's purchasing power is superior.


In other words, as I have been saying for a few posts. we are inclined to look after the less fortunate, and have a far better universal health care system.