As I was pondering what to write for this week’s ARSA Blog, I read through our reports on the federal government’s recent activities on www.arsa.org and could not help but scratch my head. First, there is the long-awaited OIG report on repair station oversight that is more than 10 years in the making. Second, we finally have a DOT Secretary nomination from the White House that took four months to announce. Finally, we have a webinar today that is being offered by ARSA VP of Legislative Affairs Daniel Fisher on how to navigate the dysfunctional federal legislative process nowadays.

It makes one wonder why any of us pay our taxes anymore. Why does it take more than a decade to address what we all knew in the first place?  Repair stations are safe. Did we really need a more than ten year review to come to the conclusion the FAA needs to provide better oversight?  Does it really take 4 months to announce a nominee for the DOT Secretary post? And how sad is it that trade associations are now being asked to provide webinars on how to understand the federal legislative process better?

In the business world, these delays would never be accepted. We all know this. So why should we not expect the same standard of our federal government?