TSA as jobs program

The Transportation Security Administration functions less as an effective counterterrorism tool and more as a sustained federal jobs-and-budget program that institutionalizes intrusive, low‑value screening rituals. Recurrent internal testing that finds high failure rates, followed by budgetary expansion rather than restructuring, shows incentives favor maintenance over effectiveness. — If true, policy should shift from ritualized screening to intelligence‑led, cost‑effective measures and accountability for taxpayer spending and civil liberties.