Congress Can Solve Every Problem, Even the Ones They Create!
Those crazy central planners in Washington DC are at it again. Out of the goodness of their hearts they have proposed a bill that would eliminate fees on your airline baggage. Economic expert and central planner extraordinaire, Mary Landrieu, is the brilliant mind behind this proposed idiotic piece of legislation. The Senator from Louisiana details her argument below.
Air travel can be a stressful experience for many reasons, but unfair fees for basic amenities should not be one of them.......Passengers have been nickeled and dimed for far too long and something has to be done about it.
Why do politician never account for the unintended consequences of their legislation? It's pretty obvious that the airlines have a reason to be charging for checked baggage. They didn't develop these fees out of spite to stick it to the 99%. Even though airlines are heavily subsidized by the federal government, they still have to make a profit in order to survive. If Mary Landrieu really wanted to help, maybe she could examine the causes why jet fuel costs are rising and propose a plan to mitigate the increase in oil costs. Politicians in Washington do not understand that every single piece of legislation that they pass into law carries both positive and negative unintended consequences. In life, the unintended consequences resulting from a decision can be good or bad. For example, say you decide to stay at work longer hours in order to impress your boss and get a promotion. The intended consequence would be achieving your goal and receiving a promotion. A positive unintended consequence could result by encountering less traffic on your commute home due to the late hours at the office. A negative unintended consequence could result in your wife leaving you due to you never making it home in time for dinner.
Often politicians only look at short term results in legislation that they pass. Let's use the airline industry as an example. Airlines charge for checked baggage to make up for lost profit due to rising jet fuel costs? There are a variety of reasons why we have seen a rise in oil based fuels. I think most would be agree on the following two factors: foreign wars in oil rich middle eastern countries have decreased supply and Federal Reserve money printing has debased our currency. These aren't the only two reasons, but I think you would have to be clueless economically to not agree that these are majors factors contributing to rising fuel prices. Why doesn't Senator Landrieu attack the problem at the source? Why isn't she calling for our troops to be removed from foreign countries. Why isn't Senator Landrieu pushing legislation to regulate the Federal Reserve's loose money policy? I can't answer these questions for her, but I can only assume that she doesn't understand the issue or is simple trying to buy votes by offering what appears to be a handout to travelers. Her proposal is short sighted. This piece of legislation doesn't even consider the unintended consequences of intervening further into the cost of airline travel. It should be apparent to the most basic of economic minds that price fixing luggage transportation will only result in higher ticket prices for all air travelers. With Senators like this in Washington DC, it's no wonder that congressional approval is at all time lows.
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