ABC’s Jon Karl Blames House GOP for FAA Shutdown, Skips Democratic Obstruction
Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Thursday placed the blame for a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration on House Republicans, ignoring the role Senate Democrats have played. 4000 thousand FAA workers have been furloughed, construction projects have been stopped, but Karl complained, ” What's the hold up? Republicans are insisting on cuts to a program that subsidizes flights to small rural airports .” He then played a clip of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer attacking, “It's the issue of hostage taking. It's as if someone puts a gun to your head and says 'give me your money' and you say, 'Why won't you give them their money?'” Democrats weren't mentioned once. The House has passed a short-term FAA funding bill through the September recess. As The Hill reported, “But Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) put a stop to those plans when he insisted on a 'clean' bill from the House, which will not return to Washington until Sept. 7.” Instead of explaining this, Karl focused on the Republican-controlled House. He narrated, “I caught up with the Republican House Transportation Secretary John Mica on the phone as he was leaving town. How can you leave town without it being resolved?” GMA viewers might be perplexed by Mica's response. He explained, “Well, last time I checked I didn't have a vote in the U.S. Senate.” This was the only time the word “Senate” was uttered in the whole segment. In a House letter that offered more information than a confusing four second clip, Mica informed: After 4 1/2 years and 20 previous extensions – 17 of which were passed by a Democrat-controlled Senate and House – Senate and House Democrats are now arguing that they don't like the process, but it's doubtful that complaining about the process is comforting to the families of those 4,000 furloughed FAA employees. As Redstate.com explained, there is a component of the standoff that relates to funding of little-used airports: The House bill cut a subsidy program to three rural airports, where the cost of subsidized flights was hopelessly uneconomical.
Posted by
on August 4, 2011. Filed under