FAA Halting some operations: U.S. House Stops Voting for Week With No Action to Keep FAA Operating

[The Straight Story]

U.S. House Stops Voting for Week With No Action to Keep FAA Operating

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will halt some operations at midnight after the House of Representatives and Senate adjourned today without agreeing on legislation to extend the agency’s authority.

The disagreement means the FAA has to furlough as many as 4,000 workers tomorrow and stop collecting about $200 million a week in airplane-ticket and other taxes until it is resolved, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday. Air- traffic controllers, considered essential employees, would remain on the job.

The agency has been without long-term funding legislation since 2007 and has operated on a series of short-term extensions, the most recent of which expires at midnight.

“States and airports won’t be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck,” LaHood said in an e-mailed statement today. The House and Senate will reconvene June 25.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-22/u-s-house-stops-voting-for-week-with-no-action-to-keep-faa-operating.html

[Ship of Fools]

1. This is sad news. Would someone PLEASE try these a-holes for treason???

[liberal N proud]

2. The GOP - Killing America

One program or agency at a time.

[KamaAina]

3. Congress has solved the mystery of time travel!

The House and Senate will reconvene June 25. :dunce:

Could they go back to October 2010, please???

[gratuitous]

4. And you know why the Republicans did this?

Because they're fighting against a Department of Labor rule that would count only the votes actually cast to determine whether a shop could certify itself as a bargaining unit. As it is, they rammed through a rule that counted every vote not cast as a "no" vote. So, if you had 100 people eligible to vote on whether to certify themselves as a bargaining unit and say 75 of them cast a ballot. The "no" side of the ballot would automatically have 25 votes from the people who didn't vote. If the 75 votes were 45-30 in favor of creating a bargaining unit, the union wouldn't be certified because of the automatic "no" votes.

Shutting down the FAA, putting more people out of work, and endangering lives are all measures the Republicans are willing to take in furtherance of their repressive agenda. What do Democrats do?