In our new era of Total Government Dysfunction, Congressional leaders decided to head to recess before passing a bill to replace Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill with a picture of Barack Obama licking Ronald Reagan’s corpse, haha passing a bill to temporarily finance the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency in charge of making sure not everyone dies every time they board an airplane. Solving a huge fake problem in Congress is the new equivalent of solving one hundred critically urgent real problems, and Congress already “did” their one for now, see everyone in September! Meanwhile, the FAA is forced to hope airport inspectors are decent enough to take their congressional demotion to unpaid intern seriously and continue to make sure there isn’t total airport security collapse across the country.
Predictably, the partisan bickering centers partially around a $14 million subsidy for rural airports that is effectively rendered ridiculous by the $30 million loss in airline ticket taxes sustained each day of the shutdown. The other part is a fight over, what else, unions.
4,000 employees are also being furloughed, and Transportation secretary Roy LaHood had to shift gears from pleading with leaders to now just saying, “nobody panic, America’s actual professionals will not simply go home and watch the sky for little airborne fireballs to laugh at, like Congress.”
The NYT has the horrifying details:
After dealing with the debt crisis, Senate negotiators tried and failed on Tuesday to end a stalemate over temporary financing for the Federal Aviation Administration, leaving 4,000 agency employees out of work and relying on airport safety inspectors to continue working without pay.
The partial agency shutdown, which began on July 23 and is likely to continue at least through Labor Day, has also idled tens of thousands of construction workers on airport projects around the country. Dozens of airport inspectors have been asked by the F.A.A. to work without pay and to charge their government travel expenses to their personal credit cards to keep airports operating safely.
Air traffic controllers and airplane inspectors, who are paid with separate accounts, have continued to work, but workers who oversee research on aviation systems, grants for airports and facilities and operations equipment have been furloughed.
Oh well, at least it saves Ron Paul from having to vote “no” one more time. [NYT]
{ 299 comments }
How does this impact blimp inspectors?
In a major way.
I've been a card carrying Bikini Inspector for years and haven't seen a dime.
There has to be a Chris Christie joke in here somewhere ….
You couldn't pay me enough to inspect Chris Christie?
Maybe inspect the chopper that probably suffered serious damage lifting the fat fucker
Google it.
Once you go Galt, you never go back. Mostly because the blimp blows up.
They should be paying me to be able to feel my boobs. I pay myself to do it. Think of it like a "swear jar"
Barb, I have free time on my hands.
If I had boobs (the nice, female type), and I paid myself every time I felt them up, I'd be a fucking millionaire.
Baldar, why do men have nipples?
'Cuz if we had boobs… that's where they would be?
To remind us of all the fun we're missing out on.
If you have moobs, it makes them ever sexier.
This is why men have nipples
They're decoys, of course. To attract other nipples…
It's more fun if you honking sounds while squeexing.
Or twist them and say, "tune in Tokyo"
It might be my age, but seems all I can tune in is random static and snips of someone named Tokyo Rose.
I'll be right back, I just need to find an ATM.
Why roosters have no hands? Because hens have no boobs.
Barb, you can pay me to do that for you…I'm cheap…
That "grope jar" must have enough to pay off the national debt by now.
They did, however, find the time to arrange pro-forma sessions to keep Hopey from any of those sneaky recess appointments. But, he hopes they can all work together in a bi-partisan fashion when they get back. By the way, "recess" is entirely appropriate.
Naptime would help.
I resent the constant comparing of Rethug congress to children. Children grow up.
Planes go up. Planes go down. Nobody knows why.
Isn't it because of the lifts O'Reilly and Hannity put in their shoes?
Fuckin' airplanes, how do they work?
Funnily enough, I would almost rather have ICP in the legislative branch than the bunch of insane clowns currently residing there.
Well, Juggalos are a lot like the tea partiers.
Why has Delta crashed a dozen planes and Quantis hasn't crashed once? You can't explain it.
Yeah but since it's MY husband that is flying around multiple times a week, they better hope that no planes go down or I will be super pissed. And they won't like me when I'm angry.
one more reason why I've never taken a job that requires lots of flyin'
They only look after boring engineerly things like fatigue cracking in the body and wings. Nothing to get worried about, move along.
I bet the passengers had to pay extra for that view. Or, is there a fee for having an airplane land intact???
Well, it was up in the business class section. All kinds of neat shit up front there on the other side of the curtain.
Oh you corrosophiles and your horror stories of so-called metal fatigue. It's just a theory, like evolution.
You just crack me up!
I LOVE that plane. Well, the design of it, not the crashy thing.
Why don't they make the whole plane out of the black box material? I would give credit for that joke but I don't recall who said it.
Stephen Wright? Hey, was he a Wright Brother? Talk about a prescient outlook.
I think that was Seinfeld.
It's a George Carlin routine.
And we love your boobs, too, Barb.
Or make the passengers out of titanium. Michele Bachmann has a titanium spine, so how hard would it be make an entire person out of it. Obviously the titanium has some effects on IQ, eyeball control, spouse sexual orientation. But a titanium body would be cool. Literally.
Metal fatigue is not in the Bible! Metal fatigue doesn't exist! Heathen!
Yeah, and Jesus didn't use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner as he rose to take his place beside the Father. I wonder, was he able to hold the Holy Ghost in his lap.
Kinda like Ronnie with the Holy Glasnost in his lap?
I have mental fatigue from the TP'ers. Is that in the Bible or am I a hypochondriac?
Gravity's just a "theory" too, you mouth-breathing ignoramuses! /growlsnarlsmashkeyboard
Since they can't end Big Gummint altogether, the Teatards are determined to shut it down one agency at a time.
Yes, soon there will be nothing but churches, scooter stores, flag shops and Big and Tall Whore Stores for them to get their plus sized fashions.
Makes sense. Shut down the agency responsible for keeping the large metal objects full of people and fuel in the air, first.
I suppose OSHA could be next, since there is nothing about preventing death and destruction in the Constitution.
The literally most reductionist definition of "General Welfare"?
Wait no, I forgot, the "Constitution", by which I mean the Declaration of Independence which I'm going to confuse for the Constitution, don't say nuttin' 'bout any "General Welfare".
Teapublicants. Jerb killing assholes.
Well maybe not. There may be an uptick in the demand for mortuary assistants and clean-up crews.
I don't know why the FAA was ever funded in the first place. It is physically impossible for a huge metal tube to stay up in the air.
Since Teatards typically don't make up the elite plane flying demographic, this doesn't hurt them a bit. Shut down Greyhound, that's another matter entirely.
Especially with a morbidly obese American ass is every tiny, tiny seat.
Lovely, I have to fly back to NYC on Saturday.
I'll bet they haven't downgraded the "security" part of airports.
How can you downgrade something that's already at the bottom of the barrel?
See if you can thumb a ride on one of those fancy private jets. You're paying the tax subsidy for it, why not?
Maybe you should hitchhike. It sounds much safer.
I have to fly into Westchester, the flight originating from one of those rural airports that are underfunded and underinspected, but fortunately not for another few weeks. By then they'll have abandoned all pretense of safety and just issue us death certificates in place of boarding passes.
"By then they'll have abandoned all pretense of safety and just issue us death certificates in place of boarding passes. "
You just made me spray my martini. Time for yet ANOTHER new keyboard!!!
Thanks for Best Laugh of the Day!
i have to fly to canada where my socialist boyfriend will forced to spend the weekend arguing with my teatard-leaning uncle.
fortunately i will be attending a production of 'titus andronicus' where the body count will likely be lower.
Teatards. In Canada? They can't be as bad as our teaards.
nah. he's from PA. full on teatard state i imagine…
my mom is the canadian and insists on family gatherings there.
The truly amazing thing was that even that witch Kay Bailey Hutchinson came out on the Senate floors and said what a bunch of turds the members of her party were being on this.
Does she append "Shug!" on the end of every sentence? Because I am certain that "King Of The Hill" was a documentary.
did she really? what? where?
Furloughed- the nice,"Fuck you and get the fuck out of here!"
Good luck finding another job in this economy, bitches.
this should go well.
We should just rely on private industry after all I’m sure they wouldn’t cut any corners.
Of course they won't cut any corners. Their primary motive is profit, which causes them to do things much more efficiently.
If one airline or airport has an excessive amount of accidents, the invisible hand of the free market will dictate that consumers go elsewhere.
Budget-cutting run amok! In a battle over a $14 Million line item, we will now shoot ourselves in the foot 30 Million times-a-day until early September.
Well, the Greeks no longer look like the biggest bunch of goofs when it comes to managing a national economy.
There are probably other Greek analogies that fit ass well.
Typo, or Fruedian slip, jus_wonderin'?
And they eat better food.
I hope that, even if they aren't being paid, those inspectors are keeping their EYES WIDE OPEN for problems.
(OK, do I get my $5 now?)
Kourtney says "Mhuyesfmhm".
FAA Safety Inspectors, their eyes uncovered.
Doktor, that comment was so witty, it could have been written by the talented John Lutz, author of "Serial," out now.
I'm looking forward to the thrilling sequel, "Parallel."
Although if suspense is your thing, check out EYES WIDE OPEN, by Andrew Gross. Out now in hardback and for download! I hear it's a WILD RIDE…something, something…NOT TO BE MISSED.
Can it be the beach … without a great beach read?
Well it's better than keeping their eyes wide shut; talk about disappointing, nothing but Tom Cruise wandering around and staring at naked people fucking in the most unarousing and lifeless manner possible.
"fucking in the most unarousing and lifeless manner possible" — Yep, sounds like Tom Cruise awright.
Katie Holmes approves of this message.
I'm upfisting this so that it becomes the Summer's Best Reviewed Comment.
I know I can't be the only one feeling "penned in" by the EYES WIDE OPEN ad thing. There's no elbow room on my beloved Wonkette today!
*sigh*
Does a parachute count as a carry on if I'm wearing it?
"Dozens of airport inspectors have been asked by the F.A.A. to work without pay and to charge their government travel expenses to their personal credit cards to keep airports operating safely."
Umm… yeah… this'll work.
Raise your own debt limit!!11!1!!!!
Considering the teatard meme that credit card debt and living beyond your means is considered a sin, these employees are screwed either way.
They just need to cancel their country club membership.
It will work for a limited time. First, most of them wouldn't know what to do with themselves so they'll go to work and do things as normal. Second, they will start to drift away dependent on their own credit limits, how much their significant others start to bitch at them and how the bills start to pile up vs. their savings. Third, they will make a point of saying they're stopping so others can decide if they want to still fly or not based on that information. What they SHOULD do is declare any aircraft with a member of Congress aboard as being unsafe and then walk over to the flight the asshole gets bumped to and repeat as necessary.
"declare any aircraft with a member of Congress aboard as being unsafe"
In the long run, doing the opposite might have more of a beneficial effect.
They'll be charging gas money, because none of them would dare get on an airplane now.
Repubicans must be cumming in their Dockers with the minimum wage down to $0/hour. But those workers should be happy that they won't have to pay any income tax.
This is great! Once the concept is proved out, then we can ask the troops to pay their own way to Afghanistan, buy there own meals, rifles and ammunition and fight wars for free!
Personally, I'm going to start right away on my own freeway. You can charge concrete on Amex, right?
Hell, already families at home chip in to buy ceramic armor for the grunts that the gubmit is too cheap to buy. Cuz GED cannon fodder is cheap to come by and Bush didn't care who he sent to die for jingoism. Obama doesn't much either.
Betcha if you advertised it to the Teabagz as a "Ayrab Huntin Safari fer Jesus" they'd pony up a few grand, paint their scooters all camo, and go all prepared to kill browns for trophy skulls.
Didn't that game come out on X-Box this summer?
Thank God for those noble payday lender stores.
Ronnie firing those controllers in 1981 was like that guy who long-jumped 29 feet in the '68 Olympics: Republicans have been trying to break the record ever since.
Watch yourself. Comparing Reagan to a black guy may get you the sharp end of some Tea Partier's pitchfork.
The rest of us are children.
I never thought I would live long enough to see Ronnie Raygun compared to Bob Beamon.
Dysfunction and flying do NOT go together.
Well, not for long.
Except in Alaska.
Are you saying Ted Steven's was not dysfunctional? Or the plane?
thankfully, nobody can afford to fly anywhere anymore
If there's a plane crash next Monday San Antonio-DFW-Dayton or reverse route on Wednesday, or SAT-DFW-Indianapolis-DFW-SAT the following Tuesday/Thursday, and I don't come back here and post, please blame the republicans for my death.
You're going to OH & IN? Wouldn't death be slightly preferable?
I spent 10 years doing work for the USAF overseas, flying into and out of Paris and London and Milan and Frankfurt and Venice and Istanbul and Dubai etc etc etc. Took a new position and my destinations now include Dayton and St Louis every quarter, plus the occasional trip to Kokomo and DC. Certainly quite a comedown, Sad Wings of Destiny indeed.
Silver lining, though, at least for next week, I'm gonna attend a Bela Fleck & the Flecktones concert in Columbus. Howard Levy is back!
In fairness, there are much worse places to go than Columbus, OH..
Yeah, unfortunately Baldar is going to one (Kokomo) the very next week. It's a hole that used to be a major GM town but a shell of its old self.
Enjoy the crappy ride up the state roads, Baldar.
At least you can bask in the glory of having had the Preznit draw a picture of you, Baldar.
~
I am going to check the CraigsList Missed Connections page on Thursday.
"Me: 5A. You: 4E. We made eye contact. Tell me what you were screaming as the wing fell off? Let's meet for coffee."
All my colleagues in Cubeville are looking at me wondering why the hell I'm cracking up here. Excellent!
I'll blame them for your death no matter what happens.
They will be to blame for everyone's death anyhow… ultimately.
You can't die. I can't count on these other Wonkette chumps to improve my pee status.
Dogamighty BTF, we need to have us a convention of frequent-flying central TX Wonketeers. How many people could that possibly be?
More than you could possibly know…
Why not let the invisible hand of the market determine air safety instead of this government handout? Then, to encourage innovation, we should restrict frivolous lawsuits against airlines when "market forces" cause a plane to slam into the ground.
at my old marketing firm, we used to explain a modelling tool by saying you could never include 'airline safety' as a differentiator for customer choice. it was too important, too consistent and too regulated.
but that was in the age of sanity.
It's all fun and games to the Tea Baggers until a plane goes down. I mean Capt. Sully can't pilot ALL of them!
They figure you can't fight the will of God with some government bureaucrat.
All copilots will be replaced by Jesus, so that's something.
I'm sooo glad Jesus isn't my copilot. Jeez, he'd catch those damn robes on the controls, always be brushing that long hair out of his eyes, smell like fish, and if the plane starts going down, he'd say "Too bad for you, sucka! I'm gonna be back in the air in three days, tops!"
Not to mention that he'd be all, "what monstrosity is this giant metal machine? Do you really expect me to believe man can fly? What's an engine and fuel?"
Just ground all of the business jets, that'll get this resolved fast.
The TP memo says: "ABC's of the FAA-Carry on to Carrion in Three Easy Steps."
They can count to three? IQ tests or GTFO.
This is causing a 30 million a day tax revenue loss over a 12 million dollar subsidy.
We need to dissect some of these teabagger brains and see what the hell is going on in there. I’m guessing a vitamin deficiency or a do it yourself lobotomy that went wrong.
Rick Perry M-80's blasted their brainy parts?
I think it's a union-fucking tactic, so, ideology triumphs.
^^^ This.
Just like my old boss. He'd trip over $1000 to grab a penny.
We need to dissect some of these teabagger brains and see what the hell is going on in there.
Perhaps the hamster fell off the wheel.
Open the skull, nothing inside. Like a fortune cookie without the fortune.
These are people who diet by eating a piece of celery — and then reward themselves with a big mac.
Unfortunately, this lunacy predates the TP. Apparently Coburn has a burr up his ass about eliminating subsidies in a 90 mile radius of "major" airports, which may work in Oklahoma but makes no sense in places that get snow and aren't flat as a pancake.
Plus the union busting, which is actually not even in this legislation. So this is classic GOP stupid/venal tactics, not the new psycho.
Displaced hookworms, lots and lots of hookworms.
Stop crying about your crashing planes and eat your mother-funkin' peas, people.
~
Relax, everyone. John McCain has canceled the world, so he can go and save the airs.
Haha. Man, that's the last guy I want flying my plane.
Yeah, THAT's reassuring…
I hope Jim Imhofe is visiting Tulsa today, where its 110 in the shade, so he can esplain the global warming hoax and cool of his ignorant supporters there with his flapping lips.
And land airplanes on top of them. Which is he is wont to do.
"Inhofe's Flapping Lips". Got nothing on the Flaming Lips.
Just one more reason why I prefer a bad case of toenail fungus to flying.
Yes, as if flying wasn't shitty enough…
The second a lawmaker agrees to give up their health care, their SS, M&M, their credit cards, mortgage, farm subsidy or a few months of pay for the fiscal health of the country, is the day this arrangement is even acceptable.
"lawmaker". HAHAHA! More like Satan sandwich makers.
Its all a plot to encourage al qaeda terrorists to strike so that they can blame Obama for the attack.
Ah, yes. The old recess attack trick.
Not only should the lazy union scum be obliged to work without pay they should be beaten and yelled at while they are doing so.
You pretty much quote from a good editorial in Truthout: "those same CEOs say they won't invest in new jobs or raise wages until consumers start buying again. That's like saying, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."
Here it is if you care to read it http://tinyurl.com/obama-noballs
LOL! It would be worth the pain of the last few weeks to see President Obama get on TV and tell the American public that now that the debt ceiling issue has been resolved, he is calling on the Republiklan members of the House to get down to passing a job creation bill, like they promised to do before the 2010 elections.
Maybe li'l Barry ought to stop paying these fuckers until they can take their jobs seriously….oh wait, I forgot, li'l Barry has no balls.
Boehner's House managed to kill 75,000 jobs, make air travel dangerous and be criminally negligent all in one fell inaction. It's a teabagger hat trick. What the fuck is wrong with these people?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authorita…
Wow, thanks for that. And just so we're warned:
In roleplaying situations, authoritarians tend to seek dominance over others by being competitive and destructive instead of cooperative. In a study by Altemeyer, 68 authoritarians played a three hour simulation of the Earth's future entitled the Global change game. Unlike a comparison game played by individuals with low RWA [right-wing authoritarianism] scores, which resulted in world peace and widespread international cooperation, the simulation by authoritarians became highly militarized and eventually entered the stage of nuclear war. By the end of the high RWA game, the entire population of the earth was declared dead.
They're sociopaths. Sociopaths that are utterly unaccountable in our media. They do this shit and get away with it because the "news" tells everyone that "Congress" didn't pass the bill. Never mentions who or why, just generic "Government is bad shit. Y'know, both sides..
Next up:
*Defunding Government Monies for power to traffic lights and crosswalk signals.
Signals shmignals…
Only the strong should survive crossing the street!
Beloved Rachel Maddow has a bit on how the debt deal will likely cost 1.3M jobz. Agent Orange is starting to make Vlad the Impaler look like a piker with how many people he is shafting.
She rawked last night. I love the way she played the clip of that smug asshole twice, just to drive home the point that when the economy is gone forever, Boner got 98% of what he wanted, and that he's happy.
That's great, but until it shows up on the ABC, CBS, NBC news broadcasts, most people will never know the truth.
And the blame will be laid at BO's feet and he'll accept it. Because Boehner threatened to sit on him and have McConnell shove leaves down his shirt until he agreed.
I read that as "one fellation." Insert Koch joke here.
All of this to prove a goddam point about goddam unions for airline and railroad workers. The whole country gets to pay the price for their antiunion freakout. What a bunch of lousy cowards. The war on the public continues!
Serfdom's up!
The weird part is the 'baggers in this area are mostly retired union employees or current union employees (teachers if you can believe that). My head may explode.
Inspectors are working without pay and charging their travel to their own credit cards.
Yeah, tell me again how bad Federal employees are.
I picked a bad week to quit drinking…
"There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane/run a gubbiment/ understand public satety/ economics? "
It was also a lousy week to quit sniffing glue. Although glue sniffing and paint huffing might explain the mentality of the teabaggers.
It's a good week to start drinking. Vacation starts on Friday! Thank Dog that they raised the debt limit. I was afraid our campground (Nat'l Forest) would be closed.
Not to worry, after a few planes crash, consumers (the not-dead ones) will figure out which airlines and airports are the safest. This is exactly how the free market is supposed to work, stop being such commies!
If the Democrats knew how to play hardball, they would say, loudly and repeatedly, that our troops coming home from being in harm's way overseas fly through commercial hubs, on commercial planes, and the Republicans are literally endangering our sacred, heroic troops.
But alas, the Democrats have proven that they know fuck-all about playing hardball.
And there are fetuses inside the pregnant women on the planes! The GOP are nothing but a bunch of abortionists, is what they are. Genocidal Terrorists!
Now how will we prevent those motherfucking snakes from getting on the motherfucking planes?
Well, we could start by getting Rand Paul's name on the TSA's watchlist.
And Eric Cantor.
Who will find Jody Fosters kid too?
Or prevent that weird creature from destroying the wing, the one that William Shatner and John Lithgow saw?
Slight Curve: I gotta say, an NPR Vigilante Talk Show Host would be an excellent addition to Congress…right about now.
just saw this yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t6zNZ-b0A
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
Big deal so a few planes crash into buildings and a field in the middle of nowhere PA….oh no that was a pretty big fucking deal when it happened.
True, but those were Muslin and Brown terrorists. These terrorists are right-wing White dudes, which cannot BE terrorists, so Q.E.D., Muslim and Brown…?
Fuck, I can't remember where I was going with this…
You got there. We will come find you and lead you back. Dont' move!
"I have had it with this motherfuckin safety on these motherfuckin planes!"
You saved me the trouble of posting that. Very good!
About time! You usually beat me to the punch.
Kind of you to say so.
Unkind of you to do so-so fucking often! ;)
"charge their government travel expenses to their personal credit cards to keep airports operating safely."
I don't know how it is now but 20 years ago a senior inspector was on the road from Monday thru Thursday or Friday for about 30 weeks a year. That's a whole lot of flights and hotel rooms to charge in the hope that they will get their money back especially while not getting paid.
Well I'm sure the government will pay for the inevitable credit card interest, right?
If there was ever a need for a credit default swap…
In an interview with NPR yesterday, Harry Reid placed the blame for the fiasco solely on Delta Airlines' intransigence with unions.
What is the sound of two invisible hands flapping really fast?
"Aaayayayayayayayayayyayayayayayayayayayayayayayay…"
Wait, is it coming toward me, or falling away? Damn physics!!
oooh! you said, "Flapping!"
I proofed the comment twice before submitting, too, since that typo would have altered my intention considerably.
WORK WITHOUT PAY?!?!?!?! WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
In college, under the "summer intern" listings.
I'm getting one of those in the fall. I can't wait (rubbing hands together) MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You're going to go far!
You're getting a summer intern in the Fall? You be nice to your intern, Baconz. Or else, they'll be posting on the Wonkett about what a big tool you are. Like you did.
I'm not a tool. I'm going to teach him/her how to look like your working all the while plotting some nefarious scheme to get Dept. Dir. Dale canned in the next 18 months.
This is good news for Tyler Durden.
My mother would always say " It's all very funny until someone gets hurt", but she was talking to a bunch of mewling children, not the US Congress…..oh, wait…..
To the Hindenburg everybody.
It's OK. Gravity is only a theory. And it's not even in the bible.
Bible Physics! The sun stops in the sky, the oil burns for 8 days, water into wine. The biggest miracle is turning parables into public policy. God is amazing.
Don't forget the fishes. Those fishes aren't going to piece themselves out to the multitudes all by themselves.
I think that socialist episode has been expunged from the TeaBagger Bible.
Newton had to ruin it by having the apple fall on its own. Fall of man indeed. Harumph!
Like Manatees, it's against the Bible and the Bill of Rights!
Waiting patiently for the President's balls to drop
No worries! It's just the facilities inspectors who are being asked to work without pay and pay for their own transportation to airports to do their jobs. You know, the guys who inspect navigation radios and landing systems. Take-offs won't be affected, just landings. There. Feel better?
Thank you for flying Air Divine Wind!
"Please make sure you close the overhead bin. As you take your seat, just go ahead and put your head between your legs. Hey you, 13A, I meant your own legs!"
"Let them eat day-old Cheetos!"
Let's Roll!
…off the end of the runway because the brakes didn't get inspected!
If you can't trust the airlines to inspect their own planes, who can you trust.
Founding Fathers Faith-Based Flight expects no disruptions in service during this time.*
*All trips must be paid in cash prior to boarding.
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."
Spoon!
Well, there's nigh invulnerability, and then there's the effects of nigh-invulnerability on decision making…
Isn't checking for cracks and being sure the radio works a job we could assign to a couple of passengers, like the exit row thing??
I'm good with this, but I am drawing the line on serving coffee to that whiny fuck back in 18E.
Fuck that, I'm cracking open a beer and sliding down the emergency chute.
The TSA is already checking cracks.
"In related news, several other government agencies have also been de-funded using similar methods. Included are the ICE, the United States Treasury, and the Coast Guard. At press time, it was rumored that an armada of 10 million Cubans was headed toward Miami, clutching what appear to be handfuls of cash bearing the image of Walt Disney."
If — as the Repubicans claim — cutting taxes is a bad idea in a "fragile economy", so is cutting spending. For the same reason.
can someone tell me the last time congress did something meaningful? I might be too young to remember.
Meaningful? Frequently. Moral? Rarely.
I like that "do not call registry." Beyond that I can't think of a thing.
are we sick of teatards yet?
YET? I wonder when the adoration of the media will ever wane however? When they have one of their hate rallies, it's usually 4-1/ media to teatard.
Fortunately, the GOP bigwigs all have private jets without taxation, so they're ok, and thats what matters so they can provide more jobs!!!
Why not just go full Reagan on them and fire the whole FAA?
The tea-partiers cause, and their identity, as recently pointed out by Michael Lind, is the confederacy, and this is just more of the same. If you read all the confederate states' declarations of secession, after slavery, their second major issue, was "aids to navigation." In that day it meant buoys and lighthouses, but today, it is of course air traffic control. plus ca change . . .
Don't members of Congress fly? Because if I were an airport inspector, I'd be sure to give them a very slow secondary search…see how they feel after missing a plane or ten…
I'm so glad I'm leaving the US for the magical land of Canadia this weekend so I can avoid this bullshit for a week.
AH crap, I'm flying there. Anyone know if Amtrak goes from SF to Nova Scotia?
What was wrong with the old Scotia, eh?
They shut that off after 9/11, well, at least in the border in Detroit. Now, you have to get off at Detroit's station, catch the Tunnel Bus to Windsor, and hope to get a ticket on VIA rail.
Is it just me or is the excitement over Rick's Perry Saturday afternoon prayer-fest / goat fuck becoming too overwhelming to get any work done at all, I must say?
Wow, so you reward terroristy terrorists for their terrorist hostage-taking, and they basically decide to do it over and over again since they get so much out of it? WHO WOULD HAVE FUCKING SUSPECTED.
Just remember the next time Republicans complain about government workers these poor slobs keeping the planes safe for no pay because the GOP would rather crush government than govern.
While this does not exactly explain to me why we cannot have nice trains, like the Europeans do, I think it is somehow related.
$700 of a $1800 ticket I had to buy recently was "taxes." If the FCC can no longer collect taxes from airlines, why haven't ticket prices plunged considerably?
They're pocketing it. More Corporate welfare. But, at least it'll be more difficult to form a thuggish union.
What does it profit a man, if he can't extract as much rent as humanly possible?
Is that really a question? http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/26/2332284/wit….
I'd happily trade the TSA and their stupid "security theater" for the inspectors.
(Their ridiculous "official-like" uniform patches alone could fund the inspector's salaries.)
Sweet! If the FAA is no longer in charge of regulating air travel does that mean we can start masturbating on planes again?
ummmm… start…. yeah….
So long as your vagina doesn't get to vote in Wisconsin.
OT, but the stink-eye of Ken Layne's evil cat-Pope has appeared unto my IntenseDebate account again as the last visitor. God that's freaky, like he's doing the two-finger-my-eyes-to-yours thing in front of his webcam. Is he angry that I keep accusing him of being Wonkette Jr.?
So when does Congress fly home…?
STRIKE….
I bet when the Senators and Congressmen can't get to their mistresses and hookers they will be more than happy to send some cash to the FAA.
Where is the flying dog pic when we need it?
Guy enters airport security carrying C4 and box cutters.
Inspector says,
Fuck it. I ain't even getting paid for this shit.
I know I always trust the free market to do the safe thing. Now give me my tainted turkey, peanut butter and spinach sandwich on plate painted with lead paint.
Max out my personal credit card to keep air travel safe while the Senators goes home on vacation. Okay. Sounds reasonable. Those AMEX debt chasers will understand if I'm late with the September payment of $432,098,37.
Meh. Not that it will accomplish anything, but it felt good to type:
(To: Rep. Mike Simpson, R-ID)
Dear Representative Simpson,
I am writing to urge you and the other members of the House to reconvene as soon as humanly possible to re-authorize the Federal Aviation Administration. At a time when the country is suffering from unemployment, it is absurd to furlough 4,000 workers at the FAA and another 70,000 construction workers at airport projects nationwide. Furthermore, Republicans' stated concern about the budget deficit (and the cost of subsidies for rural air service) rings rather hollow when the cost of the partial shutdown is costing the government $30 million a day in uncollected taxes. It's a nice gift to the airlines, I suppose, but it does nothing to inspire confidence in our legislative process. And in the meantime, airport projects sit idle and safety inspectors are being asked to go without pay.
Please, Mr. Simpson, go back to Washington and do your job. After the manufactured debt ceiling "crisis," Americans are getting tired of the political games being played by Congress.
You made it sound like a tax cut for airlines. Now he'll never re-authorize it.
Somewhat lacking in snark…but well said.
I bet even though we can't pay for plane security, if some group takes advantage of that laxity to pull another goddamn 9-11 we sure magically will find the money for another fuckin war.
Wars don't cost this country nothing.
This is good news for Joe Biden's Amtrak!
"relying on airport safety inspectors to continue working without pay"
They would, but the manager at the McDonald's they have to work at to pay the rent gets real pissed off when they show up late for the lunch rush.
I'm sure these employees will work just as hard as if they were getting paid…oh god, nobody fly.
I'm sure the inspectors are very serious about making sure the planes are safe. But they have been furloughed. That means they are not working. And why would anyone spend his/her own money to do the job they have been furloughed from when their income has stopped and they need their money just to support themselves? It's crazy and I would questions the sanity of anyone who would do it.
Yes, yes, our descent into Idiocracy is nearly complete…
America: Shutting down, one department at a time, since 1981.
I can just see those teabagging assholes getting on a jet at National Airport, ( I refuse to call it Ronald Reagan Airport), and suddenly realizing that they just might have fucked up this time.
In "So I Married An Axe Murderer" Stephen Wright plays a Piper pilot who fell asleep in a storm flying a cop out to an Island to save his friend.
He wakes up and says, "Oh, you wouldn't believe the dream I had,"
Anthony LaPaglia screams, "I don't care about your dream, just fly the plane!"
All-Volunteer Air Safety! I play a lot of Flight Control on my iPhone–can I help out in 5-minute increments while commuting?
Crowdsourcing air traffic control! I think you've hit on something there. We'll have this budget balanced in no time.
On your next flight, be sure and shout out lots of suggestions and information to your server! They LOVE the help!
Roger flight one niner… last message was unclear… please adjust heading to avoid collision…
I thought you got him canned already? What I meant, Baconz, is that you were always posting on the Wonkett about what a tool Dale is. Now, you'll have an intern, see?
No Not fired…YET. He tangled with me over some office policies he implemented and I won. 'Cause you don't fuck with the Baconz when it comes to my buisness time. I remember my internship. And Larry taught me everything I know about slackin' . He made George Constanze from Sienfeld look like John Henry.
Do you write for The Onion?
Thanks!
It's the National Mediation Board (NMB), not the NLRB.
My union did a study about this last year and NOT ONE single newly elected member of congress would have been elected using the standard they want for unions in the airline and railroad industry. It's bull shit. And it is all because of Delta and their flight attendants.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
For 60 miles up US 31. Yeesh.
Shortly after moving to Bloomington, my wife wanted to meet with her relatives in Grand Haven (western)Michigan halfway between the two. Looked at a map and picked South Bend, because exactly half way was a field in Amish country. We wind up on 31 the whole way, they get to take interstates – it took nearly 3 times as long, and going through Kokomo and South Bend made me actually appreciate Indianapolis.
I've got a lot of reasons to hate Notre Dame, but that trip was the cherry on the shit sundae.
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