If you’ve recently been stuck for hours at an airport, almost late for your flight, waiting in line to get through security, it’s important to remember one thing: It doesn’t have to be this way.
As the fight continues in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) remains unfunded, and many of their employees are calling in sick or just plain quitting out of frustration.
And who can blame them?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news to those employees though, but even if a deal is made soon to pay them, that doesn’t mean this won’t happen again. Unfortunately I see no appetite by Democrats in Congress to stop using government workers as political weapons, which means it’s almost guaranteed we’ll have more government shutdowns in the near future.
There’s only one sure way to prevent this madness from happening again. Abolish the TSA. Privatize airport security.
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) introduced a bill last year that would accomplish that goal, and reminded people this week about that option.
“Let somebody other than the federal government run this,” said Tuberville. “As you all know, I introduced the Abolish the TSA Act last year with Senator Mike Lee. For years, Barack Obama and Joe Biden allowed illegal aliens to move around the country freely on commercial flights, on your dime, the taxpayers of this country. Now Democrats are holding funding for the Transportation Security Administration, better known as TSA, holding it hostage, resulting in hours of long security lines at airports where law-abiding American citizens are missing their flights. I’m thankful that most TSA agents have continued to show up to work without pay, but all this could be avoided if we privatized airport security and got it out of the federal government.”
There are just too many good reasons to get rid of the TSA as we know it. It can save the taxpayers money and provide better security for airports because the private sector can run things much more efficiently.
Some might say this is a risky gamble. America found out the hard way after 9/11 that airport security is needed. But all one has to do is look at the many airports around the country who have already seen major success by switching to private security.
San Francisco International Airport is consistently seen as one of the best in the country wh
en it comes to security, and yes it’s done through a private contractor.
The American people have had enough of the chaos at airports being caused by Democrats who want to inflict pain just to score cheap political points. It’s time to take away their ability to do that. Let’s put airport security in the hands of airports and private companies. They’ll no doubt do a better job anyway.
Tuberville is right when he says “The federal government can’t run anything.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
