Darrell Issa: Privatize Airport Security

[untermensche]

My last flight was a month ago.

About a ten minute wait in line each way.

But there should be warning systems.

You should be able to quickly get information about any backups or slow downs.

But if a lot of people walk in by chance immediately before you do then slow downs can be possible with nobody to blame.

 

[Playball40]

Your faith in government is strong. Particularly for an anarchist.

My faith in government is weak.

But it is less in private tyrannies.

I agree. And I'm curious how Colorado thinks the "incentives" should be set up? By speed? Well that's going to make people less safe because you can't really be as thorough if you're rushing? Maybe it should be by "items confiscated"? Hmmm....that would definitely slow things down.

See I'm thinking analysis of what is effective and what isn't, additional lines/agents at peak flying times including seasons.

 

[coloradoatheist]

My faith in government is weak.

But it is less in private tyrannies.

I agree. And I'm curious how Colorado thinks the "incentives" should be set up? By speed? Well that's going to make people less safe because you can't really be as thorough if you're rushing? Maybe it should be by "items confiscated"? Hmmm....that would definitely slow things down.

See I'm thinking analysis of what is effective and what isn't, additional lines/agents at peak flying times including seasons.

How about the incentive of not knowing they are there or have to think about it? When the last time you went to a sporting event where they did security did you come back and say I really noticed their presence and dreaded it?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I agree. And I'm curious how Colorado thinks the "incentives" should be set up? By speed? Well that's going to make people less safe because you can't really be as thorough if you're rushing? Maybe it should be by "items confiscated"? Hmmm....that would definitely slow things down.

See I'm thinking analysis of what is effective and what isn't, additional lines/agents at peak flying times including seasons.

How about the incentive of not knowing they are there or have to think about it? When the last time you went to a sporting event where they did security did you come back and say I really noticed their presence and dreaded it?

They wanded everyone at the last NFL game I went to.

 

[coloradoatheist]

How about the incentive of not knowing they are there or have to think about it? When the last time you went to a sporting event where they did security did you come back and say I really noticed their presence and dreaded it?

They wanded everyone at the last NFL game I went to.

And with the NBA it was simple magnetic detectors. I think in our effort to protect an overblown threat they have scared us too much.

 

[dismal]

Your faith in government is strong. Particularly for an anarchist.

My faith in government is weak.

But it is less in private tyrannies.

How would airport security work in anarchist land?

Or are people too busy fighting over the best caves and foraging for roots and berries to worry about flying?

 

[dismal]

There job isn't to make lines go quicker or convenience travelers. Their job is to screen passengers for potentially dangerous items/people. We cannot have it both ways.

Yes, their job is to consider convenience of the traveler. And to consider costs. There is a balance of things that should be optimized.

Besides, even if their only job was to prevent dangerous items getting on planes the security audits suggest they totally suck at it.

 

[ronburgundy]

The first thing that would happen with privatizing airport security in the US is a massive increase in wait times for all people unwilling or unable to pay extra premium fees to go through express lines. The companies would have a direct profit motive to make the general line as inefficient and slow as possible to coerce more people into paying the premiums. The would also have profit motive to cut costs in the security procedures at the expense of safety, especially if they are shielded from liability of for security breaches (which the GOP would fight to guarantee, as they generally do for corporate liability).

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Personally, I think wait times at border crossings is nuts. It is one of the reasons I don't head up to Niagara as often. Get into Canada is easy. Getting into the US is a pain in the ass. Though Thousand Islands wasn't nearly as bad. Neither was Grand Portage. I'm starting to think if Terrorists wanted to get into the US from Canada, they'd use those places, instead of Niagara.

Going to Canada
Guard: Howya doin' eh?
Me: Good.
Guard: Here is your complimentary moose. Thanks. Have a nice day.

Going to USA
Guard: Who the fuck do you think you are?
Me: Here is my passport.
Guard: Get out of the car, I'm going to "probe" you! *literally uses fingers for quotes*

They wanded everyone at the last NFL game I went to.

And with the NBA it was simple magnetic detectors. I think in our effort to protect an overblown threat they have scared us too much.

Dude, they nuked the Super Bowl. Sure... it was in a Tom Clancy novel, but they nuked the fucking Super Bowl!

That said, security at NFL / NBA is more about person to person violence than terrorism, other than big events like the Super Bowl or even the Pro Bowl.

 

[dismal]

The first thing that would happen with privatizing airport security in the US is a massive increase in wait times for all people unwilling or unable to pay extra premium fees to go through express lines. The companies would have a direct profit motive to make the general line as inefficient and slow as possible to coerce more people into paying the premiums. The would also have profit motive to cut costs in the security procedures at the expense of safety, especially if they are shielded from liability of for security breaches (which the GOP would fight to guarantee, as they generally do for corporate liability).

As opposed to, say, the express lanes we have now. That didn't exist back when it was private.

 

[coloradoatheist]

The first thing that would happen with privatizing airport security in the US is a massive increase in wait times for all people unwilling or unable to pay extra premium fees to go through express lines. The companies would have a direct profit motive to make the general line as inefficient and slow as possible to coerce more people into paying the premiums. The would also have profit motive to cut costs in the security procedures at the expense of safety, especially if they are shielded from liability of for security breaches (which the GOP would fight to guarantee, as they generally do for corporate liability).

Can you give an example of a company that intentionally slows its customer service down now?


Is that the argument the TSA is making, the government isn't paying for enough staff?

 

[arkirk]

Well, if Canada has private airport security we're pretty much screwed once the terrorists figure out the wall between the US and Canada isn't tall enough to keep a plane out anyway.

You're only as strong as the weakest link.

Because you're so hateful, they seem to be coming after you? You feel you must stay strong because the world is out to get you? Where I come from, they call that paranoia.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

The first thing that would happen with privatizing airport security in the US is a massive increase in wait times for all people unwilling or unable to pay extra premium fees to go through express lines. The companies would have a direct profit motive to make the general line as inefficient and slow as possible to coerce more people into paying the premiums. The would also have profit motive to cut costs in the security procedures at the expense of safety, especially if they are shielded from liability of for security breaches (which the GOP would fight to guarantee, as they generally do for corporate liability).

Can you give an example of a company that intentionally slows its customer service down now?

Comcast.

 

[coloradoatheist]

Can you give an example of a company that intentionally slows its customer service down now?

Comcast.

And what has been happening to their market share with competitors?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Comcast.

And what has been happening to their market share with competitors?

What competitors?

 

[coloradoatheist]

And what has been happening to their market share with competitors?

What competitors?

Dish, DirectTV, netflix, hulu, now TV channels themselves.

But the security firms used won't be monopolies.

 

[dismal]

Well, if Canada has private airport security we're pretty much screwed once the terrorists figure out the wall between the US and Canada isn't tall enough to keep a plane out anyway.

You're only as strong as the weakest link.

Because you're so hateful, they seem to be coming after you? You feel you must stay strong because the world is out to get you? Where I come from, they call that paranoia.

Maybe all the peyote back in the 1960's makes things a bit hazy, but actually reading the thread should reveal I'm not the one claiming we need the the police state to fight terrorists here.

Call Higgins and Squirrel hateful, if you must yell at someone to get off your lawn.

 

[ronburgundy]

The first thing that would happen with privatizing airport security in the US is a massive increase in wait times for all people unwilling or unable to pay extra premium fees to go through express lines. The companies would have a direct profit motive to make the general line as inefficient and slow as possible to coerce more people into paying the premiums. The would also have profit motive to cut costs in the security procedures at the expense of safety, especially if they are shielded from liability of for security breaches (which the GOP would fight to guarantee, as they generally do for corporate liability).

Can you give an example of a company that intentionally slows its customer service down now?

The people who don't pay the extra premiums would not be customers. They would be people the private security wants to turn into paying customers by trying to lower their access to quality alternatives and force them to start directly paying for shorter lines. Pretty much every single large corporation deliberately tries to impede the public's access to quality alternatives to the product they are trying to sell them.

Is that the argument the TSA is making, the government isn't paying for enough staff?

Yes, current slow downs are caused by insufficient staff. The TSA just hired thousands of additional screeners to try and deal with wait times. A for profit company would stand to gain zero additional dollars by such hires, because people who go through standard screening are not buying screening service. The only people who buy screening service are those who pay premiums to bypass the standard lines. Currently, you cannot just pay a fee to bypass the line. With privatized security that would immediately be a reality (unless your economic theory says that private companies have no interest in profits).

 

[Nice Squirrel]

What competitors?

Dish, DirectTV, netflix, hulu, now TV channels themselves.

But the security firms used won't be monopolies.

So you get to choose which security screening line you go through?

 

[dismal]

Can you give an example of a company that intentionally slows its customer service down now?

The people who don't pay the extra premiums would not be customers. They would be people the private security wants to turn into paying customers by trying to lower their access to quality alternatives and force them to start directly paying for shorter lines. Pretty much every single large corporation deliberately tries to impede the public's access to quality alternatives to the product they are trying to sell them.

Is that the argument the TSA is making, the government isn't paying for enough staff?

Yes, current slow downs are caused by insufficient staff. The TSA just hired thousands of additional screeners to try and deal with wait times. A for profit company would stand to gain zero additional dollars by such hires, because people who go through standard screening are not buying screening service. The only people who buy screening service are those who pay premiums to bypass the standard lines. Currently, you cannot just pay a fee to bypass the line. With privatized security that would immediately be a reality (unless your economic theory says that private companies have no interest in profits).

No, you can just pay a fee to go to a shorter, faster line where they use a scanner-free shoes-on procedure uncannily like the pre-9/11 procedure.