The just concluded donnybrook over the U.S. debt ceiling is a galling demonstration of just how feckless and recklessly partisan Congress has become. It's not the only evidence, though, of a system of governance so broken that it jeopardizes the efficient day-to-day operation of the federal government. The on-going debate about funding the Federal Aviation Administration is a case in point.
The Democrat-Republican divide is so great that legislators have been unable to agree on long-term funding for the agency. Senate Democrats have approved a funding bill that would make it just a bit easier for airline (and railroad) workers to unionize. That doesn't sit well with House Republicans, who crafted competing legislation that would end operating subsidies to airports in rural areas. That angers Democrats, whose efforts at compromise were rebuffed.
Given the capital's poisonous atmosphere, that's hardly a surprise. What's particularly exasperating, though, is that legislators couldn't agree on a short-term funding resolution for the agency, despite precedent for doing so.
Congress has approved 20 such extensions in the last few years. Not this time. The agency, starved for funds, shut down all but its most essential operations almost two weeks ago. The result is disastrous in both human and financial terms.
Air traffic controllers are still at work because their jobs are termed essential, but thousands of other FAA employees are now on furlough. Tens of thousands of other workers -- mostly in the construction industry -- have been put out of work because FAA projects have been suspended or delayed. The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport is among those affected.
The purchase of property off Brainerd Road that the airport would use to extend its runway protection zone is on hold until the funding dispute is resolved. The construction of a new general aviation terminal elsewhere on airport grounds will continue. State funds are being used to build most of it.
The financial damage is immense. Without the FAA to collect ticket taxes, the government is losing about $200 million a week. A government with money problems can ill afford to lose that sum.
The fiscal hemorrhage won't end soon. House members have left Washington for the traditional August recess. Senators, now that the debt ceiling vote is over, are expected to follow soon, so there's almost no chance that the FAA bill will be taken up again until September. By then, lost revenue from uncollected airline ticket taxes likely will exceed $1 billion.
The FAA fiasco is partisan politics at its worst. Congress' failure to act responsibly in this matter puts air safety, jobs and the economy at risk. The public deserves better. Voters should remind their elected representatives of that during the upcoming recess.