Guess A Billion Dollars Is Now Real Money Again

Okay folks I need you to temporarily suspend your disbelief to understand the argument surrounding the funding for the FAA, which for some reason is starting to move to the top of the Next Thing to Cause Armageddon list.

All through the debt, budget, interns slush fund debate we have heard arguments how cuts of less then eleventy thirty trillon is just chump change and hardly worthy of recognition. Well now comes news that an agency that has been run on month to month budget for over 4 years is now costing the government $1 billion dollars because of the loss of tax revenue.

The FAA's long-term operating authority expired in 2007. Since then, Congress has been unable to agree on a long-term funding plan. The agency has continued to operate under a series of 20 short-term extensions.

The airlines certainly didn't do themselves any good when after the tax authority had expired decided to continue charging the tax and putting it into their coffers and thereby handed the liberals one of the best arguments they have to deny any sort of serious tax reform in the country. Any argument which revolves around fewer taxes meaning companies can reduce their prices sort of got rendered mute due to the bad actions of these players. Thanks Delta. Again.

So let me get this straight. Cutting $350 billion from defense is called a modest cut with much deeper cuts required but the unrealized loss of $1 billion from tax revenue from the FAA is going to somehow cripple life as we know it.

The big sticking point in approving their budget by the way is how Democrats want to change the rules for how airlines and railroads can form unions. The current method involves having employees votes and those that don't vote count as "No" votes. The Democrats want to change this so that only actual votes cast count. It is cute they way they want to keep railroad employees in this like they are some sort of viable industry. Oh wait that's right liberals are having some sort of love affair with trains lately.

Of course the world champion poker player in charge has vowed to veto anything which has a union busting language in it.

The White House warned in March that President Barack Obama would veto an FAA bill containing the labor provision.

Captain Sully Retires to Focus on Fulltime 'Rock Star Sex'

Let's face it, what more is there to work for after you land a plane on the Hudson?

The Hero of the Hudson hung up his wings Wednesday.

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who became a national hero last winter after he miraculously crash-landed a stricken US Airways flight in the river and got everybody out alive, is retiring, the airline said.

"I have been fortunate to have followed my passion for most of my life, working in a profession I dearly love," Sullenberger, 59, said later in a statement.

The hero pilot gave a shout out to his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, and vowed to continue working as an advocate for airline safety and for "the airline piloting profession."

"I will work to remind the entire industry - and those who manage and regulate it - that we have a sacred duty to our passengers to do the very best that we know how to do," he wrote.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires pilots to retire at age 60.

Here's hoping Captain Sully continues getting all that rock star sex.

In other FAA news, an air traffic controller is in hot water for allowing his five-year-old to direct traffic.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a child was allowed to direct air traffic at John F. Kennedy airport, one of the busiest airports in the country.

The FAA says a controller brought the child to work on February 17th and allowed him to talk to pilots.

"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic," the FAA said in a statement. "This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees." The agency declined to comment beyond the statement.

I always thought everyone loved Bring Your Child to Work Day?

There's audio at the link. The kid was flawless.

Just Great: Air Traffic Controller Was Yakking on the Phone During Deadly Collision Over Hudson

Here's video of it via NBC News. Turns out the air traffic controller at Teterboro was busy on the phone talking to his girlfriend and his supervisor was nowhere to be found. Who knows, he was probably busy texting as well.

The air traffic controller at Teterboro Airport was on the phone with his girlfriend during Saturday's deadly air collision over the Hudson River, the Daily News has learned.

His supervisor was nowhere to be found at the time.

Both have been suspended and will likely be fired.

Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration revealed the two air traffic controllers, who were not immediately identified, had seriously deviated from their assignments at the time of the collision.

Nine people were killed when a small Piper plane with three aboard and a Liberty Helicopters chopper carrying five Italian tourists collided and plummeted into the river.

Officials said that the controller's actions were "unacceptable" even though they were not apparently to blame for the crash.

The NTSB and FAA investigators discovered the improper procedures by listening to audio recordings from the tower at Teterboro in New Jersey.

"In conjunction with the FAA's participation with the NTSB's inquiry into the recent Hudson River accident, we learned that the controller handling the Piper flight was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said.

"We also learned that the supervisor was not present in the building as required.

"While we have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident, this kind of conduct is unacceptable and we have placed the employees on administrative leave and have begun disciplinary proceedings.

"We respect the NTSB's authority in determining the cause of the accident and will continue to work closely with NTSB investigators," Babbitt added.

The air traffic controller on duty was in radio contact with the doomed aircraft, but he was also on a separate line with his girlfriend, according to an angry senior administration official.

"He should not have been on the phone with his girlfriend while he was observing an airplane," the source said.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.