It doesn't actually make any sense that air traffic controllers are going unpaid. [View all]

It is really just a failure of lawmakers to insulate one of the most important pieces of America's economic engine from their own squabbling--and it is totally unnecessary.

There are many things that the federal government does that it really only makes sense for the government to fund and pay for. These things are largely complex and expensive endeavors that involve the "common good" or "general welfare" mentioned in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

The "common defense" of the United States mentioned in both the Preamble and Article I is a classic example of this. National defense is a collective expense we all take on. It is something that is not possible to actually quantify in a way that would make charging individual citizens or states for. How much national defense does a person use in a given day, month, or year? How much national defense does an east coast state or city use compared to a west coast state or city? If there is an incoming ICBM should the question be, "how much has the target area paid for national defense this month?"

While national defense does contribute greatly to economic conditions by providing both the citizenry and the government a stable and safe place in which to operate, that contribution is too enigmatic to truly quantify in a meaningful way. It would be nearly impossible to pay soldiers based on what they do to impact the economy, and it would be even more difficult to figure out whom to charge for those services.

This is not true for air traffic controllers. They perform a valuable service that each air traveler and airline pay for through fees. Each time you buy a plane ticket and each time a plane lands at an airport there is a fee associated--part of which goes to paying air traffic controllers.

While the government is shut down those fees are still being collected--just not paid out to the people keeping you and your family and the billions of dollars of cargo being flown all over the country safe. This makes no sense; and is dangerous and disruptive to a system that should not be beholden to the constraints of how we pay federal workers.

Congress could--and IMO should--create a mechanism by which the FAA still has purview over the system but allows the fees we all pay into a system to keep us all safe and moving around the country to continue to flow to those critical to its function.

Anything less is just playing politics with our lives for no discernable reason.