Shutdown at the FAA – Government Loses $200 Million per Week in Revenue

This is How Politicians Reduce the Deficit?



Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger

. Nearly 650 employees at Atlantic City's airport
will be furloughed



The House and Senate failed to agree on funding for the FAA and so it shutdown almost all but essential operations on Friday.  Fortunately essential operations includes Air Traffic Controllers, if you are up in the air (literally) about this issue, you should be able to get down safely.

Two issues are involved.

1. Subsidies for small airports, which the House wants to cut.
2. Unionization rules, which the Republicans want to change.

The dollar amounts of spending cuts are small and negligible, can only be seen with an electron microscope.  But one side effect is that the government will lose out on collecting ticket taxes to the tune of $200 million per week.



No one at the White House, Senate or House could be reached for comment, as all of those folks were involved in trying to figure out a way to reduce the Federal deficit, and so did not have a few minutes to address the loss of $200 million a week in tax revenue.

One question that was unanswered was whether or not the airlines would continue to collect the tax money and pocket it. 

Do we hear an answer to that question?  Anyone?   . . .