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It's Time To Abolish the TSA
Description
This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss whether it's finally time to abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The panel examines the growing chaos at American airports as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents begin replacing TSA officials amid the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding standoff in Washington. They explore how airport security became entangled in broader immigration debates, whether agencies like TSA and DHS serve a necessary function, and what it says about a system where basic travel operations can break down over unrelated political fights.
Next, the panel considers the real legacy of labor leader Cesar Chavez and what it reveals about the influence of unions in modern Democratic politics, before turning to new evidence that blue state tax policies are driving out wealth and high earners. They also discuss a jury's decision to clear Afroman in a defamation case tied to music videos mocking police officers who raided his home. Finally, a listener asks what a libertarian, constitutional approach to U.S. action in Cuba might look like.
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0:00—Abolish the TSA
15:51—The real legacy of Cesar Chavez
28:21—Blue state wealth taxes
34:41—Listener question on Cuba
40:52—Justice for Afroman
46:27—Weekly cultural recommendations
Mentioned in the podcast:
"Have an ICE Flight," by Eric Boehm
"Government Shutdowns Won't Stop Airport Security If Airport Security Isn't Run by the Government," by Jack Nicastro
"DHS Pledges Not To Deport Any U.S. Citizens if Congress Ends Shutdown," by Joe Lancaster
"Stossel: Government Shutdown Shows Private Is Better," by John Stossel and Maxim Lott
"Would You Be Afraid to Fly If the TSA Were Abolished?" by Ronald Bailey
"Make America Safer: Shut Down the Department of Homeland Security," by Chris Edwards
"Overhauling U.S. Airport Security Screening," by Robert Poole and Shirley Ybarra
"Cesar Chavez's Other Crimes," by Nick Gillespie