I see the Washington Post noting an "alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration -- if there were one."
"Instead, the post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has held up President Obama's nominee in an effort to prevent TSA workers from joining a labor union."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/28/AR2009122802131.htmlI seem to recall the Republican-led congress shooting down (pardon the pun) the recommendations of Al Gore's Commission on improving air transportation safety because it would require more tax revenue.
"In 1996 then-President Clinton asked Vice President Gore to chair a commission on improving air transportation safety. The commission's report, issued in February 1997, included the following recommendations:
* Treat aviation security as a national security issue, and providing appropriate funding.
* Mandate security enhancements, including explosive detection, automated bag matching, and profiling programs.
* Work with airlines and airports to ensure positive identification of passengers.
* Work to improve air transportation security internationally.
* Control access to aircraft and improve physical security.
Some in the airline industry questioned that security was even an issue. This attitude was exmplified by TWA spokesman John McDonald, quoted by Newsday as saying, "TWA last year carried 21 million people and we didn't have a single plane blown out of the sky by someone who carried a bomb on the plane through security. I don't see it as an issue. The reality is, it hasn't occurred." Other industry spokespeople argued that increased security measures would be disruptive as well as costly, because they would frighten away passengers. Susan Rork, managing director of security for the Air Transport Association of America, the industry's lobbying group, said, "We sell an illusion. Travel is supposed to be pleasant."
The airline industry promoted their views with political contributions and lobbying. Over a two-year period, airline political action committees contributed to 24 of the 25 members of the House subcommittee on aviation. They also contributed to eight of the nine Republicans on the Senate aviation subcommittee, but to only one of eight Democrats. Airlines and related groups, including airline employee unions, distributed more than $2 million in contributions to hundreds of candidates during the 1995-1996 campaigns. Lobbyists included former Labor Secretary Ann D. McLaughlin, who headed the 1990 Bush Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism. A so-called "legislative action" -- a lobbying position paper -- by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association claimed that the commission had overstepped its mandate by recommending "aviation user fees" to pay for its proposed security improvements.
The industry position was supported by the conservative press, with most arguments denouncing the commission recommendations as not "cost effective."
As Paul Krugman pointed out in an op-ed piece, airport security is treated as a law enforcement issue in Europe, funded by airports or the national government. In the U.S. it's a perfect example of "privatization," paid for by the airlines. Robert Crandall, chairman of American Airlines, proposed in 1997 that responsibility for airport security be be given to a national nonprofit corporation. But congressional and public opinion favored reducing the role of government, not expanding it, and the proposal went nowhere. Then the Republican Congress opposed any increase in government spending that was not explicitly military. In 1996 a panel on airline security proposed spending about $1 billion, or $2 per passenger, on improvements. But it rejected the idea that they be funded by an airport tax, arguing that general revenues be used. That, of course, would have required Congress to act, and it didn't. Krugman concludes "we have nickel-and-dimed ourselves to death."
http://www.thedubyareport.com/terrorism.html
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