Knock knock. Who's there? Airline passengers

Airline passengers who?
 
Airline passengers who are now complaining about Sequesterman, the evil superhero sent across the land by Congress to wreak havoc on government programs large and small.

Congress and the President wouldn’t do their jobs and cut spending on programs that they themselves had authorized, or sponsored, or promoted as what America needed to move us forward into the next blah blah, to prepare us for the next wave of blah blah, to save us from the coming onslaught of blah blah, to blah blah blah us into submission.

They tried everything, but were so unwilling to make the hard choices that they created Sequesterman, a cold, uncaring emotionless guy who would implement harsh, across-the- board budget cuts in all areas of the federal government. They made him just in case they needed an incentive (more inspiring than their dismal single-digit approval rating) to force action "in the best interests of the country" to solve our debt and deficit problem. Which they also made.

They heard speeches and pleas, arguments and suggestions, ideas and proposals to not let Sequesterman loose on the country,  of what would happen if they did allow the arbitrary cuts to go in; they heard it for days and weeks and months on end. And as they do so well, Congress pretended to act. The deliberated, and wrung their hands, and rattled their sabers and each other’s cages, and voted on some stuff that they all knew would not pass -  and ultimately they allowed Sequesterman out of the box.

Fast forward to this week:   Sequesterman has started furloughing air traffic controllers as part of the mandatory spending cuts.  And so people living outside the rarefied air in Washington (they’re called voters) are starting to be hurt by those furloughs, as flights are being delayed with fewer controllers manning the towers. (Of course, I think some folks would think that a flight delay is not such a hurt compared to say, losing pay because of Congressional gridlock.  But as usual, I digress.) 

The airlines, no dummies --they’re announcing to passengers that the flight delays are caused by Sequesterman.  Republicans in the House, they’re blaming the President. Democrats in the Senate, they’re blaming the Republicans in the House.  Anyone surprised here that the most action we get out of these people is finger-pointing?

Congress, after blaming the FAA for mishandling the across-the-board cuts made necessary by Congressional inaction, found somewhere in their pocket Constitutions the right to on-time air service; it must be right up there with free speech, corporations are people too, and a well-regulated militia.

Unanimously and without debate, the Senate approved a bill that allows the FAA to move freely about their own budget to find the necessary cuts, making the furloughs unnecessary. Over in the House, 41 people pretended to have the courage of their convictions and voted no; however, since passage by a huge margin was a forgone conclusion, a no vote was completely meaningless.

In the end, everyone caved, and those pesky voters can now get where they’re going with only the normal, non-Sequesterman delays in front of them. (Mother Nature, the ball is back in your court.)

All I can say is I am extremely fortunate that my Congress can act so swiftly when voters get angry about something as trivial, in the overall scheme of things, as delayed flights, particularly ones that impact the NY-to-DC corridor.  Because that quick, decisive action will be what gets us well prepared for the blah blah blah of the future, which will come as soon as our do-nothing Congress gets back from their vacation.

Knock knock.