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A comment on I flew on a plane without going through security. It was amazing and no one died. Parent comment

Re:I flew on a plane without going through security. It was ... by twoodfin on Monday December 30, 2013 @10:01PM (#6988686)
Let's all remember why the TSA was created; solely so the Bush administration could buffer the economic impact of their shit economic policy and the effects of the terrorist attacks that group of feeble minded simpletons played right into. It's a make-work program, plain and simple.

Initially, the Bush administration and the GOP resisted the creation of a Federal airport security service. They were not at all excited about a big new (particularly unionized) government workforce. But the Democrats fought for it and won that political argument. Here's a contemporaneous news account that covers the basics: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=87570

How did you end up remembering it differently?

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Re:I flew on a plane without going through security. It was ... by anigbrowl on Monday December 30, 2013 @11:49PM (#6989032)
The GOP had majorities in both the House and Senate, and the linked article mentions begins by mentioning the unanimous passage of the bill in the Senate. The law in question was the Aviation Security Act. When it passed in the house, 136 Democrats voted against it (partly due to concerns about unionization eligibility), but only 2 Republicans and 1 independent did. So I don't think it's fair to say 'the GOP resisted the creation' of the TSA. As for the administration, transportation secretary Mineta wanted to federalize airport security from the outset.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2001/roll425.xml

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Re:I flew on a plane without going through security. It was ... by twoodfin on Tuesday December 31, 2013 @07:48AM (#6990202)
The GOP had majorities in both the House and Senate...

No, they didn't. By then, Senator Jim Jeffords had become an independent, caucusing with the Democrats and giving them a one-vote majority control of the chamber. Also, FWIW, Norm Mineta was the token Democrat in the Bush cabinet.

And of course everyone voted for the bill once it was clear it would pass. Who wanted to be against enhanced airline security?

I'm not saying the GOP put up the fight of the century on the TSA, far from it. But it's a mischaracterization of history to say that Bush demanded a dramatic expansion of the Federal workforce as some kind of economic smokescreen. If that were so, you'd expect to find accounts of Democrats at least raising token opposition to this brilliant political stratagem.

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