BAGGAGE CLAIM The long lines awaiting air travelers as a result of the Trump Administration’s bold policy of [checks notes] not paying TSA staff members has naturally garnered a lot of attention in the press. Also unsurprising is that some commentators have used the chaos to call for privatizing the TSA, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis and editorial writers in a handful of local newspapers in southern California (oh, wait–it’s the same exact editorial; all of these “local” papers are actually owned by one company, Southern California News Group, which is itself owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital). If it all sounds like the drive to privatize seems to actually pre-date the current crisis, well, see pages 158-159 of Project 2025. In the meantime, the administration should settle for union-busting, according to the plan. Here’s a snippet: “Until it is privatized, TSA should be treated as a national security provider, and its workforce should be deunionized immediately.”

TOOL FOR SCHOOLS A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the way in which many recent property tax proposals would functionally defund public schools. In that, we focused on Ohio’s blunt-force, total repeal plan that is making its way to Ohio’s ballots. To get up to speed on that effort and similar ones across the country, education watchdog Honesty for Ohio Education has created a toolkit that “equips Ohio families with simple facts, talking points, and tools to speak up about the risks of abolishing them.”

DOES THIS HISTORY MUSEUM SMELL MUSKY? American history buffs may recall the Red-baiting posters and ads of the McCarthy era bearing the headline: “Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?” That question has been updated by DOGE bros to “Is your HVAC breeding DEI?” Fortune reports that two DOGE dudes used ChatGPT to determine if National Endowment for the Humanities funds were being used to further diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. When ChatGPT was asked if a $349,000 grant to replace North Carolina’s High Point Museum’s HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system was “related at all to DEI,” it responded, “Yes. Improving HVAC systems enhances preservation conditions for collections, aligning with the goal of providing greater access to diverse audiences. #DEI.” The grant was terminated, though the museum was still able to retain 70 percent of the funds through a termination clause

RAINY DAY FUNDING DOGE also took aim at the climate scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, cutting staff and programs that predict weather and create climate models. “Despite these losses, NOAA continues to provide daily weather forecasts and warnings plus climate and fisheries outlooks, among other valuable and free public services,” Craig N. McLean, the agency’s former assistant administrator, writes in an editorial in USA Today, emphasizing the vital importance of NOAA and the folly of privatizing the weather service. “Its first-rate scientists and technological instruments still collect and analyze the data each of us relies on, whether we live in a city, on a farm, run an insurance or finance company, or catch fish for a living. NOAA also supports coastal economies and keeps our seafood safe. NOAA is in your life every day.”

LOCO PARENTIS An editorial in the Charleston Gazette-Mail warned of the risks involved in privatizing West Virginia’s foster child program, as a recent piece of legislation there proposed.”There are many aspects of government that simply aren’t made to run like a private business,” it states. “The problem is that privatization often saves money by cutting corners, hiring fewer people and paying them less, leading to lower quality services. Not good if one is talking about air traffic control, or prisons.” The editorial adds, “the same concerns are present in any talk of privatizing child welfare”