00:00After decades of forcing Americans to shed their shoes because one guy smuggled a faulty
00:05explosive onto a flight in his black sneakers 24 years ago, the TSA is finally allowing
00:10flyers to keep their footwear on while going through security.
00:15As a refresher, in December of 2001, Richard Reid tried and failed to detonate a shoe bomb
00:20on a flight from Paris to Miami.
00:22And ever since, millions of Americans have had to shuffle through airport security in
00:27their socks.
00:28It's good that the TSA got rid of this silly and time-wasting rule.
00:32For one thing, it was never evenly enforced.
00:34Children and the elderly were allowed to keep their shoes on.
00:37And so was anyone who was willing to cough up $78 for TSA PreCheck.
00:42It amounted to little more than security theater.
00:44But it raises the question, what about TSA isn't security theater?
00:49Yes, flyers should be prevented from bringing weapons or dangerous objects onto flights.
00:55TSA is historically terrible at screening for those.
00:58In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security sent undercover officers through airport security
01:04lines with fake weapons.
01:05TSA agents reportedly failed to catch 80% of the fakes, which was somehow an improvement
01:11from two years earlier when 95% of weapons slipped through.
01:15And bags get yanked and searched for containing hairspray or an electronic device that's bigger
01:21than a phone or a water bottle that has water in it.
01:24And flyers get pulled from the line and patted down because their bunched-up sweatshirt or
01:28lint in their pocket set off the body scanners.
01:31And on top of that, taxpayers get to cover the tab for the TSA's $11 billion budget.
01:37Already stressed travelers are put through a time-consuming rigmarole.
01:42And we're told that in exchange, our safety is being protected.
01:46But the TSA's own record makes it clear that that is simply not true.
01:50And perhaps nothing exposes the scam more than the fact that anyone can pay about $200 for
01:56a private service like Clear and be given special treatment.
01:59There's a pretty straightforward fix for this, which is to either get rid of TSA altogether
02:04or downsize it drastically and let airlines handle security screenings for their flights.
02:09They can't possibly do a worse job than missing 95% of weapons.
02:14And because airlines can adapt to changing security concerns a lot faster than the government,
02:19there's a good chance the entire screening process would be more streamlined and the rules
02:23would make more sense.
02:24When it comes to keeping travelers safe, we can do better than the clunky, antiquated, and
02:29effective TSA.
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