Government Shutdown Exposes Our Priorities: Air Traffic Control or Endless Wars?
While Americans face hours-long delays and cancellations because the government can't keep air traffic control fully staffed, one might wonder where the nation's priorities truly lie. The AP highlights Secretary Sean Duffy's warnings about safety—(a commendable concern for domestic infrastructure, one would think). Yet, these funding "crises" never seem to impact the appropriations for military
aid to foreign nations. Funny how those bills always get passed. One might recall that the House, for instance, just passed the ironically named 'Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024' (H.R. 815) for $14.1 billion in military aid in February 2024, (a bipartisan effort, of course). So, planes can't fly safely in U.S. airspace because controllers aren't getting paid during a
shutdown, but billions for foreign military operations? Always on time. How many air traffic controllers could $14.1 billion pay, exactly?