Flutterby™! : Abolish the TSA 2010-11-15 16:23:14.249123+00

Abolish the TSA

2010-11-15 16:23:14.249123+00 by Dan Lyke 7 comments

Bipartisan support should be immediate. For fiscal conservatives, it’s hard to come up with a more wasteful agency than the TSA. For privacy advocates, eliminating an organization that requires you to choose between a nude body scan or genital groping in order to board a plane should be a no-brainer.

Via. If we can get enough outrage going here, maybe we can find the privacy advociate and both fiscal conservatives in the house.

When the TSA started their theater, I always just accepted it as the price of American ignorance and greed. Overall, it wasn't a big deal. At least, once I got my name of the watch list and could check in online rather than spending 30- 45 minutes at the counter while the airline rep went into a back room with my ID. As the rules got more restrictive, I've just adjusted my travel style to compensate (making sure I wear slip-on shoes and no belt, keeping a toiletry bag filled with my necessities already in the right size containers, etc.)

And it hasn't just been the TSA's rules. Since the airlines have started charging for checked bags, I've switched from always using carry-on luggage to checking my bags. I view the fees as just an adjustment in the ticket price and I hate dealing with finding overhead space. I always sit near the front of the plane and time it so I'm almost the last one on and the first one off. I want to spend as little time in the sardine can as possible.

But the recent backlash about the new scanners and policies is beginning to make me think the TSA may not be inevitable. The TSA may be forced to change. That would be a wonderful thing!

At this point in time I'm willing to just say no to as much of the intrusion as I can and hope enough others do the same to cause a big enough of a logjam that TSA has to give. At some point airline executives will have to side with the passengers and politicians will begin to be affected and they will certainly side with the passengers once it becomes apparent that the majority just won't put up with these procedures any more.

Most likely, though, I'll end up being the only one saying "no" and the only one being inconvenienced will be me.

I think I'm going to have to buy a refundable ticket for next Wednesday, just so I can do this on National Opt-Out Day!

Maybe I should take it a step farther and show up in full drag... Put some accelerometers in the falsies...

#Comment Re: Government Salary Expansion made: 2010-11-16 11:18:54.541194+00 by: jeff

Jeff: The "salary growth" the article alludes to is more a result of the average age of civil servants. Almost all departments are seriously top-heavy with people in their mid to late 50s who have been in civil service for decades. The TSA is likely not so top-heavy because it's a relatively new agency and most employees were hired from the private sector.

I've been working for the DOI/USGS for just about three years. I make approximately one half of what I would make working in the private sector. I make less than I did in 1995 and do not expect to match my 2001 income (peak of the dot-com era) for another ten years. I made this shift because I know that my job is relatively secure (although Bush did try to privatize the National Geospatial Program in 2004) and I will get regular raises. When I worked as a software developer, my salary was generally a lot higher but not consistent. I believe I averaged 1-2 months of no pay every year in the 1990s. And yes, if I remain at the USGS for 25 years, I will be making a relatively high salary.

Compared to the private sector, what the civil service lacks are the grossly overpaid CEOs and other offices. The president (the highest paid federal civil service position) makes $400,000/year.

Incidentally, since you like to bash Ron Paul, I would like to point out that he was one of only 9 House members (and no senators) to vote against the act which created the TSA: