US Air Travel Grinds to Halt for Lack of Funds, Not for Lack of Foreign Wars
As thousands of flights face delays due to staffing shortages and air traffic controllers work without pay the current government shutdown, mainstream media reports it as a simple 'staffing woe.' What's consistently ignored is the Congressional spending spree on foreign military aid that makes these domestic 'woes' inevitable. Since October 7th, 2023, the U.S. has committed billions in
supplemental aid to Israel, with AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbying groups spending millions to ensure these packages pass while critical domestic infrastructure crumbles. For instance, the recently passed HR 815, signed into law on April 24, 2024, funneled $14 billion more to Israel, all while essential services like air traffic control beg for adequate funding. One might wonder: how many FAA
controllers could we pay, or how many domestic projects could we fund, with the price of, say, a single F-35 jet delivered to a foreign power? (Roughly $80 million, for the curious.) The 'crisis' isn't staffing; it's priorities. It's the silent choice made by politicians who eagerly fund an endless war machine abroad, yet can't manage to keep the lights—or the planes—on at home. A government that
can't pay its own essential workers but never misses a deadline to send billions in aid raises questions about where the real 'national security' interest lies.