agcatman
New Member
I hate to get too caught up in politics, but a couple of observations.
1) Which party is mainly responsible for the TFRs which are so annoying to everyone?
Neither. It's the Dept. of the Treasury doing it. The Secret Service has no concern over the ability of a pilot to get a $100 hamburger. They consider their task almost a sacred one. Hey, these guys will willingly take a bullet for a President. Do you think for a second that they care that GA pilots are inconvenienced?
2) The cost of liability is the accepted reason for sky-high premiums. Of all issues facing aviation, this is arguably the most damning of all. So, who are the Trial Lawyers who are the ones doing the suing on behalf of their clients funding with huge contributions to see that tort reform is either not enacted or watered down?
Democrats
3) Which political party has a large block of constituents whose cries are louder than an R-2800 with the exhaust collectors off when it comes to noise pollution and environmental pollution?
Democrats
4)Which party is generally more in favor of increased taxation of aviation assets and services?
Democrats
5)Which party most supports privatization of ATC?
Split, although at the present time Pres. Bush has made some efforts in that direction.
6)So which party is most OPPOSED to privatization?
Democrats
Get your red hot myth right here:
Insurance rates did not go up because of 9/11. That had little or nothing at all to do with it. Premiums went up because of the collapse of the stock market and the dot com bomb. The invested premiums of the insurance companies tanked and the losses had to be made up somewhere.
Another cause for the drastic hikes was a reorganization of the way that insurance companies figure profit/loss. Several years ago they caused the individual groups to be split. For instance all aviation insurance premiums went into the same pot. Airlines, corporate, GA and crop dusting. At the end of the year, the losses were compared to the premiums and the new rates set. Then somebody got a bur under their saddle. They decided that the different sections of aviation should each stand on their own because some of the divisions were "subsidizing" the others. So airline losses were compared to airline premiums, etc. all the way down the line.. And so it was. And so it weren't too good for some.
We are a democracy (sometimes unfortunately). I think we'd all agree the US would be a better place if I were king. But I'm not. And we are a minority. So scream, yell, do what you can, but don't labor under a misconception. As others have noted:
JOIN AOPA AND ANY OTHER TRADE ORGANIZATION GERMANE TO YOUR FLYING EXPERIENCE
As budget squeezes continue to hamper towns and cities, airports will continue to be shut down. The tremendous amount of real estate in a given community will, as a rule, provide a MUCH greater tax revenue increase when it is bulldozed and the land divided into individual units which each pay property tax according to the assessed value of the building or home (in most cases anyway, not everywhere). Sometimes they are shut down because of noise, but as a rule it's an economic choice. Hey, it's gotten to where developers can now even convince city fathers to condemn houses and such so that they can build a mall there. All they have to do is show them how much more tax income, in the form of sales tax, property tax, etc. the mall will provide as opposed to the neighborhood of 1950's tract homes in a blue collar neighborhood.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. I read here where if you don't think people freak out about airplanes then just go fly over a group of people at 1000'. Hehe, now what the heck is THAT all about? I know it was meant rhetorically, but don't think that it hasn't happened. I remember not long after GA was released after the 9/11 shutdown. It couldn't have been two weeks afterward and a couple of young guys were in a small plane buzzing the Ferris Wheel and flying up and down the fairway! Right here where I live three planes flying en route from SIK got over the river and started buzzing the line boats and their tows! If that wasn't bad enough, one of them (they were all aerobatic, maybe Decats, don't remember) made sure on his last pass that he got in good and tight and keyed his smoker! Smoked the whole line boat and the guys FREAKED! Hehe, man, the Feds came after me BIG TIME over that deal, because it HAD to be a crop duster to do something like that! Anyway, I got my name cleared but a few days later the CEO of the towing company called me wanting to know what crop dusters were spraying that time of the year! Anyway we talked for a while and he admitted that he knew it wasn't me that did it, but the Feds would tell him nothing and the guys on the line boat were crawling the walls wanting to get the hell of and get some Cipro.
These things add up. And there's not much sympathy for us, because, as Doug noted, we're all just a bunch of rich people with expensive toys playing dangerously with no concern for others!
There are some good things on the horizon though. Hopefully Sport Pilot will relieve some of the liability/tort issues and put planes a little more in the common man's price range.
Still, continuous vigilance is required.
However, seeing the political disagreements here, in the almost twenty years that I've been flying, fifteen or so commercially, it's been my observation that, when looking at aviation and related issues (environment and taxes primarily) the cold hard fact is that the Republicans have traditionally taken stances more favorable to aviation than the Democrats. And it's not even really close either. The areas where Democrats seem to be leading is more a function of their support of organized labor as opposed to a fundamental support of aviation. But this would be important to those members of ALPA.
And, believe it or not, because of the direction that the proponents of ATC privatization are mostly heading, it could well be the airlines that end up the most damaging to GA in the end (as far as damage caused by privatization). The system in Canada is most favored by Pres. Bush and other proponents of the idea. In Canada's case, it is the airlines who actually own ATC. As such, they would be given a tremendous amount of freedom to determine what is charged to GA for the service. So, if it happens that way, the airlines could be good to GA or they could attempt to use GA as a cash cow. Either way it is often argued that while ATC services may improve most believe that will not be the case for GA. Why? If privatized it is generally accepted that charges will be based upon the amount of the system required according to the flight plan. So, no flight plan= no charge. Many fear this would in fact discourage GA pilots from filing.
Hehe, I've got my Nomex on, do what you will. I've made a study of these issues but I'd like to read other opinions on my opinion as well. Hey, if I'm missing something I need to know. This is how I feed my family after all.
1) Which party is mainly responsible for the TFRs which are so annoying to everyone?
Neither. It's the Dept. of the Treasury doing it. The Secret Service has no concern over the ability of a pilot to get a $100 hamburger. They consider their task almost a sacred one. Hey, these guys will willingly take a bullet for a President. Do you think for a second that they care that GA pilots are inconvenienced?
2) The cost of liability is the accepted reason for sky-high premiums. Of all issues facing aviation, this is arguably the most damning of all. So, who are the Trial Lawyers who are the ones doing the suing on behalf of their clients funding with huge contributions to see that tort reform is either not enacted or watered down?
Democrats
3) Which political party has a large block of constituents whose cries are louder than an R-2800 with the exhaust collectors off when it comes to noise pollution and environmental pollution?
Democrats
4)Which party is generally more in favor of increased taxation of aviation assets and services?
Democrats
5)Which party most supports privatization of ATC?
Split, although at the present time Pres. Bush has made some efforts in that direction.
6)So which party is most OPPOSED to privatization?
Democrats
Get your red hot myth right here:
Insurance rates did not go up because of 9/11. That had little or nothing at all to do with it. Premiums went up because of the collapse of the stock market and the dot com bomb. The invested premiums of the insurance companies tanked and the losses had to be made up somewhere.
Another cause for the drastic hikes was a reorganization of the way that insurance companies figure profit/loss. Several years ago they caused the individual groups to be split. For instance all aviation insurance premiums went into the same pot. Airlines, corporate, GA and crop dusting. At the end of the year, the losses were compared to the premiums and the new rates set. Then somebody got a bur under their saddle. They decided that the different sections of aviation should each stand on their own because some of the divisions were "subsidizing" the others. So airline losses were compared to airline premiums, etc. all the way down the line.. And so it was. And so it weren't too good for some.
We are a democracy (sometimes unfortunately). I think we'd all agree the US would be a better place if I were king. But I'm not. And we are a minority. So scream, yell, do what you can, but don't labor under a misconception. As others have noted:
JOIN AOPA AND ANY OTHER TRADE ORGANIZATION GERMANE TO YOUR FLYING EXPERIENCE
As budget squeezes continue to hamper towns and cities, airports will continue to be shut down. The tremendous amount of real estate in a given community will, as a rule, provide a MUCH greater tax revenue increase when it is bulldozed and the land divided into individual units which each pay property tax according to the assessed value of the building or home (in most cases anyway, not everywhere). Sometimes they are shut down because of noise, but as a rule it's an economic choice. Hey, it's gotten to where developers can now even convince city fathers to condemn houses and such so that they can build a mall there. All they have to do is show them how much more tax income, in the form of sales tax, property tax, etc. the mall will provide as opposed to the neighborhood of 1950's tract homes in a blue collar neighborhood.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. I read here where if you don't think people freak out about airplanes then just go fly over a group of people at 1000'. Hehe, now what the heck is THAT all about? I know it was meant rhetorically, but don't think that it hasn't happened. I remember not long after GA was released after the 9/11 shutdown. It couldn't have been two weeks afterward and a couple of young guys were in a small plane buzzing the Ferris Wheel and flying up and down the fairway! Right here where I live three planes flying en route from SIK got over the river and started buzzing the line boats and their tows! If that wasn't bad enough, one of them (they were all aerobatic, maybe Decats, don't remember) made sure on his last pass that he got in good and tight and keyed his smoker! Smoked the whole line boat and the guys FREAKED! Hehe, man, the Feds came after me BIG TIME over that deal, because it HAD to be a crop duster to do something like that! Anyway, I got my name cleared but a few days later the CEO of the towing company called me wanting to know what crop dusters were spraying that time of the year! Anyway we talked for a while and he admitted that he knew it wasn't me that did it, but the Feds would tell him nothing and the guys on the line boat were crawling the walls wanting to get the hell of and get some Cipro.
These things add up. And there's not much sympathy for us, because, as Doug noted, we're all just a bunch of rich people with expensive toys playing dangerously with no concern for others!
There are some good things on the horizon though. Hopefully Sport Pilot will relieve some of the liability/tort issues and put planes a little more in the common man's price range.
Still, continuous vigilance is required.
However, seeing the political disagreements here, in the almost twenty years that I've been flying, fifteen or so commercially, it's been my observation that, when looking at aviation and related issues (environment and taxes primarily) the cold hard fact is that the Republicans have traditionally taken stances more favorable to aviation than the Democrats. And it's not even really close either. The areas where Democrats seem to be leading is more a function of their support of organized labor as opposed to a fundamental support of aviation. But this would be important to those members of ALPA.
And, believe it or not, because of the direction that the proponents of ATC privatization are mostly heading, it could well be the airlines that end up the most damaging to GA in the end (as far as damage caused by privatization). The system in Canada is most favored by Pres. Bush and other proponents of the idea. In Canada's case, it is the airlines who actually own ATC. As such, they would be given a tremendous amount of freedom to determine what is charged to GA for the service. So, if it happens that way, the airlines could be good to GA or they could attempt to use GA as a cash cow. Either way it is often argued that while ATC services may improve most believe that will not be the case for GA. Why? If privatized it is generally accepted that charges will be based upon the amount of the system required according to the flight plan. So, no flight plan= no charge. Many fear this would in fact discourage GA pilots from filing.
Hehe, I've got my Nomex on, do what you will. I've made a study of these issues but I'd like to read other opinions on my opinion as well. Hey, if I'm missing something I need to know. This is how I feed my family after all.
