The FAA, After the Republicans
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Republicans, who are experts at such maneuvers, have been holding the reauthorization of the F.A.A. hostage for months, trying to get Democrats in the Senate to agree to weaken transportation workers’ rights.
The tale, like so much in Washington, is a convoluted one, but it comes down to this: Last year, the National Mediation Board changed a rule to make it easier for airline and railroad workers to unionize with a straight majority vote. At the behest of the airlines, House Republicans inserted a provision in the F.A.A. reauthorization bill to undo the rule change. The Senate’s version kept the rule.
With the two chambers unable to agree, Congress would normally have passed a temporary extension for the F.A.A. (a routine vote that has happened 20 times since 2007). But, last month, the House Republicans inserted a provision to end $16.5 million in federal subsidies to keep airports open in 13 rural communities.
Both parties agree subsidies must be cut. But the list, Democrats note, was written in a way to hit airports in the states of prominent Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid. Representative John Mica, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced publicly that the subsidy issue was “just a tool” to get the Senate to give in on the union issue.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/opinion/the-faa-after-the-republicans.html?src=recg