This is very interesting, in light of all the hubbub over TSA screening practices lately:

Did you know that the nation's airports are not required to have Transportation Security Administration screeners checking passengers at security checkpoints? The 2001 law creating the TSA gave airports the right to opt out of the TSA program in favor of private screeners after a two-year period. Now, with the TSA engulfed in controversy and hated by millions of weary and sometimes humiliated travelers, Rep. John Mica, the Republican who will soon be chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is reminding airports that they have a choice.

Mica was one of the original authors of the TSA bill, and he's sending letters to airport managers across the country reminding them that they don't have to use the TSA.

Finally, one of these "big government" crusades I can get behind!

In related news, I flew to Portland and back yesterday aboard SeaPort Airlines. They fly from Boeing Field, where you can arrive 15 minutes before your flight, park for free, and be subject to NO TSA SCREENING WHATSOEVER. By flying planes that hold fewer than 10 passengers, they are not required to have security screenings. You land at PDX, but taxi to SeaPort's own hangar and walk right out onto the street. No fuss, no muss. It's awesome.