Millions of Americans are heading to the airport this summer for personal or business travel. They will be subjected to that miserable government failure called the Transportation Security Administration or TSA.
Based on their behavior, I thought TSA stood for “Theft and Sexual Assault.” Turns out, TSA is an old Latin phrase that means, “You’re gonna miss your flight.”
As we go into the summer, security lines are getting longer and longer at the airports. Does the government care? Does the TSA care? No, of course not. Whether or not you make your flight is not the government’s problem. The government wants to just throw more money at the problem. But isn’t that always the government answer?
The TSA was a creation of the George W. Bush administration following 9/11. It takes real talent to create a new government agency that combines the worst attributes of the IRS and the DMV, but the Bush administration did it. Today, the TSA fails 95 percent of the tests for simulated explosives and weapons. Even by the standards of government employees, that is pretty bad. Perhaps if they spent less time groping granny, they might find the fake bombs being sent through to test them.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans miss their flights because the TSA is worse than the post office. Who cares if the line is three hours long? There will only be a couple of TSA agents working and they are certainly not in any hurry to get people through. It’s not like they are the ones who will miss an important business meeting or may be not make it to a family reunion. It doesn’t matter how many people miss their flights or how many tests are failed, there are no consequences.
A few weeks ago in Nashville, a woman went through security without ID or being screened. She even made it on to a Delta flight. The TSA’s reaction? Employees must be retrained. No one was fired or held accountable.
There is an obvious solution. This solution would be efficient and would save millions if not billions in tax dollars.
Privatize airport security.
Let security be the concern of the airlines. Airlines have a vested interest in getting passengers to the planes in time and making sure those planes are not blown up or hijacked. The McDonald’s rejects that make up the TSA are not interested in either.
Privatizing security by giving it to the airlines gives us much better security than having the government provide it. No airline wants to lose a plane. It is bad for business. They will compete for the most cost effective, most efficient security screening processes. In addition, the government can lay off hundreds of thousands of unnecessary workers and shutter an agency that has been a complete failure and is nothing but a complete disaster and a total failure.
Abolishing the TSA is a sane, logical and fiscally prudent move.
Which is why it will never happen.
Meanwhile, as you plan your summer travels, you might want to arrive at the airport six hours early. After all, the TSA is in charge.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.