House leaves, FAA partly shutdown, 90K jobs on line



'Sure I care about jobs ...heh-heh'

This is how much House Speaker John Boehner cares about jobs: He recessed the House of Representatives immediately after they voted on the debt-ceiling deal last night. They did NOT take a vote on funding the Federal Aviation Administration. That means the agency will remain partially shut down for at least a month, and as many as 90,000 people will lose their jobs.
Nice, hunh?

You'll remember funding for the FAA was cut off because congressional Republicans are eager to weaken airline unions. They want to reinstate a grossly unfair election rule. The Democrats don't agree.

Think Progress reported yesterday,

...the FAA’s airport inspectors keep doing their jobs, even without pay:

The administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration says airport safety inspectors nationwide are working without pay and shouldering travel expenses themselves, as the agency’s budget crisis enters a second week. [...]

An inspector may travel to five airports in a two-week period, racking up thousands of dollars in hotel and airline tickets. Babbitt says they’re being asked to put those expenses on personal credit cards.

The government is losing more than $200 million a week in revenue generated through ticket taxes during the shutdown, and $2.5 billion in airport infrastructure improvement projects are on hold. The airlines, meanwhile, have used those tax breaks to line their own pockets rather than pass the savings on to customers.The Senate is reportedly staying in session to work on a re-authorization plan.