Progressive Thinking

We all agree on one simple rule: if you work, you get paid. So how did we end up with TSA agents working without pay while passengers stand in lines for hours?

LAKE GENEVA, WI - I keep coming back to the same question. How did we get here? How did something this basic get so messed up? If you go to work, you get paid. That is not political. That is not complicated. That is just how life works. And yet right now, Transportation Security Administration agents are showing up every day, doing their jobs, keeping airports running, and not getting a paycheck. Not later. Not maybe. Just not getting paid.

And it is not just them feeling it anymore. You can see it the minute you walk into an airport. The lines are longer than they should be. People are standing there for hours, watching the clock, wondering if they are going to miss their flight. Families with kids, older people who can’t stand that long, business travelers trying to get somewhere on time. Everyone stuck. Everyone frustrated. And the reason is not hard to figure out. When you force people to work without pay, morale drops, staffing gets shaky, and the whole system starts to strain.

So now we have two groups of people caught in the middle. Workers who are doing their jobs without getting paid, and passengers who are being dragged into a mess they had nothing to do with. That is where this really crosses the line for me. This is not just a budget issue anymore. This is people being used. Workers are being used as leverage, and travelers are being used as pawns.

And here is the part that makes it even more frustrating. Everyone in Washington knows this is wrong. There is no real argument here. Nobody is out there saying these workers should not be paid. Nobody is saying airports should grind to a halt. So if we all agree on the problem, why are we still sitting in it?

Because both sides keep tying things together that should not be tied together. Republicans and Democrats are loading up these funding bills with conditions, priorities, and political demands that have nothing to do with paying the people who are already doing the work. They dig in, they refuse to budge, and everything stalls. And while they argue, real people deal with the consequences.

So let me say this as clearly as I can. This is what needs to happen. Pass a clean funding bill. Not a complicated one. Not one loaded with extras. A simple bill that keeps the government open and pays the people who are working right now. Get the money flowing again. Get TSA fully staffed and functioning. Get those airport lines back to normal. Then, once that is done, go back and argue about everything else you want to argue about.

That is the job.

You do not hold paychecks hostage while you negotiate. You do not drag travelers into your fight. You do not take something this basic and turn it into a standoff.

At the end of the day, this is about responsibility. If you are elected to govern, then govern. Do the simple things first. Make sure the people doing the work get paid. Make sure the systems people rely on actually function.

Because right now, it feels like the only people doing their jobs are the ones not getting paid for it.

If you believe people who work should get paid and travelers shouldn’t be stuck in this mess, read this and share it. This is common sense.