NEWS FLASH (fake)
from UNSI (United News Service International)
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has announced that effective Friday, August 5, 2011 at 12:00 a.m. the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be temporarily closing all operations due to lack of funds.
Secretary LaHood was quoted as saying, "Congress has refused to authorize funding for this Agency. So, we have no choice but to shut down all domestic flight operations. We cannot force our workers to work without getting paid. Without the workers we cannot guarantee the safety of people flying in the United States. Therefore, we have no choice but to cease all air transportation throughout the country. Air operations will resume when Congress once again provides funding for the FAA."
Experts in the aviation industry and airline representatives now confirm that due to safety flight regulations this will result in the grounding of all air domestic air travel including passenger and cargo. International flights will continue to maintain using the limited remaining FAA funds in order to meet US treaty obligations.
Evan Smithers, a financial consultant with NYSE trading giant Simmons-Seamiller claims that this will "definitely cause the US economy to go back into a nosedive. This means that all economic transportation and trade will have to be by ground transportation which will slow deliveries to a crawl. It will be a boon to the trucking and rail industries which have suffered with the rise of gasoline prices. But, the economy on the whole is likely to get hammered."
President Obama has scheduled a press conference for Saturday, August 6, 2011 at noon (EST). The White House Press Office released a preliminary statement supporting Secretary LaHood's actions. "We hope that Congress will do the right thing and provide funding for this agency which insures that Americans need not fear when traveling by air throughout the country. As in other recent crises, Congress has the ability to very quickly solve this crisis. There is no issue as to the amount of funding. The only thing holding up funding for the FAA is certain elements in the Republican Party who are seeking to destroy union representation for some of the FAA workers."
House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, was quoted as saying, "We cannot allow unions to once again damage increased revenues for airlines and other corporate job creators."
A spokeman for HSBC Bank which recently announced multi-billion dollar profits as well as its intention to lay off more than 25,000 workers, said that its "investments will be hard-hit by a shut-down of domestic travel. It may have to re-think its decision to fire many of the laid-off workers."
An unnamed source high up in the Democratic Party speaking on condition of anonymity said, "It's about time the Administration grew a pair and took it to the Republicans for sticking it to working Americans."
-end fake flash-