Free Market Example for Airlines?

Imagine for a moment what would happen to America's and the World's airlines if they were forced off the government dole. Seriously.

Since 9-11 America's airlines have received billions of our tax dollars in subsidies, law-suit protection from terrorism (which in and of itself is ridiculous that any airline, person, or other business or entity could have foreseen and stopped such a sneak attack), tax-supported security (TSA), et al. And before that, those same airlines were subsidized with government air traffic control systems, government-owned and operated airports, and any number of programs bought and paid for by you and I. I've always wonder why in the world I have to buy a ticket when I've been helping to pay for it since I was fifteen (I'm at least three times that old now)!

What would happen if airlines had to own the airports? What would TSA be like if they had to treat you, the customer, as if you were actually a customer, instead of a crazed, terroristic maniac? What would occur if the air traffic control system was owned and run by the airlines? What if they had to manage the air lanes on their own because they owned them?

And what would happen if they had to pay property and other taxes on the items they used, instead of paying piddling amounts to the government owners - which is eventually you and me?

What would happen?

Today, right now, as you read this, there is a transportation mode in America that fills all these criteria!

Seriously? Really?

Yes. And today, these private companies are in better financial and physical condition than they have been in seventy years! Additionally, they pay substantially higher wages, benefits and retirements than most other businesses. And, their work force is generally less educated than similarly-compensated employees in other businesses inside and outside of transportation .

These companies own their means of transportation almost exclusively, paying property taxes to local and state governments. They control these routes with their own employees, controlling traffic all over their systems. They own most of the equipment, and buy and maintain it in their own shops, with their own employees. When they need new or expanded facilities, they build it themselves, and maintain it. If a piece of property is damaged, they will have it repaired and operating within days. They even have their own police forces that are required to be fully certified federally and in the states in which they operate. And they have been highly profitable, even through the nation's current financial difficulties.

That's America's freight railroads today.

Surprised? Most people are. But, these are the reasons that men like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have invested heavily in railroads recently. Buffett stunned many when he bought, with billions of dollars, all outstanding shares of BNSF Railway, a company that operates from Birmingham to Seattle, San Diego to Chicago, and most placed in-between.

Incidentally, Buffett HASN'T been investing in airlines.

Perhaps it is time for airlines to emulate success, and demand that the government turn over the Federal Aviation Administration's TSA, Air Traffic Control, airports and buildings, and other pertinent items to them. It is clear that these things can't get managed much worse, and I'd be willing to bet that they could do it much better.

Maybe then Warren Buffett and Bill Gates would by an airline.

More Evidence That Liberal Ideas (Almost) Never Work

On June 22 of this year I posted an argument concerning our government’s “solutions” to any number of issues. It was with a smug horror that I find that my words were almost prescient.

I argued that America is a wealthy nation. We, as barely four percent of the World’s population produce fully twenty-five percent of the World’s wealth. And I stated that it is this wealth that causes liberals to make us believe that we are greedy or just too self-centered and they must come up with solutions to cure this sinful selfishness.

And so we are now in the midst of the worst financial breakdown in America and on Earth since at least the fiasco of the Carter Administration and quite possibly the Depression of the 1930’s. In the 1930’s, in the throes of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came up with the “Alphabet Agencies” which expanded the US government exponentially and militarily socialized society. It is felt by many historians and economists that this effort actually lengthened the downturn by as much as 100 per cent. One of the programs introduced during FDR’s tenure in 1938 was the Federal National Mortgage Association, or “Fannie Mae.” When Richard Nixon took over from Johnson’s Great Society, his populist conversion led to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Freddie Mac in 1970.

I previously said that I understand that all these programs are based on the best of intentions, and that I also know to that the Road to Hell is paved with those same intentions. And so it is with Fannie and Freddie. Our benevolent government decided, with some real evidence, that homeowners are more stable, less likely to commit crime, and are therefore more responsible and better citizens. So, the US Government jumped into the mortgage business in order to boost the ability of the average American to own a home, and then be more stable, become responsible, and raise a family. This would all, then, contribute to a stronger, more stable nation. It seems all so logical.

So, during the Clinton administration, Fannie, Freddie, and the private banks and institutions that are dependent on them, were ordered to ease their lending requirements and give loans to nearly anyone who wanted to buy a home. Great idea! Except, there were no real rules to ensure that EVERYONE was going to make the proper decision. In fact, the financial institutions were threatened by the Clinton Justice Department with criminal charges if they refused to go along!

Nevertheless, it soon dawned on managers of banks and other lenders that huge money could be made by lending to people who were traditionally high risk, AND THAT THE LOANS WOULD BE GUARANTEED BY THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER! No muss, no fuss, and it was ALL LEGAL! Why? Because Congress, whose job it is to control and manage these agencies were more interested in catering to their constituencies than in the dangers of a potential global financial meltdown. Warned of the potential problems repeatedly over the past decade, Congressional committee chairs Christopher Todd and Barney Franks refused to increase oversight or tighten regulations.

How were they warned? Shoot, even the liberal New York Times in an article published in 1999 stated as much.

But, the government decided some social engineering was a good thing, and that we could MAKE people responsible if they owned their own home. This same entity also thought that welfare was a great idea. That is why today a black child is less likely to be raised in a two-parent household than he was during Slavery.
The point of all this? Simply that the government is incapable of properly and effectively performing those things that the free market does so well. When the government puts its hand in where it should never have ever been, it brings catastrophic returns to our nation. In this case, it also brought it to the World.

Don’t be fooled. Capitalism didn’t cause this catastrophe. It was the intrusion of government into the mortgage market that was the prime reason for this melt-down. Capitalism, as it is wont to do, took advantage of government foolishness and a small group of people got rich. And you and I are left holding the bag. Christopher Todd, Barney Franks, John McCain, Barack Obama, and as far back as Lyndon Johnson and even Franklin Roosevelt, and a host of others are the real culprits in this. These are the people that WE elected to run our government.

And, so, we too are to blame.