Congress did not pass a bill funding the FAA before leaving Washington for their paid summer vacation. Republicans are trying to cut a program that subsidizes small, rural airports. This cut would save American taxpayers $16 million per year. Congress was unable to agree on cutting this program before they left for vacation, so now the FAA is shut down. Here are the numbers:
FAA employees working without pay or out of a job: 4,000
FAA construction employees out of a job: 70,000
FAA airline ticket fees not collected each day $30,000,000
FAA airline ticket fees that will not be collected if Congress doesn't return from their paid summer vacation to act: $1.3 billion
There is a wonderful video produced by ABC News explaining all this here.
The Republicans believe this is a significant fight in the battle to cut spending. Subsidizing small, rural airports to the tune of $16 million per year seems like a waste of cash to them. They are willing to lay off or require free work of 74,000 FAA employees and cost the federal government $1.3 billion dollars to save this $16 million - so they were unwilling to pass a short-term resolution and commit to further debate of this issue in September when they return.
You could turn it around, and blame it on the Democrats, who are willing to allow this shut down in order to continue to spend this $16 million yearly. The Democrats, however, are more than willing to pass a short term resolution and debate the issue fairly this fall. They will not take the FAA nor the livelihoods of the FAA employees hostage in order to ram a small scale spending cut through.
No one wins in this fight - the monetary losses the federal government faces during this shut down are too significant to allow. Congress must return, and either debate this issue and come to a compromise or pass a short-term resolution fully funding the FAA. Our nation's coffers are already bare, and our air safety and airport infrastructure too important to our economic prosperity.
FAA employees working without pay or out of a job: 4,000
FAA construction employees out of a job: 70,000
FAA airline ticket fees not collected each day $30,000,000
FAA airline ticket fees that will not be collected if Congress doesn't return from their paid summer vacation to act: $1.3 billion
There is a wonderful video produced by ABC News explaining all this here.
The Republicans believe this is a significant fight in the battle to cut spending. Subsidizing small, rural airports to the tune of $16 million per year seems like a waste of cash to them. They are willing to lay off or require free work of 74,000 FAA employees and cost the federal government $1.3 billion dollars to save this $16 million - so they were unwilling to pass a short-term resolution and commit to further debate of this issue in September when they return.
You could turn it around, and blame it on the Democrats, who are willing to allow this shut down in order to continue to spend this $16 million yearly. The Democrats, however, are more than willing to pass a short term resolution and debate the issue fairly this fall. They will not take the FAA nor the livelihoods of the FAA employees hostage in order to ram a small scale spending cut through.
No one wins in this fight - the monetary losses the federal government faces during this shut down are too significant to allow. Congress must return, and either debate this issue and come to a compromise or pass a short-term resolution fully funding the FAA. Our nation's coffers are already bare, and our air safety and airport infrastructure too important to our economic prosperity.
Offshore,
I did some stealth googling and I can't find what it pays for. I'd assume it either funds the FAA directly and needs to be re-appropriated by Congress OR it just goes into our general federal budget.
I'll try to do stealthier googling tonight!
Bobo, I do agree with you. I have been spitting nails for days over this mess.
I never thought we would get to this point in America.
This situation is as infuriating as the behavior of the bankers who got us where we are.
I didn't think anything would make me as angry as that did; clearly, I had no idea just how irresponsible congress could be.
I'm stuck without words to express how murderously angry I am.
I understand that Obama has been a little busy. But "allowing" the legislaturds to go on vacation and leave this thing hanging is inexcusable. He IS the president. He should just get the AG to issue an interpretation that this is an "emergency, issue an executive order and then let the DOJ deal with it.
This guys is just worthless. And I hate to say that.
This just a curiosity, not a criticism: How much in operational or building costs can be subtracted from that 1.3 billion figure?