No, I’m not playing the Terrorist Card on you with my title. That’s George Bush and Skeletor’s job. I’m referring to something far more insidious. The failure of the Republican Party to govern effectively has led to any number of consumer safety issues, from increased e coli incidents in food (e.g., spinach and meat) to the increase in the importation of toxic toys and poisoned pet food from China. Well add one more to a long list of mismanagement of the Federal Government by the Bush administration: the skies are definitely no longer passenger friendly, and I mean that in the most deadly way possible:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Experienced air traffic controllers are retiring faster this year than the government projected and their union said Wednesday the remaining veterans can no longer safely handle peak volumes in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Southern California.
“We have come to a crossroads in these four locations,” said Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The four locations, among the most congested in the nation, now have a staffing emergency, Forrey said.
Forrey has said before that the Federal Aviation Administration is eroding the safety margin for air travelers, but he went further: “We have so few veteran controllers left that we cannot safely handle the volume of aircraft into these major areas during the busiest periods of the day.
“They are being asked to handle so much volume with so little rest and with fewer eyes and ears that they are fatigued, and when you are fatigued you make mistakes.”
So at four of the biggest airport hubs in the country we have too few air traffic controllers. The job has always been a high stress, burn out profession, but asking these people to work longer hours and juggle more and more airplanes in the crowded skies is not my idea of good government. It’s your basic slash and burn style of business management, and while it may work in the short term in the private sector in businesses whose workers aren’t required to maintain their constant attention and complete focus on detail every second while they are at work, we shouldn’t expect our government to compromise our lives and the lives of those we love to the gods of “increased productivity.”
Government is not run best using “business school” models that cut corners and threaten lives. We should expect our government to do all that is necessary to make air travel as safe as possible. Under Bush and the Republicans we have seen the exact opposite. Monies cut from essential services provided by federal agencies which directly protect the health and safety of every American (from the EPA to FEMA to the FDA to now the FAA) in order to wage wars of choice in the Middle East that primarily benefit a few well connected multinational corporations and their executives. The safety of the American people compromised on the altar of conservative ideology and greed.
Some Democratic candidate should be shouting about this story at his or her campaign appearances and rallies today, tomorrow and every day thereafter. This is too important not to highlight. Republicans are bad for your health and general welfare. Pass it on.
Ps. Who knew that making the no-fly list could become a life saver?
