"I think everyone is scratching their head, wondering how it is possible that an aircraft can be buzzing around Manhattan,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who has been lobbying for rule changes since 2004. “It’s virtually the Wild West. There is no regulation at all, other than, ‘Don’t run into anything.”’
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer has called for tighter rules, including a permanent closing of the Hudson River approach to the city and a requirement that low-flying aircraft submit a flight plan before entering New York airspace.
Meanwhile Republicans like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, don't seem to have a problem with it. He believes the skies are safe under the current rules. “We have very few accidents for an awful lot of traffic,” he said. “Every time you have an automobile accident, you’re not going to go and close the streets or prohibit people from driving.” Yeah, that's smart post 9/11 thinking!
This isn't too shocking considering Republicans are controlling our government. Look at what they've done to the economy, national debt, the Iraq slaughter mill, and failing international policy. Let's not forget about the biggest blunders, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.
Oh, and what about when Homeland Security proposed changes in how they screen millions of airline passengers per day? In order to reduce passenger hassles and update the now out-of-date post 9/11 policies, the TSA proposed to once again allow scissors, razor blades, knives, ice-picks, arrows, and even Chinese throwing stars. I know how ridiculous this sounds, especially since the hijackers of 9/11 pulled off their mission with nothing more than small blades (unless there’s something we don’t know about), but it’s true. According to the August 5, 2005 TSA memo, they want to bring about “new customer-friendly measures.” In case you’re not familiar with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), it was created in response to 9/11 as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed into law by Bush on November 19, 2001. TSA was originally in the Department of Transportation but was moved to the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003.
To add to our feeling of warmth, in February 2006 the Republican administration gave the go ahead for a foreign-owned company out of Dubai to take control of six key U.S. ports. It’s important to note that Republicans previously slashed port security. The administration closed the deal with the United Arab Emirates-based company DB World without the mandatory 45 day investigation and without Congressional approval. In a bi-partisan effort, Republicans joined Democrats (perhaps to save themselves in the approaching 2006 election) in a mission to put a Congressional halt to the deal. In a firm response, Bush threatened to use his first veto to override the opposition. Millions of dollars thrown away in Republican spending bills with no presidential vetoes and the president who claims he is conservative threatened to use his first veto to keep an Arab company in control of our major ports? Why did Bush defiantly put himself at odds with all of Congress, Democrat and Republican alike and the more than 90% of the American public who also disagreed with having a foreign company control our ports? There must be a lot at stake to go against your entire nation and put it in potential danger.
Incidentally, the Dubai company, DP World, promised it would sell the U.S. operations to an American company. The sale is currently still pending. A Republican controlled Congress finally got around to approving the major ports security bill just last week.
