Now is not the time to fly…
So, if I have this straight, the United States Congress (read: House Republicans) have allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to get shutdown, because they would not re-fund its operations. Apparently, there is a small matter of $16million or so that would be used to subsidize rural airports. The Republicans, of course, are so vehemently opposed to spending anything (except on themselves and their rich friends) that rather than pay this paltry amount (paltry on the government scale), they close the FAA.
Now, this is bad for travelers in the United States of America who will be traveling by plane. The oversight and inspections provided by the FAA are largely being skipped.
The real killer to all of this is that, while the FAA isn't running, we are not collecting taxes on air travel. To re-iterate: we are currently not collecting taxes on air travel because the Republicans will not spend about $16million to keep airports open. The cost, per day, of this idea? About $25 million. Yes, each day we lose revenue in excess of the cost of the rural airport subsidies.
To top it off, the United States House of Representatives has chosen to go on vacation without finishing their work, and for another five weeks, at least, this issue will be unresolved. That will mark, at minimum, seven weeks of lost revenue (or 1.2 Billion Dollars) and seven weeks of less safety and security in air travel. Nice one, eh? I don't know what tea the tea party is drinking, but I doubt it is legal in the US...