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These companies are not struggling because the government told them to shut down. They're struggling because they're levered to the hilt with cheap debt from th

These companies are not struggling because the government told them to shut down. They're struggling because they're levered to the hilt with cheap debt from the Fed. They should not be bailed out and allowed to fail, because the management was incompetent and did not save any money for a downturn. As an aside, this used to be a site of entrepreneurs and hackers. Sadly, now it is filled with government cronies and apologists of bad behavior. It's shameful.

xyzzyz 7y ago
> These companies are not struggling because the government told them to shut down. They're struggling because they're levered to the hilt with cheap debt from the Fed. Strangely enough, these companies were totally fine before the government shut them down, despite tons of cheap debt. How is it that none of them asked to be bailed out in February? Maybe the forced shutdown have something to do with their problems after all?
tathougies 7y ago
So you don't think refunding non-refundable tickets had anything to do with it? When you buy a ticket, that money is used to buy gas, pay wages, pay debt, etc. That money is not typically refundable, unless you pay a higher ticket price as an insurance premium against the risk you need a refund. Can you ask an employee for wages back, a gas supplier for a return, or a creditor for a stop payment? As a courtesy, the airlines refunded all tickets (which is a lot of money). Now they don't have a lot of cash. That is not fair, at all. A lot of companies are funded with cheap debt and are not at all affected by the shutdown because their industry is unaffected by the government's meddling. In fact, they're making a lot of money right now.
jariel 7y ago
This isn't true. The vast majority of failing businesses right now had no special access to government programs. In fact, the larger organizations will probably do just fine, and they were far more likely to lever previous bailouts and cheap financing. The people getting nailed right now are individual contractors, individual employees, small business owners. And yes, it's totally unfair that Boeing will probably get a big fat government bailout.

xyzzyz 7y ago

> These companies are not struggling because the government told them to shut down. They're struggling because they're levered to the hilt with cheap debt from the Fed. Strangely enough, these companies were totally fine before the government shut them down, despite tons of cheap debt. How is it that none of them asked to be bailed out in February? Maybe the forced shutdown have something to do with their problems after all?

tathougies 7y ago

So you don't think refunding non-refundable tickets had anything to do with it? When you buy a ticket, that money is used to buy gas, pay wages, pay debt, etc. That money is not typically refundable, unless you pay a higher ticket price as an insurance premium against the risk you need a refund. Can you ask an employee for wages back, a gas supplier for a return, or a creditor for a stop payment? As a courtesy, the airlines refunded all tickets (which is a lot of money). Now they don't have a lot of cash. That is not fair, at all. A lot of companies are funded with cheap debt and are not at all affected by the shutdown because their industry is unaffected by the government's meddling. In fact, they're making a lot of money right now.

jariel 7y ago

This isn't true. The vast majority of failing businesses right now had no special access to government programs. In fact, the larger organizations will probably do just fine, and they were far more likely to lever previous bailouts and cheap financing. The people getting nailed right now are individual contractors, individual employees, small business owners. And yes, it's totally unfair that Boeing will probably get a big fat government bailout.