The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has had a bout of bad luck as of late. First a blogger demonstrates a method of getting devices through their TSA’s body scanners without detection and now the Wall Street Journal has discovered yet another way to bypass TSA security, give them $100:
Hate the full-body scans, pat-downs and slow going at TSA airport security screening checkpoints? For $100, you can now bypass the hassle.
Want to avoid TSA pat downs, long lines and waltz through security with shoes and jackets on, laptops stored and all the soft drinks you can carry? As Scott McCartney explain on The News Hub, there is a way, and it costs just $100. Photo: Reuters
The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out expedited screening at big airports called “Precheck.” It has special lanes for background-checked travelers, who can keep their shoes, belt and jacket on, leave laptops and liquids in carry-on bags and walk through a metal detector rather than a full-body scan. The process, now at two airlines and nine airports, is much like how screenings worked before the Sept. 11 attacks.
To qualify, frequent fliers must meet undisclosed TSA criteria and get invited in by the airlines. There is also a backdoor in. Approved travelers who are in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Global Entry” program can transfer into Precheck using their Global Entry number.
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Enrolling requires a $100 application fee for a background check, plus a brief interview with a Customs officer.
If this doesn’t demonstrated the absurdity of the TSA nothing will. Like every state agency they claim to be absolutely necessary for public safety. Talking to most TSA agents will lead you to believe they single handedly stop 500 terrorists a day and if they weren’t doing security every plane would be hijacked and crashed into buildings. The protection they offer is so critical that nobody may be allowed to bypass sexual assault by TSA agents… unless you have $100, then you’re cool.
Government agencies always work off of this principle: they claim their absolutely necessary to protect something but if you pay them enough money you can bypass whatever protective measures the agency has claimed to put into place. My favorite example of this is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who claim to be necessary to protect the environment from evil polluters but will let anybody pollute so long as they pay the EPA enough money to buy a permit.
State protection is a scam designed to give the state another mechanism to take your money without increasing taxes.