Faced with growing passenger revolts over the intrusive TSA screening measures, major US airports are scrambling to find a way to save their already struggling businesses. Incoming House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman John Mica (R – FL) has sent letters to many of the largest airports urging them to ditch the TSA entirely, and many are said to be quite keen on the idea.
The current federal law allows an airport to hire private screeners instead of using the TSA’s screeners. Unfortunately the private screeners would be required to follow the TSA’s same rules and conduct all the same objectionable screenings. The hope seems to be that the private screeners would be more customer friendly than the notiously surly TSA agents, but so long as they are being forced by the federal government to conduct the same searches that have some prosecutors threatening assault charges the issue is likely to remain.
The TSA has been facing major outrage over both its “full body scanners” and its “enhanced patdown” procedures, leading even a number of Senators to urge the TSA to relax their rules, for modesty’s sake if nothing else. TSA Chief John Pistole rejected the Senators’ calls, insisting the rules will remain in place.
Protesters have threatened to boycott air travel over the rules, and many are insisting that the “enhanced patdowns” be conducted in full view of the other passengers so they can see what is going on. Apparently scared by the prospect of child molestation charges, the TSA says they will stop conducting the “enhanced patdowns” on children.
"The current federal law allows an airport to hire private screeners instead of using the TSA’s screeners."
I did not know that. Thank you Jason for continuing to educate me!
I wonder if Rep Mica is having second thoughts about creating the "people friendly" monster that is TSA – as well as not reading the Patriot Act when it was hoisted on the American people.
Again, it's time to send Pistole packing out the door into the cold cruel world. Better yet I motion that we have scans of both he and Napolitano on display at every scanning device and videos on constant replay with them being energetically groped so that everyone else can SEE that our elite are not above it all. Fat chance, eh?
As far as Mica, and his idiotic burblings about getting private instead of federal offenders to grope you, that simply doesn't go far enough. If he was responsible in part for this Frankenstein of an agency then he needs to gut it or kill it. And where are the investigations into conflict of interest with regards to Chertoff and other federal swine? Hmmmm?
The DHS was created for the purpose of graft and corruption.
Indeed. As is the GWOT. They should rename the WOT as the "War On Travel".
Mica probably is getting a bank account stuffed with money in the Cayman's right now. I smell a rat. Screw the TSA… Screw the private screeners. Just end the nonsense.
Airport passengers need to forgo the scanners and opt for the pat down to slow down the processing of passengers. This would affect some congress people and then we'll see some common sense well no the only sense the USG has is nonsense, but perhaps they will force a change in tactics from the TSA, which is sounding real Heinrich "NAZI" Himmler like in its rhetoric.
Amen! I agree, hit the airlines in their pocketbooks. They will have a chance of getting the government to change things because the government clearly will not respond to the will of the American people.
I am afraid that this is merely a move to take TSA money and have it PRIVATIZED. Once that happens, it will follow the same path as privatized jails. All of a sudden, we will just NEED more security procedures, and the lobby of these new privateers will swarm Congress telling them not to be "soft" on terrorism. They will need more machines, more procedures, in short — billions more in taxpayers money. It is easy to kick TSA around, and their surliness. I challenge anyone to try it with the private sector security with their army of lawyers. There will be people tossed in jails for not complying, making jail industry very happy. IT IS THE RULES THAT NEED TO CHANGE first. It is the body scanners that are the reason we have to endure the obscene patdowns. It is to humiliate into obedience, so that MORE MACHINES can be sold. It is money, money, money, money….. All from the STUPID taxpayers.
to make airplanes perfectly safe, keep them empty or fill them with the pat down and scan idiots so they can scan and grope all flight long – a real eden for them