With the signing into law last week of the new Aviation Security bill, it seems likely that one year from now all baggage screeners at airports will be federal employees.

Great, now that same screener with the double-digit IQ will have his or her job secure by being a member of the government employees union.

And you thought getting rid of an inadequate professor with tenure was tough.

The truth of the matter is that most of the bill is common sense legislation that should have been done years ago. More funding will bring back the armed Air Marshall program. All bags, carry-on or cargo, will be searched and x-rayed. Cockpit doors will be strengthened, reinforced and made virtually impenetrable.

Background checks on airport workers simply make sense on any security level. Besides, if background checks don’t violate the rights of would-be gun owners, I doubt the American Civil Liberties Union would throw a fit about would-be airport workers (Oh wait, they are).

In no way is this column meant to stand up for the previous system. It had more holes in it than Swiss cheese and the Vikings offensive line combined. But to say that the Federal government can do a better job than the private sector is a gross overstatement.

In fact, pre-Sept. 11 Federal Aviation Administration regulations helped cause the attack. In theory, these were all potential weapons you could get on an airplane and the FAA didn’t care: a knife, straight razor, screwdriver, hammer, box cutter, crowbar, a pair of scissors and knitting needles. This is the type of gross incompetence that came with the FAA in charge.

Throughout the entire “Federalize-Don’t Federalize” debate, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was quoted with this Johnnie Cochrane-style rhyme: “You don’t professionalize, until you federalize.”

Gee, Tom, would that be like the same professionals at the INS who fail on a daily basis to stop illegal aliens from entering the country? Would that be the same professionals at the Department of Education who can’t account for $1 billion during the Clinton Administration? Would that also be the same professionals at the State Department that gave student visas to terrorists? Finally, would that be the same professionals that guard you and your fellow members of congress that let a 17-year-old me into both House and Senate galleries with a Swiss Army knife back in 1996?

Whoa, and for a second I was worried there.

Maybe it’s because I’m a graduate of the Ayn Rand and George Orwell Schools of Thought, which state any growth of government and its powers is a violation of freedom and liberty, that makes me want to run for the hills when this idea is brought up.

In the 225 year history of the United States, there have been few non-military accomplishments. Welfare was a colossal bust. In the 30 years before reform, poverty rates went from 10.3 percent to 10 percent. Social Security is on the brink of bankruptcy. Medicare’s already there. Don’t even get me started on public education; Which report of failure would you like?

If there is anything our government is good at it’s fear mongering. That never-ending pursuit to give it more power and control over your life all in the name of security. It’s that reason alone that the Senate was able to pass a much more inferior bill.

By far the better bill was the House’s, not because it keeps the private option alive, but because it mirrored the Israeli model in every aspect. The Israeli airline El AL, and its base, Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv are one of the most secure in the world. It uses a mix of government regulations and ex-military supervisors, while all of its baggage screeners are from a private security firm called Amishav. Europe, a place that is more socialist than the States ever will be, uses a similar system.

So why the big push to a completely federalized workforce of baggage screeners?

Simple, government employees collectively form the biggest union in the nation. Add the fact that in 1988, the Supreme Court ruled in Beck v. Communication Workers of America that unions could not force workers to pay dues to support political causes and matters unrelated to the normal union duties of collective bargaining. Also remember that union representation has never been upheld by Congress or President Clinton, and the picture becomes clearer.

This whole move to federalization is political, pure and simple. Just another behind-the-scenes move to bring money to the coffers of the DNC.

And our security might suffer for it.

Thanks, guys.