Tag Archives: FAA

While the Senate Takes a Break, Four Thousand FAA Employees are Furloughed

23 Saturday Jul 2011

Posted by in Congress, Politics, Unemployment

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Dysfunctional government marches on. While the Senate takes a break, 4,000 FAA employees are now furloughed without pay:

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) partially shut down Saturday, as Congress failed to reauthorize the agency’s funding.

“I’m very disappointed that Congress adjourned today without passing a clean extension of the FAA bill,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a Friday statement. “Because of their inaction, states and airports won’t be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck. This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world.”

About 4,000 FAA employees are now furloughed without pay, according to the FAA, as the Senate on Friday failed to approve a controversial House-passed extension of taxes that help fund the FAA.”

That kind of careless inaction couldn’t possibly be responsible for this, could it?

“A new CNN poll finds that 55 percent of voters have a negative view of the Republican Party, tied for their second-highest unfavorable score since CNN began asking this question in 1992…The news for Democrats is not any better. Some 49 percent of voters now hold a negative view of the party, according to the poll. Although this figure is slightly better than for Republicans, it matches the Democrats’ record high unfavorable rating of September 2010 and is part of an upward trajectory that has persisted for the past three years.

The combined unfavorable score for both parties — 104 percent — is also a record, and represents the first time that the figure has been above 100.”

A well-deserved record. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest all their nether regions.

An Idea to Help Pay For the Cleanup—Corporate Sponsorships

16 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by in BP, Deepwater Horizon, Energy, Environment, Gulf Oil Spill

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I have an idea to help pay for the oil spill cleanup. The Feds can sell corporate sponsorships, like sports arenas and stadiums do. The government agencies involved are already doing BP’s bidding at every turn thus far, they might as well bring in some revenue to help defray the costs.

There’s the BP/EPA, who ordered that a less toxic dispersant than Corexit be used—almost a month ago. Corexit is still being dumped in the Gulf.

There’s BP/OSHA who said that cleanup workers don’t need respirators, despite increasing reports of illness. No respirators are needed because BP’s own air quality tests said there’s no need. Case closed.

There’s the BP/Coast Guard who threatened to arrest CBS journalists who were trying to cover the spill’s damage. “BP’s rules.”

There’s the BP/FAA, who denied Southern Seaplane permission to fly over the affected areas when they found out a photojournalist was on board.

There’s the BP/DHS, who told Senator Bill Nelson that there would be no journalists allowed on a trip he was taking on a BP/Coast Guard vessel.

Finally there’s the BP/Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries whose employee told Mac McClelland of Mother Jones that he had to leave Isle Grand Terre, LA because “WE don’t need this on camera.”

“This” meaning this; a beach covered in oil with no cleanup crew in sight:

And a dead dolphin.

The way I see it, if all these agencies are going to be BP’s bitches, they may as well get paid for it.