by CKR
David Ignatius must have taken an airplane trip recently. The airlines are in a downward spiral, he tells us. And one of the giants of the industry, Robert Crandall, former head of American Airlines, recently gave a speech outlining why he thinks the airlines should be re-regulated. He’s been opposed to deregulation all along, and some of his more dour predictions have come true.
Crandall makes a number of specific suggestions, but it’s his bigger points that are really important. He talks about goals for the aviation industry and goals for the country. He says we’re lacking goals. But, more precisely, we have allowed a set of ideology-driven fanatics to determine the goals for the country.
The goals we currently are working under are:
1) To maximize the “free market.” This means removing regulatory requirements and privatizing government functions.
2) To increase US hegemony through military power.
It’s becoming clear that these goals are doing far more harm than good, the disaster of airline deregulation being only one of many: crumbling infrastructure, Blackwater, lack of health care for too many citizens, alienation of our allies, and the list goes on.
Ignatius takes quick note of these ills and blames them on Washington gridlock. But he’s wrong. There is a specific ideology that insists on removing regulation, the devil take the hindmost. It is called conservatism, and Peter Scoblic has shown how it has undermined national security.
Some time around when the airlines were deregulated, politics became more of a popularity contest. Television showed us the five o’clock shadow, and politicans learned to be pretty and vague and attractiveness as a beer-drinking partner was added to the promise of a chicken in every pot or a Hummer in every driveway. The preparation for this sort of political career does not include the backbone to develop and stand by policies. It also allowed ideologues to put on a pretty face and promise lower taxes and ponies for everyone.
Crandall observes that we have neither a transportation policy nor an energy policy. Of course not! That’s not why these members of Congress were elected. Politicians proferring energy policies raising gasoline taxes or gas mileage or moving toward solar or nuclear power would have been beaten by those strong-chinned fellows offering the opportunity for every man to be a millionaire by the magic of unfettered free enterprise. Or offering their attractiveness as beer-drinking companions.
We like cheap airline fares, but not the increasingly crummy and cramped cabins. We like cheap gasoline until something happens and it’s not cheap any more. We like easy politicians, not the policy wonks. We don’t like recognizing that the cheap fares give us the cramped cabins or that reducing taxes reduces our ability to respond to changing conditions.
Presidential leadership would help. Like a leader who gave us a long-term energy plan on September 12, 2001, not just a demand for a quick fix by July 4. Like a leader who could recognize that American business depends on convenient, safe transportation, up-to-date infrastructure, and affordable health care. Like a leader who would put those things into enactable legislation, not just talk about them. And Congressional leaders could pitch in some leadership, too.
The United States used to be good at solving problems. These days, we don't seem up to the job.That’s what Crandall said. I think that we can solve the problems if we focus our attention. We need leadership, and we need intelligent followership too. Here’s hoping voters recognize that in the November elections.
Update: Looks like some other folks were thinking similarly this weekend.