WASHINGTON, DC -- Federalizing airport security would be a
catastrophic blunder -- unless Americans want to risk
putting their lives in the hands of a security system with
the perpetual long lines of the DMV, the "torment-the-
customer" focus of the IRS, and the corruption of HUD, the
Libertarian Party said today.
"H.L. Mencken once said that for every problem, there is a
solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Federalizing
airport security is a solution that is simple, neat -- and
wrong," said Libertarian Party National Director Steve
Dasbach.
"If America federalizes airport security, we could end up
with a security staff that is overpaid, under-performing,
and impossible to fire. Our lives, and the lives of our
families, could be dependent on government bureaucrats who
are more interested in politics than protection."
This week, the U.S. House is expected to consider a bill
that would leave airport security screening to private
firms, rather than turning the nation's 28,000 airport
security personnel into federal workers. The bill would
require the Federal Aviation Administration to set standards
for airport security, and more closely monitor the process.
That bill is in conflict with already-approved U.S. Senate
legislation, which would federalize airport security forces
at an estimated cost of $3 billion a year.
But turning airport security personnel into government
employees is a mistake if the goal is greater safety for
airline passengers, said Dasbach.
Instead, based on the government's track record, federalized
workers would be:
* Not very secure: This week, the Project for Government
Oversight revealed that mock terrorist attacks on Department
of Energy nuclear facilities succeeded more than half the
time. In May 2000, the General Accounting Office (GAO)
announced that investigators posing as law enforcement
officers were able to bypass federal security and penetrate
the Pentagon, CIA headquarters, and the Justice Department.
And in August 2001, the GAO revealed that hackers were able
to infiltrate supposedly secure computer sites of seven
agencies of the Department of Commerce.
* Susceptible to corruption: Over the past few years,
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) employees have
been arrested for exchanging green cards for cash bribes,
printing counterfeit checks, and selling templates of Border
Crossing cards to document counterfeiters. Customs officials
were convicted of helping drug dealers smuggle cocaine into
the country. Government Services Administration (GSA)
employees were arrested for stealing government property,
extorting bribes from contractors, and accepting kickbacks.
And Social Security Administration employees were convicted
of taking bribes to issue phony Social Security cards.
* More expensive: According to Martin L. Gross, author of
The Government Racket 2000, federal workers earn 40% more
than average American workers, and get benefits that are 75%
greater than the average worker. Overall, an average federal
worker costs taxpayers about $85,000 a year in wages,
benefits, and retirement liability.
* Prone to sloppiness: Over the past few years, the GAO
reported that the IRS could not account for $3 billion in
expenses; the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) had paid out at least $900 million in excess
subsidies; the Federal Aviation Administration had lost $245
million in spare parts; and the Department of Education had
no system to track more than $3 billion in student loan
defaults.
* Badly trained and hostile to customers: A 2001 study by
the Treasury Department found that IRS employees at walk-in
centers gave taxpayers incorrect or insufficient information
73% of the time. A similar 2001 study by the IRS found that
customers were turned away without service 21% of the time.
And in 1998, Senator Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) described the
actions of overzealous IRS agents trying to collect back-due
taxes as "government violence directed against citizens."
Of course, not all government employees are corrupt, sloppy,
or hostile, acknowledged Dasbach.
But when you consider their poor track record, you quickly
realize that government workers are certainly not more
efficient, more honest, smarter, or harder working than
private-sector employees, he said.
"Yes, the current airport security system is flawed and
needs to be upgraded -- and the proof of that was the tragic
September 11 terrorist attacks," he said.
"But the solution is not to replace that system with
government employees who are wrong 73% of the time; who
allow security breaches 50% of the time; who can't even
track expenses, much less crafty terrorists; and who have a
history of selling out to the highest criminal bidder.
"Based on the litany of past government failures, do we
really want to trust federal bureaucrats to protect us
against ruthless terrorists who are determined to kill us?"
catastrophic blunder -- unless Americans want to risk
putting their lives in the hands of a security system with
the perpetual long lines of the DMV, the "torment-the-
customer" focus of the IRS, and the corruption of HUD, the
Libertarian Party said today.
"H.L. Mencken once said that for every problem, there is a
solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Federalizing
airport security is a solution that is simple, neat -- and
wrong," said Libertarian Party National Director Steve
Dasbach.
"If America federalizes airport security, we could end up
with a security staff that is overpaid, under-performing,
and impossible to fire. Our lives, and the lives of our
families, could be dependent on government bureaucrats who
are more interested in politics than protection."
This week, the U.S. House is expected to consider a bill
that would leave airport security screening to private
firms, rather than turning the nation's 28,000 airport
security personnel into federal workers. The bill would
require the Federal Aviation Administration to set standards
for airport security, and more closely monitor the process.
That bill is in conflict with already-approved U.S. Senate
legislation, which would federalize airport security forces
at an estimated cost of $3 billion a year.
But turning airport security personnel into government
employees is a mistake if the goal is greater safety for
airline passengers, said Dasbach.
Instead, based on the government's track record, federalized
workers would be:
* Not very secure: This week, the Project for Government
Oversight revealed that mock terrorist attacks on Department
of Energy nuclear facilities succeeded more than half the
time. In May 2000, the General Accounting Office (GAO)
announced that investigators posing as law enforcement
officers were able to bypass federal security and penetrate
the Pentagon, CIA headquarters, and the Justice Department.
And in August 2001, the GAO revealed that hackers were able
to infiltrate supposedly secure computer sites of seven
agencies of the Department of Commerce.
* Susceptible to corruption: Over the past few years,
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) employees have
been arrested for exchanging green cards for cash bribes,
printing counterfeit checks, and selling templates of Border
Crossing cards to document counterfeiters. Customs officials
were convicted of helping drug dealers smuggle cocaine into
the country. Government Services Administration (GSA)
employees were arrested for stealing government property,
extorting bribes from contractors, and accepting kickbacks.
And Social Security Administration employees were convicted
of taking bribes to issue phony Social Security cards.
* More expensive: According to Martin L. Gross, author of
The Government Racket 2000, federal workers earn 40% more
than average American workers, and get benefits that are 75%
greater than the average worker. Overall, an average federal
worker costs taxpayers about $85,000 a year in wages,
benefits, and retirement liability.
* Prone to sloppiness: Over the past few years, the GAO
reported that the IRS could not account for $3 billion in
expenses; the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) had paid out at least $900 million in excess
subsidies; the Federal Aviation Administration had lost $245
million in spare parts; and the Department of Education had
no system to track more than $3 billion in student loan
defaults.
* Badly trained and hostile to customers: A 2001 study by
the Treasury Department found that IRS employees at walk-in
centers gave taxpayers incorrect or insufficient information
73% of the time. A similar 2001 study by the IRS found that
customers were turned away without service 21% of the time.
And in 1998, Senator Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) described the
actions of overzealous IRS agents trying to collect back-due
taxes as "government violence directed against citizens."
Of course, not all government employees are corrupt, sloppy,
or hostile, acknowledged Dasbach.
But when you consider their poor track record, you quickly
realize that government workers are certainly not more
efficient, more honest, smarter, or harder working than
private-sector employees, he said.
"Yes, the current airport security system is flawed and
needs to be upgraded -- and the proof of that was the tragic
September 11 terrorist attacks," he said.
"But the solution is not to replace that system with
government employees who are wrong 73% of the time; who
allow security breaches 50% of the time; who can't even
track expenses, much less crafty terrorists; and who have a
history of selling out to the highest criminal bidder.
"Based on the litany of past government failures, do we
really want to trust federal bureaucrats to protect us
against ruthless terrorists who are determined to kill us?"
