This Is Called ‘Small’ Government
NYT editorial
What has happened to the Federal Aviation Administration in the last few days should remind everyone of the costs of the Republicans’ obstructionism and their slash-and-burn budget games.
Taxes on airline tickets expired on Friday when the F.A.A. lost its operating authority, including the authority to collect taxes. Passengers are rightly furious at the nation’s airlines, many of which are pocketing the difference. But the masterminds of this fiasco are the House Republicans who let this happen.
The F.A.A. has also had to furlough some 4,000 workers. Needed airport construction projects — to maintain runways, build new traffic control towers and upgrade other facilities — have been halted across the country. The only good news is that the air traffic control system is still working because traffic controllers are paid from the Aviation Trust Fund, which still has a positive balance.
All of this happened after House Republicans inserted a new provision into a routine bill to temporarily extend the F.A.A.’s operational authority. The provision would end $16.5 million in federal subsidies to 13 airports in rural communities. The bill passed the House. But Senate Democrats balked, arguing that the right place for changing policy is in the regular F.A.A. reauthorization bill — noting that the temporary extension has passed 20 times since 2007 without any additional provisions.
(More here.)
What has happened to the Federal Aviation Administration in the last few days should remind everyone of the costs of the Republicans’ obstructionism and their slash-and-burn budget games.
Taxes on airline tickets expired on Friday when the F.A.A. lost its operating authority, including the authority to collect taxes. Passengers are rightly furious at the nation’s airlines, many of which are pocketing the difference. But the masterminds of this fiasco are the House Republicans who let this happen.
The F.A.A. has also had to furlough some 4,000 workers. Needed airport construction projects — to maintain runways, build new traffic control towers and upgrade other facilities — have been halted across the country. The only good news is that the air traffic control system is still working because traffic controllers are paid from the Aviation Trust Fund, which still has a positive balance.
All of this happened after House Republicans inserted a new provision into a routine bill to temporarily extend the F.A.A.’s operational authority. The provision would end $16.5 million in federal subsidies to 13 airports in rural communities. The bill passed the House. But Senate Democrats balked, arguing that the right place for changing policy is in the regular F.A.A. reauthorization bill — noting that the temporary extension has passed 20 times since 2007 without any additional provisions.
(More here.)
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