I've noticed that our friends at the TSA haven't announced their New Year's resolutions yet -- at least not publicly -- so as I thought I'd help the federal agency charged with the challenging task of protecting our transportation systems.
You know, as a public service.
Here are 12 things the TSA should stop doing in 2012.
The TSA's pricey and controversial body scanners, which are being deployed across the country, are an invasion of privacy and an unacceptable health risk. Many American oppose their use. Isn't it time for the TSA to admit they're a failure and try something else?
The TSA is here for one reason, and one reason alone: To stop another 9/11 from happening. Its expansion to subway stations and other public areas is a costly and unnecessary step that no one asked for. This is the year to end the ill-conceived VIPR program once and for all.
Harassed air travelers left a lot of loose change at checkpoints -- an estimated $376,480 in 2010. And guess who kept it? That's right, the TSA. But it isn't the agency's money (one Congressman wants to funnel it to the USO, which isn't a bad idea). It's your money. The TSA has no business taking it.
It's a little known fact that TSA employees have zero law enforcement authority and technically shouldn't be called officers. One Congresswoman wants to fix that. What a great idea.
It isn't just Lenore Zimmerman, the 4-foot-11, 110-pound, grandmother who alleges she was strip-searched at JFK in late 2011. It's a whole stack of similar cases that have stirred public outrage. Stop frisking the grannies, TSA. You're better than that.
TSA's new Pre-Check program, which selectively pre-screens certain passengers and lets them move through the security line faster, seems like a move in the right direction. But it isn't. The elite-level frequent fliers join a growing list of others, including members of the military and airport employees, who get special screening privileges. Shouldn't TSA be trying to find the bad guys instead of determining who the bad guys aren't? This process-of-elimination screening is not only expensive, but puts ordinary, law-abiding air travelers at a disadvantage.
There's no convincing evidence that our Starbucks lattes are going to blow up our early morning commuter flight. Let's stop this nonsense, which has been going on for way too long and hasn't prevented a single act of airborne terrorism. Let air travelers bring their harmless liquids on board.
The TSA now allows kids 12 and under to leave their shoes on. Why not the rest of us? When's the last time the agency caught a terrorist with explosives in his insoles? How about never?
Even though the TSA insists that taking snapshots of its screening areas is allowed, its "officers" apparently never got the memo. Here's what happened to Carlos Miller last week when he tried to tape his screening. Puh-leeze!
TSA's hiring practices leave a lot to be desired. Its employees have gotten themselves into a whole lotta trouble in 2011, including some very disturbing crimes that leave you wondering: Where did they find these people? Come on.
A recent White House website petition comes to mind. It only took about 30,000 verified signatures requesting the Obama administration eliminate the TSA, for Administrator John Pistole to offer a clueless rebuttal that suggests he has virtually no contact with real air travelers. How 'bout spending a little more time at the airport, John?
Time and again in 2011, the TSA has been caught telling lies and half-truths. They're exhaustively documented by Bill Fisher on the TSA News Blog. The scope of the TSA's misinformation is absolutely staggering. It's really amazing that we believe anything the agency tells us anymore, given its record of bending facts to suit its agenda. That needs to end.
As we look ahead to 2012, the TSA is poised to become a part of how we travel, whether we fly, drive, cruise or take the train. But the agency will not make any of these common-sense reforms unless it hears from you.
So if you think this federal agency needs to make a few changes, this is a good time to let your elected representative know about it.
And if your congressional representative doesn't do anything, well, you're in luck -- it's an election year.
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"Stop frisking the grannies, TSA. You're better than that."
No, really, they're not.
Also, now that I lock my Delsey suitcase but you, the TSA, can still get into it, why can't you lock after you're done searching it? That really gets me upset since it has both a combination lock and two key latches. Too hard to take the 2 seconds to spin my combination dials?
I absolutely hate the TSA--they should be outlawed....I'd take my chances with the terrorists.
These are security state tactics oiling a slippery slope to low-level police state tactics. Seriously: soon we'll need prior government permission to travel.
If Obama were to support reform, you know what? I'd probably ignore the rest of his odious agenda and actually vote for him. As it is, he's pitched his tent in the Nanny State / Security State camp.
13 - Check any cargo shipped on a passenger plane.
14 - Airport/airline employee screening.
Backscatter Radiation burns the Retina of the eyes, and concentrates 5000 times more radiation on the surface area of the body, because the type of radiation used is paper thin, and is measured as if 9-inches of water, within a 6-inch by 6-inch field, the actual field is your WHOLE BODY, and exposure times do vary, and people in the surrounding areas are being exposed to harmful x-rays, because no shielding is in place. People are going to be very sick in the future, especially the TSA employees standing near by, because exposure is accumulative.
Granted that x-ray machines are not nuclear reactors or nuclear tipped missles but I suspect any information referring to radiation being paper thin. It isn't measured that way. And while I have not been to an airport to see for myself or done any actual research on the subject, I seriously doubt these were installed for use without shielding of any kind. Our uninformed public (including most government workers) is so scared of radiation that the TSA agents would be all wearing dosimeters of some kind to measure their accumulation if it were as scattered around as you say. There would also be warning signs posted everywhere and the public would avoid airports like the plague.