This is good. The airline industry managed to stagger on after Biden tried to destroy it, and I was worried that the left was done trying to wreck this part of the economy. Nope:

AirFareWatchdog thinks there's a compelling case to re-regulated the airlines. In this view, he cites at length a press release about a study co-authored by liberal American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner. That study is either incredibly ignorant about the manner in which the airline industry was and is regulated, or is incredibly dishonest - conflating issues and blaming things on deregulation that have nothing to do with it whatsoever...

The study's approach seems to be a mish mash of seemingly random complaints, hoping that something sticks. Indeed, the press release describes it as "wide ranging." So what are their proposed solutions? They suppose the industry would be more profitable, it seems, if the government would require "a code of customer service" to mandate specific pricing and rebooking procedures... Kuttner apparently doesn't understand that "monopoly pricing" is precisely what the Civil Aeronautics Board enforced in the regulated era that he wants to return to... Airline deregulation has led to huge growth in traffic and huge declines in prices. It's made air travel affordable and within reach of much of the public. There are problems and complaints about travel, to be sure. But non-sequitors about safety have nothing to do with what actually has occurred in the deregulation fo the airlines thirty years ago.

Bad numbers marshaled to make tangled arguments, insulated with an obnoxious tone of psuedo-sophistication, all in the service of a liberal policy in search of pretexts? Difficult to believe. But at least the government isn't slowly worming its way into the industry via a series of moronic consumer protection policies that do nothing to increase safety but a lot to increase costs:

You may never need them at 35,000 feet, but you'll be glad they're around if you do. Defibrillators, medical kits and life vests are a few examples of the safety equipment the government requires airlines to put on passenger jets. Of course, each item comes with a cost -- from hundreds to thousands of dollars to install and maintain... The issue comes into play for consumers this fall when some airlines put another expensive safety device on new planes to comply with a federal rule related to how sturdy a seat must be -- airbags. As of Oct. 27, all new commercial aircraft must have seats that are able to withstand a crash of 16 times the force of gravity. That's less force than in a 30 mph head-on car collision, according to Phoenix-based AmSafe Inc., the company that makes an airbag that fits inside the webbing of the seat belts it already provides in most U.S. airplanes.

I can't wait for these tools to start running the health care industry. Best civilizational collapse evuh.

References:
* Keenly Perspicacious VP: Please Join Me In Destroying The American Airline Industry [MR]
* Silly Arguments for Re-Regulating the Airlines [View From The Wing]
* Airbags for airliners: What will they cost you? [USA Today]

Previously:
* Obama To Lawmakers Concerned About Health Care: Stop Talking
* Famously Brilliant VP: When Obama And I Both Personally Promised The Stimulus Would "Jolt" The Economy We Meant "Not Jolt"
* Shh... Massachusetts Proves Mandate-Based Health Reform Will Be A Disaster