TSA = FAIL. Free Market = WIN

All of you (or "all y'all" for those of you in Texas) are totally missing the obvious when it comes to airline security.

For those of you who claim to be proponents of a free market system, the following suggestion should be obvious and instantly acceptable. For those of you who don't like the government getting into your private business, the following suggestion should be obvious and instantly acceptable.

Get the government OUT of the airline security business and get the airlines INTO it.

It's very simple. End the TSA now. Shut it down, turn off the lights and send everyone home. Then tell the airlines that THEY are responsible for their own security and make it legal for the airlines to pretty much do whatever they want in order to secure their own planes. Flight attendants armed with AK-47s? Done. All passengers bound and gagged? OK. Each passenger strip searched by a demented gorilla prior to boarding? Whatever. Racially profile passengers by searching only 20-something males of Middle-Eastern decent/origin? Go for it. The airlines are a private business and as such should have the right to run their business any way they want, even if that means NOT securing their own planes.

The net result of this will be that each airline will determine how much security, and of what type, they think fits their business model. Passengers (consumers) will decide which airline they wish to fly based in part on how safe they feel flying that particular carrier. If a certain airline develops reputation for sub-par security, passengers are likely to gravitate toward another airline. If an airlines' security procedures are deemed to be too invasive by the flying public, they will to to antoher airline. In the end, the consumer will decide how much and what type of airline security they want.

Insurance companies will also step in by auditing the airlines' security measures and charging proportionately more or less premium based on their assessment of the risk of terrorist attack on the airline. Airlines who try to save money with less security will see higher insurance premiums and will have to pass that cost on to the passengers.

The new airline security operations will hire a lot of the former TSA employees. Better yet, they will probably hire better qualified people at better pay and in the long run, they will do a better job since they will be competing against other airline security companies.

It just makes sense. It is better for the economy. It is better for security. It is better for your freedom.