So in the news, California has decided that Clear needs to be banned from airports. For those unfamiliar with it, Clear is a private company that does pre-screening of passengers not unlike TSA PreCheck. It’s not cheap though. For the privilege of moving through the security checkpoints, a traveler spends $189/year for themselves, $99/year for each additional family member. You walk up to the kiosk, show your boarding pass and you are escorted past the checkpoint.
Democrat (What a surprise) Josh Newman has decided that mere people being able to bypass checkpoints is “inequitable.”
“It’s a basic equity issue when you see people subscribed to a concierge service being escorted in front of people who have waited a long time to get to the front of TSA line,” Newman told CBS MoneyWatch. “Everyone is beaten down by the travel experience, and if Clear escorts a customer in front of you and tells TSA, ‘Sorry, I have someone better,’ it’s really frustrating.”
The absence of intelligence behind that thought process is almost at a level I would call malicious.
First off, nothing is stopping anyone from signing up for the service. There is no “Wypipo only” membership here. It’s available for anyone who wants it. And with how unpleasant air travel has become, the government cannot grudge anyone trying to make things better for themselves.
Secondly, no one is saying that to the TSA. He’s full of shit for even saying that. But he feels that it’s what someone might say so he’s justified in this.
A normal person would look at what Clear is doing and start Asking Questions such as “Why is it our only options are TSA PreCheck and Clear? Why can’t more companies take part in this?” Imagine how much lower the costs would be if you get multiple systems in place that screen passengers ahead of time and remove the need for the long lines.
But this takes power away from the government. Which answers why it won’t happen.
The most annoying part of all of this is that government that takes things away from people are never hurt by that decision. If California succeeds in getting rid of Clear, the elected officials will still get special treatment. If the government as a whole bans guns, they are still protected by people with guns. When they demand school choice be taken away, their children will still be enrolled in better schools. When they take away health insurance, their lives are still protected.
But for some reason, that “inequity” is the good kind. If we had a media worth their name, they’d be asking why government is allowed to be exempt from their declarations.
