Welcome to Texas ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Democrats saved their debate and why we work didn't slow down startup investing.

But first, Boeing's unfriendly skies.

So when you've got a moment today,

do a Google image search for the phrase

Boeing parking lot.

What you'll get are not shots of where Boeing employees

put their cars, but rather giant parking lots

full of hundreds of Boeing 737 max jets,

which have been grounded since March after

two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people. At the time, Boeing suggested that the fleet

would be back online by year end because it would have fixed the deadly software glitch.

In fact, it was so confident it kept making new 737 maxes, 42 per month as it awaited FAA approval. But that

approval has not come. With the FAA apparently going with the once-bitten twice-shy theory of regulation,

and Boeing now in the last 24 hours has announced it will indefinitely suspend production

of new 737 maxes in January.

Now, why this matters is twofold.

First, it is simply hard to understand how Boeing CEO Dennis Mullenberg still has a job,

even if the company did already strip him of his chairman title.

We live in an era where CEOs get quickly fired for all sorts of offenses,

from personal conduct to business declines.

But here's someone who

...