Why does a flight from Ely, Nevada, to Denver cost taxpayers $3,720?
9th August 2011
These extravagances are part of the Essential Air Service initiative, which is part of the reason for the recent congressional impasse over a bill to keep the Federal Aviation Administration operating.
But the program survives because most states get some aid and every state has two senators, who usually hang on to every federal dollar as if it were a Super Bowl ticket.
Every time the Federal government spends money, it creates a group who wants that spending to continue. Ultimately, that constituency includes Federal lawmakers, who want the votes that supporting that spending will garner. This is an inherent defect in our present political system that can only be cured by reducing the number of things on which the Federal government is allowed to spend money..