NBC News reports that Congress has reached an agreement to reopen the Federal Aviation Administration. The plan, Kelly O'Donnell writes, is for the Senate to adopt the House version of an extension for the FAA. That bill includes an end to federal subsidies for smaller airports, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has the power to grant them all waivers, and he will, NBC says. The effect would be the same as a clean extension.
In the long run, the fight over the FAA is still fundamentally about unions. The Republicans want to make it harder for transportation workers to unionize -- they've made it a condition of re-authorizing the FAA in full.
A fundraiser today from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Check out this fundraiser from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee today. It's unusual to see local politics playing out in Washington, but Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has made himself famous enough to buck the trend. "The GOP is refusing to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration unless the bill includes a union-busting provision Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker would be proud of," they write, emphasis original to the fundraising pitch.
BONUS: If you've seen local reports on airport construction that has shut down in your area, please drop the links in the comments.
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Washington State projects derailed by FAA shutdown
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/FAA-dispute-disrupts-some-WA-airport-projects-1719943.php
FAA halts $18M project at Abilene Regional Airport
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/jul/27/faa-halts-18m-project-at-airport/
OMG Congress does the right thing...while in recess!! Maybe they should just stay home...we may make a lot more progress.
Not really, the department of transportation is going to need to use a loophole in order to fund the smaller airports. Once again, the GOP in their pursuit of anarchy have ceded more power to the Administration. Good thing they don't realize that though, their brains would explode :D
Hopefully, they will soon realize it. Stand back, as exploding heads make a mess and the boney parts can hurt bystanders. But watch out, as they may run among us first, wanting to injure us with those boney parts.
Cleveland REPRESENT :( 3 projects at Cleveland Hopkins delayed
So, does this extension have the union busting language in it?
this is a clean bill until they get back.
is what i take from this.
Yes it still has the union busting focus, but Sec. LaHood can grant waivers to the airports that they were trying to squeeze, and he plans to grant them it seems.
No, they only threw folks out of work in the short term extension. The union busting provision is attached to the long term extension as stated in the article (Dianne please note).
"In the long run, the fight over the FAA is still fundamentally about unions. The Republicans want to make it harder for transportation workers to unionize -- they've made it a condition of re-authorizing the FAA in full."
Roanoke VA affected by shutdown
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-faa-problems-affecting-local-airports-20110803,0,6134067.story
You have to give the GOP credit for sticking to a plan. Democrats could take a hint from them for the next time they regain majorities. Republicans have everyone on the same page and their pressure is constant toward their goals. Dems are like a herd of cats, each individual with a pet issue that they feel "must" be given priority. It's no wonder that our nation has moved so far right that a President to the right of RayGun is now called a socialist. Dems need a Karl Rove to wrangle them into shape.
Exactly! Conservatives have a universal rallying cry. "We are not raising taxes period!"
What exactly is the liberal rallying cry that unites all liberals? We don't have one. It will always be our Achilles heel.
We need to drop terms like liberal and progressive. It should just be Democrat.
Without question herding Democrats is like herding cats. As Will Rogers used to say "I am not a member of an organized party. I'm a Democrat." That may be what the Republcians have now become though. We will have to see. They are not nearly as goose step as they once were.
It is very difficult to match up against an opponent who is willing for the country's economic future to implode. Tea/GOP folk believe they win if Democrats capitulate, or if the economy goes over a clif - either way, they get what they want.
The only way I can think of to deal with them is to use the bully pulpit and call them out for anti-American activities - or at least sentiments - using the record of their own words.
Wiz, the bully pulpit hasn't helped so far. People unwilling to listen will only listen to the media voice that is in agreement with thier views and ignore all else.
The GOP agenda is clear as stated by Mitchy Mc and that is to make Obama a one term president. Once again they legislate cuts but nothing to generate revenue just cut income and jobs to middle class workers.
MacArthur airport construction on Long Island -- 170 jobs:
LI congressmen call for FAA reauthorization
I think we can make at least one assumption. The GOP and Tea Party must be backing down on holding the country hostage. Or they just don't like working for their pay.
I think this follows Rachel's "pull out bed" theory. The more we keep them at work the more they will compromise.
I've been emailing my Sen's and Rep's to get their butts back to work or take a pay cut for every day they are not at work.
Is there anything that the Dems won't give away to the Republicans? This is demoralizing, no matter how hard Rachel tries to cheer us up every night.
www.bizjournals.com/louisville/blog/morning_call/2011/07/clark-co-airport-work-delayed-faa.html
When I saw Senator Hatch speaking about this issue on the Senate floor last week, he stated that he objected that the establishment of a union at a place of employment might be determined by a simple majority vote of only those voting, thereby "discounting" those who did not vote. How is that any different than the good Senator's own election every 6 years? Are those not voting "discounted" because they might not want him elected? If so, like the vote to establish the union, they need to vote to get their voice heard. And then, like all of us, we have to live with what we get, whether we voted or not!
www.bizjournals.com/louisville/blog/morning_call/2011/7/clark-co-airport-work-delayed-by-faa.html
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110804/METRO/108040403/1409/Michigan-projects-in-limbo-after-shutdown-of-FAA
So the DOW falls 500 points on the Presidents 50th birthday....oh symbolism I luv you.
Unions are done unless the people of this country stand together and very loud. I'm close to losing faith though...sigh! The CorpTeaRepublican's have divided the people so far apart and the roots of this divide start with the President and making him out to be non-American, when in fact I see CorpTeaRepublicans as Anit-American. What a mess!
You must not be from WI or Ohio if you think Unions are done. In spite of the major attacks on Unions by these tea party republican governors, the people are fighting back hard. Next Tuesday is a day to watch, too bad the main-stream media has no interest in covering it. Rachel & Ed will cover it, and hopefully interest will catch on. Don't lose faith quite yet.
New control tower at McCarran Airport here in Las Vegas, stalled. Reid's backyard: http://www.lvrj.com/news/impasse-means-mccarran-workers-off-job-through-august-126623978.html
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/126148953.html
FAA workers in Egg Harbor Twp. are furloughed
July 26, 2011|By Jacqueline L. Urgo, Inquirer Staff Writer
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Nearly 640 Federal Aviation Administration employees who work at the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center here and are revamping the nation's air-traffic system were told not to report to work Monday.
They are among about 4,000 "nonessential" FAA employees across the country furloughed at midnight Friday after the U.S. Senate failed to extend the FAA's operating authority in a partisan budget standoff.
FAA employees declined to comment on the layoff, saying that they had been instructed not to speak to the media. An FAA spokeswoman said Monday that as soon as an agreement is reached in Washington, workers could be asked to return to their jobs as soon as the following day.
New Jersey lawmakers on both sides of the aisle blasted the House of Representatives for failing to reach a compromise after House Republicans added a provision to the agreement eliminating $16.5 million in subsidies to 13 rural airports in 10 states.
None of the affected airports are in New Jersey, but an $18 million project to build a traffic-control tower at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport was halted, and a $14 million plan to build a fire-safety building at Atlantic City International Airport hangs in limbo.
While the furloughs do not affect air-traffic controllers or other FAA employees who protect safety in the sky, stopping work on such projects could significantly increase the ultimate cost to taxpayers, FAA administrator Randy Babbitt said.
The stoppage also delays research and implementation of the Next Generation Air Traffic Control System - or NEXTGEN technology - which is the nucleus of work for the 639 FAA employees here, said U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R., N.J.).
Is there anything Obama can do about this? Remember when Reagan busted air traffic control unions? Did he do that under an executive order? Can Obama do something similar?
It seems we're in dire financial straights re: jobs and economy. I would call losing more revenue a crisis.
If Dems (and the White House) don't take a stand on this, which is such a DEMOCRATIC issue, they will lose the debate, and the narrative, once again. Can't the Democrats stop being so politically correct, and stand up for jobs, people, and quality of life issues like they used to?
Democratic leaders need to get back to the historical values they once had.
so there is a "deal"--at what cost? what did the tea party demand this time? did the democrats again cave into their ransom demands? the stock market is tanking, there will be no job creation because of the tea party demands, the democrats lack the spine to stand up to these wackos who would rather destroy our country than represent the people. it is depressing and disillusioning to see our country destroyed by the antics of this radical tea party in the back pocket of the rich and corporations. greed is not good.
So corporate jet tax subsidies are sacrosanct, but money to service rural airports has to go? BLEEP!
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/08/04/faa_stalemate_halts_delays_new_england_airport_projects/
Why has no one in the press yet made the connection that congress has voted to eliminate the airport in Joplin, MO?
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/mobile/article.xml/articles/2011/05/11/13987650/index.xml