Originally Posted by DCA TSO

According to Joe Trento, airline security before 9/11 cost around $700 million, while the TSA's yearly budget is $7 billion. But, in all fairness, it is not the TSO making $10-12/hour that racks up TSA costs. No doubt part of the bloated budget comes from the high cost of the Federal Air Marshal program. FAMs get relatively high salaries and they are given credit cards to charge ALL of their traveling expenses-- and they're not staying at Motel 6 but places like the Hyatt or Intercontinental at O'Hare. Look I agree with the critics here that the TSA is a joke. But TSA screeners at the very least man the magnetometers and watch the x-ray screens. What, pray tell, does a FAM do? What scenario-- apart from a terrorist jumping up from his or her seat shouting "allahu ahkbar" and commencing to wire up his or her explosive belt-- could a FAM be of any use? In fact, the only terrorist scenarios where a FAM could be useful are those events where every able-bodied male passenger is now expected to intervene.