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Return to Article: Comment on TSA frequent flier program spurs industry alarm

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  If the government would use the information highway to its potential and stop its people from making so many needless trips on the skyways, lines at the airport would be shorter, it would be easier to maintain tight security and the taxpayers would save money. All flights made at taxpayer expense should be scored according to an unbiased standard before the money is spent. That includes trips taken by members of Congress and associated staff. It's time we start asking if all of these trips are really necessary. I suppose you might as well try to squeeze blood from a turnip.

  Robert M. Posted May 10, 2006 6:50 PM
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  I agree with the first poster -- why screen the screeners and not all the passengers -- and the second poster: Airlines are probably a less likely target than before. Over the last decade or so I've had a good deal to do with persons who perhaps should not have gotten personnel security clearances but did -- and the clearance process here is a good one. Things slip by, priorities and funding shift. It is impossible to imagine a screening process for passengers as thorough as we have for agency and contractor personnel. It's one thing to make a slip with a general process, it's quite another to "clear" a passenger and thereby fail to catch a problem at the gate.

  Richard Tedrow Posted May 10, 2006 8:24 AM
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  I have a very difficult time justifying the notion of letting frequent travelers bypass the security line -- screeners have to undergo screening every time they enter the checkpoint, either to report to work or return from break/lunch. Anyone who sets off the walkthrough, has a suspect/opaque item show up on x-ray or just acts goofy should get the same treatment, regardless of their status. Too many of us out there in the blogosphere are starting to forget about 9/11.

  GovExec.com reader Posted May 5, 2006 8:27 AM
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  Tennis, anyone? Forget this obsession with planes, the terrorists are already three or four steps ahead of us. How do you win at tennis, handball, or paddleball? Simple, just put the ball where the opponent isn't! TSA is wasting valuable manpower checking people out of this country, when all we should worry about is people coming into America! Secure our ports, railroads, power plants, let airlines go...

  GovExec.com reader Posted May 4, 2006 8:24 PM
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  As a frequent traveler, I have been hoping to be able to sign up for the proposed program. If when it is created it does not truly expedite the process -- i.e., allow later airport arrival, shorter lines, need to remove shoes, belt buckles, etc. to pass through metal detectors -- I will not be signing up. I suspect others will feel the same way. Until more is known, I continue to hope for a useful system.

  GovExec.com reader Posted May 4, 2006 7:44 AM