Congress may have completed business regarding the debt ceiling prior to their summer vacation, but there’s still some business left undone.
The Federal Aviation Administration is unfunded and therefore partially shut down, which means that roughly 4,000 F.A.A. employees are out of work. Members of Congress have all left for their August break and won’t return until after Labor Day. Now each party is fingering blame at the other for failing to restore funds to the agency to keep it running.
Without funding, the F.A.A. is understaffed as thousands of workers are without jobs, which is a potential safety issue. 40 F.A.A. safety inspectors are being asked to use their personal credit cards to pay their own way from city to city to conduct needed inspections — also a safety issue. And with the agency partially shut down, the F.A.A is losing billions of dollars in taxes usually attached to all domestic airline tickets — a savings airlines are either passing along to travelers, or simply pocketing for themselves.
In a recent interview, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood used a personal guarantee to attempt to alleviate fears about the safety of air travel in the United States. “I can say, without equivocation, safety will never be compromised. Flying is safe. And passenger schedules should not be compromised by this issue,” Secy. LaHood said.
Secy. LaHood, President Obama and even members of the House and Senate urged Congress to act during its recess to pass a bill to restore F.A.A. funds. The shutdown is costing the government $30 million a day in forgone taxes on airline tickets, at a time when lawmakers argued just this week over deficit cuts and finding new revenues.
Now, how ironic is that?
DJ:"The Federal Aviation Administration is unfunded and therefore partially shut down, which means that roughly 4,000 F.A.A. employees are out of work. Members of Congress have all left for their August break and won't return until after Labor Day. Now each party is fingering blame at the other for failing to restore funds to the agency to keep it running."David Frum:"The debt ceiling debate feels like one of those tragic episodes out of the history of the fall of republics. To gain their point on a budget matter, Republicans did something unprecedented in the annals of American government. They made a bargaining chip out of the public credit of the United States. In a well-functioning democracy, certain threats are just not used, and the threat to force the country into default should rank high on the list of unacceptable threats."FrunForum Reader:"Interesting too how the mighty Democratic Party and all the… Read more »