US Mint Auctioning Coins

I don't see the expedited passport fee as nefarious. What often happens is people book vacations and then something happens and they don't plan enough time to wait the normal 6 weeks or whatever the normal processing time is or they lost it or it has expired so they need it ASAP or they won't make their trip, so they have to jump to the front of the line. People in a lower income class don't have the means to travel, so most won't ever need a passport so the example is not a real good example, imo.

 

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In principle that's the idea, but the fact is there is no criteria for urgency - you pay more, you get it faster, no questions asked. Same with this US Mint auction concept - you pay more than the next guy, you get one. As far as

what utter bunk. I had $1000 left to spend in Australia NZ and Fiji back in 1985 after paying for the flight, for 3.5 months. Granted the very bottom could never even afford the plane ticket, but you could ride a bicycle from the US to Tierra del Fuego with a passport and still being in the "lower income class." What you really mean is that people in a lower income class don't have the means to travel the same way people in a higher income class do. Or collect coins.

 

I agree for the most part, there is some rational utility in allowing people to expedite the process when their circumstances require a faster turn-around.

The problem is that the different tier of service is based on money. This problem is difficult to overcome because....what else are we going to use? Do 50 pushups and get better service? Do X hrs of charity work and get better service?

But, while it makes sense to offer this kind of deal from one perspective, what it's actually saying is: "You can get better government service if you have more money".

I do not see the passport situation as being an existential crisis in and of itself, it is relatively harmless and somewhat useful. But it is an example of a trend that we do not want perpetuated in government. We want the government to serve everybody, not just the ones that are able to pay.

 

Are we leaving out TSA? For an extra "Fee" you will not have to take your shoes off or dump everything out of your carry-on.

 

You have to go through more than just a fee for those programs

 

As in?

 

Its and enchanted background check program that allows you less scrutiny. Its not just give us extra money

 

They run you through NCIC to see if you have a habit of carrying a deadly belt, shoe, hat, cell phone, laptop,.......? People who hijack planes and crash them into buildings, don't typically hang around long enough to make a habit out of it.

 

Its a little more than that. But the real secret is that most of those procedures were just to make you feel better anyways especially with the body scanners now. Frankly after all the employees fired the last two years maintenance and pilot fatigue is a far bigger threat right now