Oh how the media panders to the president. National and local, TV and print. Every story on the FAA and air traffic controller furlough laid at the feet of the sequestration tax cuts. Not one reporting the facts. Leaving that job to we bloggers.
Here are some facts those air travelers who are being put in the Obama penalty box need to know.
The number of commercial flights have dropped significantly since 9-11. In 2006 there w ere 11 million takeoffs. In 2011 that had dropped to 9.1 million. In 2012 the number was 8.8 million. At the same time, 2006 to 2012 the air traffic budget went up over 20%. Doing less with more. The average air traffic controller works 4 hours in a shift. Before 9-11 there were 33 federal air Marshall’s. Today there are 4,000.
The organization chart for the FAA has layer after layer of bureaucracy. They could easily furlough enough of those to make the 10% budget cuts. Furlough the hundreds of lawyers. They spent $500 million on consultants last year, furlough the consultants. Better yet, just privatize the work. It would be done better for half the cost.
The FAA is using 20 year-old technology. The project to update that technology is $400 million over budget and three years behind schedule. Does that tell you something about the FAA management.
Most every American should know this is just Obama trying to score points for bigger government. What president would do that at the expense of the 2 million air travelers every day. Obama, of course. He knows he will get a pass from the media. The media wants bigger government too. But, use common sense for a minute. When has this president followed rules from Congress or even obeyed the law? The law says a president has to submit a budget to Congress by February of each year. Obama submitted his first this year two months late. He orders the EPA to enforce cap and trade when Congress denied him that. So now a president who does what he chooses says he can’t tell the FAA to get the money from someplace other than the air traffic controllers?
Obama is more interested in playing politics than he is in protecting the million of air travelers from delays and inconvenience. The complicit media have his back. If he cared he would make the cuts in the TSA, the most inefficient agency in the government. Only one other country in the world hasn’t privatized their airport security. But once Bush unionized the TSA he assured that won’t happen. With all the waste in the TSA ,and government in general, no one believes Obama can’t find the $600 million he is taking from the FAA without stalling flights across the country. Too bad there are no real journalists left in this country.
