One of John Boehner’s first announcements after the GOP House takeover was that he would continue to fly commercial. This is in sharp contrast to Nancy Pelosi, who insisted on using luxury jets operated by the military. Boehner deserves praise for that decision, but he only gets two cheers rather than three since, like many other government officials, he is spared the indignity of being groped by the TSA.
This is wrong. The political elite should have to live under the rules that are imposed on the peasantry. Yes, it will be stupid and pointless for Boehner and other officials to be harassed by TSA, but it’s equally dumb for TSA to be frisking little kids from Minnesota, grandmothers from Kentucky, and frequent business travelers from Dallas.
And if we want to force the TSA to use common sense, letting politicians get some first-hand experience (no pun intended) with the process is a good idea. Here’s a blurb from an article in the New York Times.
The Republican leader, who will become the second person in line to assume the presidency after the new Congress convenes in January, took great pride after the midterm elections in declaring his man-of-the-people plans to travel home as other Americans do. In a time of economic difficulty, it was a not-so-subtle dig at Ms. Pelosi, who has access to a military jet large enough to avoid refueling for her flights home to San Francisco. But he is not giving up all the perquisites of power. …Congressional leaders or members of Congress with armed security details are allowed to go around security. The same privilege is afforded to governors and cabinet members if they are escorted by agents or law enforcement officers. Michael Steel, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said the Republican leader had neither requested nor received special treatment at the airport security line.
I don’t like double standards or allowances for special treatment, either, but complaining about Boehner being exempt from TSA screening seems like populism run amok.
Boehner will be the Speaker of the House, he’s second in the line of presidential succession, and he’ll presumably have a security detail. It seems far more important for Boehner to spend his time getting things done than to stand in TSA lines for hours each week just to satisfy populist clamoring.
I think the point being made, @Joe, is that if it’s a pointless waste of time to frisk Boehner, then it’s equally a pointless waste of time patting down kids and grandmothers. One person waiting hours in line every week may not affect the economy, but consider the cost when you multiply those lost hours by thousands.
south — I agree 100% that the TSA is needlessly wasting a lot of travelers’ time and that the TSA’s policies are an issue worthy of debate; I just don’t think connecting the issue to Boehner is necessarily logical. It’s not like people are simply objecting to Boehner getting a free pass on the pat-downs; I’ve seen people suggest he should have to stand in line for 2 hours, etc., if that’s what other travelers are encountering.
Again, I don’t like people — *especially* politicians — getting special treatment, and I’d have no problem if the average (non-Speaker) Congressman or Senator was required to put up with the standard TSA treatment. I just believe the bashing of Boehner on this topic, which I’m seeing all over the internet, is mostly silly and illogical. Unlike the spendthrift Pelosi, Boehner will be saving millions of dollars by flying commercial, and this is the thanks he gets?
[...] official (that I know of) who has done something similar to Hollande is Speaker John Boehner, who chose to do without the taxpayer-funded personal jet that Queen Pelosi used for trips back to [...]
[...] official (that I know of) who has done something similar to Hollande is Speaker John Boehner, who chose to do without the taxpayer-funded personal jet that Queen Pelosi used for trips back to [...]