<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tfjim:
Not to get off on a very Omni tangent or seem like I'm flaming anyone, but since when has the following been true with respect to government services in America:
Dollars in = services out
It mystifies me that people believe this. It should be obvious that very few pay disproportionately more than they receive in a whole range of government "services". There is no way to extract "legitimacy" from any of this.
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Well, one of the people who is going to be in charge of the government security screening was quoted last month as saying something to the effect of, "I don't see how we could offer any preferential treatment to certain passengers. Everyone will be paying the same fee, so the government can't discriminate for or against anyone."
The gist was, as I said, that since we all pay the same fee, we all get the same services. If the airlines don't kick in extra money for elites, and the elites don't pay more than the standard $2.50 fee, there's no justification for the federal government to discriminate for elites and against other citizens. Elite status is conferred by the airlines, private companies.
The minute the feds start discriminating in the security lines without justification (i.e. more money), ever civil rights group will be filing suit in federal court.
With the exception of INSPASS (which is a trusted traveler program, not an elite program), tell me one situation where everyone pays the government the same fee, but some get better/faster service. I've never seen it at the post office or DMV. Or, explain to me how the government could justify discriminating for "elite" flyers, without any additional money being involved.
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