This is Not the Way to Operate on “Final Approach” FAA Shutdown Points to Bigger Problem

When its authority to collect revenue from airport taxes expired at midnight on July 22, the FAA laid off more than 3,500 federal workers. Air traffic controllers are still on the job, but the agency has stopped work on vital airport construction projects, including installation of new runway lights and construction of new control towers. More than 86,000 construction workers are going without paychecks, but taxpayers won’t save any money. The costs of delay – cancelled contracts, equipment rental — will add to the final bill (and to the federal deficit).

How did this happen? Republicans object to a rule issued earlier this year by the National Mediation Board (NMB), which supervises labor relations in the transportation sector. Workers at railways and airlines can now vote to unionize by a simple majority; previously, any worker who didn’t return a ballot was counted as a “no” vote. House Transportation Chair John Mica (R-FL) and GOP members of his committee – prodded by Delta Airlines — are insisting the rule be overturned, or they won’t re-authorize funding for the FAA.Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who heads the Transportation Committee in the Senate, doesn’t agree. Neither does President Obama, who has stated he will veto any bill that overrules the NMB’s even-handed reforms.

If Mica and House Republicans can’t have their way, they won’t appropriate a penny for the FAA. Even if it means taking revenue away from hundreds of construction companies, throwing thousands of people out of work, and stalling vital efforts to modernize our airports.

Sound familiar? It’s the same flight path Republicans in Congress are taking to raise the nation’s debt ceiling – a routine measure that passed 18 times during the Reagan Administration and seven times during the Clinton Administration. It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time—dating back to Alexander Hamilton– when honoring our nation’s debts was viewed as a solemn responsibility, regardless of party or partisan advantage. There was also a time – in 2001 – when the U.S. government had a $128 billion budget surplus.

Since then, the Republican program of irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans has drained the U.S. Treasury. Now, Boehner, Cantor and McConnell are insisting on more of the same. They demand drastic cuts to childhood nutrition programs, education, Social Security and Medicare. They refuse to raise a penny more in revenue from taxes on corporate jets, closing loopholes for oil companies, or by letting the Bush tax cuts for millionaires expire – they refuse to even tax hedge fund managers at the same rate as other millionaires. If they’re demands are not met, they are willing to risk chaos in global financial markets, throw millions more people out of work, and damage the long-term credit rating of the United States.

As of this writing, it’s not clear how the debt crisis – or the standoff over FAA funding– will be resolved.

The hard work of compromise appears to be a lost art in Washington – but it’s the work that needs to be done to keep people employed, our planes flying, our airports safe, and our fiscal house in order. On final approach you don’t want to behave erratically– you need steady hands at the controls.