New York’s Tuesday primaries were a big win for Democratic Socialists of America with Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier winning their primaries and therefore will presumably be elected to Congress. Claire Valdez, who will join the U.S. House of Representatives in January, has an agenda for travel:
- Abolish TSA PreCheck (she calls this her ‘hot take’)
- Nationalize the airlines.
Democrat nominee for NY-7 Claire Valdez says she wants to abolish pre-check and nationalize the entire airline industry. pic.twitter.com/MXnIOwB3P1
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 24, 2026
She doesn’t want to abolish TSA, she just wants to abolish PreCheck. But TSA PreCheck means using scarce resources to focus on actual threats.
- When they do background checks on people, and determine they’re less risky than people they haven’t prescreened, they can use more resources on unknown travelers.
- Abolish that, and it means resources have to be reallocated to do more screening of passengers determined not to be a threat. That’s bad for security.
- And by requiring greater screening of a set of passengers than it’s doing today, that means longer lines for everybody.
Remember that when Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security, DHS announced that they were the ones suspending PreCheck (before reversing themselves). Horseshoe theory!
And as for nationalizing airlines, when the federal government just had responsibility for setting prices and telling airlines where to fly that meant far less service and much higher prices. It was nearly impossible to add service (‘route authorities’) and it was illegal to lower prices (‘rate cases’). That meant flying was only for the most well-off. It also meant more people drove, which is less safe than driving (which means more road deaths – pushing people to less safe transportation is known as ‘statistical murder’) and burning more fossil fuels.
This is not a sophisticated thinker. She doesn’t go beyond ‘different people are being treated differently at security’ and ‘air travel is unpleasant’ without thinking through the reasons why that’s the case (in many cases it’s attributable to government barriers to entry and lack of competition, which would be exacerbated by government ownership, and by government provision of air traffic control and security as well as ownership of airports).
The Queens Assembly member says she wants to abolish ICE (and prosecute agents and officials, and provide “reparative justice” to people they’ve targeted). She supports national rent control, which limits the supply of housing and creates shortages (and high costs), and also freezes mobility. Valdez declares “this nation was founded on genocide” and liked a tweet, “Glory to the resistance and the people of Palestine” after the October 7 attacks. So she’ll be very busy – perhaps too busy to end PreCheck.
We all want a lot of things. Doesn’t mean they are going to happen.
Gary, of course you frame her ‘hot takes’ as operational ignorance rather than what they are… a ideological rejection of for-profit transportation. But, if she had skipped the ‘nationalization’ talk and simply proposed abolishing the TSA entirely, half of your comment section applaud her for finally ending ‘security theater’ (as long as they didn’t know who she or what the ‘DSA’ is.) I bet if #47 suggested axing the agency tomorrow to ‘gut the deep state,’ and Fox/Newsmax backed him up, this thread would be cheering the demise of the exact same bureaucracy.
@Parker: Funny how none of the things I want involve erasing a country and 80% of its inhabitants and “eradicating Western Civilization” and calling women bigots for marrying non Blacks or non Muslims. Etc.
Sign of the times that there are not enough NYers in those districts motivated enough to go out and vote in the primaries to defeat these evil nutcases and their college-indoctrinated and Islamist supporters.
She makes AOC seem sane.
@Common Sense — Thanks for proving my point about media-driven tribalism. Sure, please do ignore any valid critique of the existing shortcomings of our aviation industry, and instead pivot to a culture-war meltdown. Shall I join-in by declaring a ‘fatwa’ on our lack of consumer protections in this country?
My Hot Take is that Pre-Check or equivalent should be required for all airline passengers in the United States. Doing so would streamline the security-screening process by identifying potential risks ahead of time.
My Even Hotter Take is that the term “Hot Take” should be grabbed by the scruff of its neck and flung forcefully from the vocabulary.
I’m here to see people defend her crazy positions.
This woman is a total moron and hates this country. She not even qualified to work for the Sanitation Department. The fact that people like this can get elected is a clear indication of the direction of society.
From Hochul to Mamdani, the entire State of New York, and in particular New York City, do not appear to have a brain left to share. They continue to elect people who appear to have escaped from an institutions for the mentally unstable.
Although, in all honesty, it is not only there since all one needs to do is look at Minnesota, Illinois, California and numerous other places that breed unstable individuals.
The lesson here is that sane people need to get off their rear ends and go vote, instead of leaving it up to losers who want to take away what is yours.
@1990: You’re going to honestly ignore the dangers of having someone who is proud to hate America in Congress because we should ignore that and focus on some perceived flaws with the system?
They don’t want to fix anything. They just want to burn it down.
Please don’t be this thick, it’s a danger to everyone.
Own it, leftist retards.
To quote Ron White, “Can’t fix stupid.”
Please. The correct term is “Marxist.”
@Common Sense, @Mantis — I pointed out earlier that folks like yourselves all would gladly abolish the TSA if, say, a ‘libertarian’ suggested it, and within an hour you’ve abandoned aviation policy and devolved into “she hates America,” “burn it down,” and literal slurs. Tell us how you really feel…
When you all are ready to debate whether the federal government should charge an $85 fee to expedite security, or whether private airlines operate efficiently as public utilities, do let me know. Until then, say whatever most outrageous nonsense you can come up with. Very entertaining.
@Denver Refugee — If we’re doing buzzwords, why not go with even scarier tropes? Stalinist! Maoist! Pol-Pot-ist! Did she say she wants to literally overthrow the state and abolish all private property? Didn’t read or hear that anywhere. Democratic socialists want strong unions, a robust welfare state, and regulated infrastructure, closer to Denmark than the USSR. I know, Copenhagen is a dystopian hellscape. Too many LEGO.
Elections make people say stupid stuff. It is at least refreshing (?) for a new perspective on things, even if it makes no sense and is going nowhere fast.
@1990: I am not a Trumpist. Please don’t project things on me. Keep on being distracted until there is nothing left to save of America.
@Gene: This is who she is. She didn’t say it because of the elections. College indoctrination by professors who hate America is real. Islamists colluding with Marxists to bring down America is real.
Don’t bury your heads in the sand until it is too late.
@1990 lol please let me know what public utility runs “efficiently”?
@1990 – “if she had skipped the ‘nationalization’ talk and simply proposed abolishing the TSA entirely, half of your comment section applaud her”
If she had totally different policy proposals, people would react differently to them! That is true!
So that means she should get no special favors when flying…. Stand in line with everyone else!
Saying that Democrats announced that they were suspending PreCheck is a lie. It’s well documented that Noem made the decision to suspend PreCheck until airlines and the public forced her to retreat. Democrats were all for funding DHS but not without reforms to ICE and the Border Patrol. Get your facts straight.
@Gary Leff — Nice dodge. When a freedom-loving ‘libertarian’ calls for abolishing the TSA, you (and some others) treat it as a sophisticated, principle-driven stance against the administrative state. Meanwhile, when a progressive questions the same agency’s tiered-pricing, it’s framed as ‘treason.’ The double standard isn’t about the policy; it’s about who is proposing it.
@AAGuy — Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had water and electricity? Wait a minute… Sure, nothing will ever be ‘good enough’ for some of you, but, maybe, checkout CPAU in California, which beat private providers on both reliability and costs because they don’t have to extract a 10% dividend for Wall Street. Likewise, I’m not gonna argue that Amtrak is ‘perfect,’ but when private railroads tanked, that ‘public utility’ kept the network alive (maybe it isn’t performing in Oklahoma these days, but it sure is between DC-NYC-BOS!) Air space and basic transport corridors can and should operate under similar public-good logic.
@Common Sense — So, you don’t support our dear President? Uh oh. Midterms in 131 days…
@Lori — You mock, but that’s exactly what she wants: That politicians, frequent flyers, and everyday travelers should all stand in the same line. As a PreCheck and CLEAR+ user, I personally do pay for the ‘convenience’ (via those credit card benefits). But, outside the US hub bubble, plenty of airports handle security efficiently without dividing people by a fee. Agree or disagree with the logistics, her stance isn’t about getting special favors; it’s a critique of a public safety system tiered by wealth.
Chick Fil A will be open on Sundays and The Cleveland Browns will win a Super Bowl before that all happens.
@Gene — Look, I know you’re no fan of #45/47, and you’re obviously not a card-carrying Communist, either. But, that “refreshing new perspective” is why she just pulled off a landslide over the establishment (along with a few other DSA sweeps in NYC this week).
It’s hard not to look at these primaries and feel 2016 déjà vu, just on the other side of the aisle. A decade ago, the populist right decided they were totally done with country-club Republicans and remade the party in a strongman’s image. Now, we’re seeing an insurgent ‘left’ (which, c’mon, it’s a weak ‘center-left,’ at best) that is just as exhausted by the corporate-friendly Democrats. They’re winning because they’re running on raw economic populism instead of the usual party script.
Disagreeing with infrastructure math is fair (and it would be nice to see more debate on-topic, instead of the typical name-calling and culture-war nonsense), but dismissing this ‘movement’ as a fringe anomaly misses a major shift. The establishment in both parties spent years ignoring everyday voter frustration, and this is the result. Add a major economic downturn to this mess, oof. Gonna be interesting.
@Dan — Good one. It’s right up there with “we’re going to build a beautiful wall and Mexico is going to pay for it,” “lock her up,” or repealing and replacing the ACA in just “two more weeks.”
Nationalizing airlines used to be called “deregulation.” One of the many thinks it did was when one company goes on strike EVERYONE goes on strike.
@1990,
“outside the US hub bubble, plenty of airports handle security efficiently without dividing people by a fee.”
They 100% do with business class security lines… so you actually have to pay more to receive expedited screening…
From the story…
The Queens Assembly member says she wants to abolish ICE (and prosecute agents and officials, and provide “reparative justice” to people they’ve targeted). She supports national rent control, which limits the supply of housing and creates shortages (and high costs), and also freezes mobility. Valdez declares “this nation was founded on genocide” and liked a tweet, “Glory to the resistance and the people of Palestine” after the October 7 attacks. So she’ll be very busy – perhaps too busy to end PreCheck.
Reading this paragraph, you would think that this is from a political story. Gary please stay on topic. We don’t come here for political commentary.
The comments here are fun!
Why give attention to this lunatic?
Not sure she will even win the seat and even if she does, who cares?
None of the things she talks about will happen, same with the POS mamdani and his ugly ignorant whore of a wife…
These people are crazy…as much as I dislike them, I am not worried
I just came back from nyc, attended the knicks parade, and nothing changed in the city since I lived there, both the good and the bad that makes the city great, is intact
@Jan Caldwell: Deregulating the airlines meant that each airline could choose which routes it would fly and how much to charge for fares without requiring government approval.
Nationalizing the airlines means that each airline would be owned by the government.
I don’t see those as being the same thing.
@Doug my point exactly. NYC has not descended into moral depravity or lawlessness. It’s all theater with the doomsday prophecies that never come to play.
And for all of people clutching their pearls right now, get a grip and stop with the “they hate America” BS. The right feels that way about the left and the left feels that way about the right.
Having a different vision doesn’t mean one hates our country. We are not lemmings. Well, not all of us.
Parker, thanks for the reality check..
But most importantly this is an aviation website, not a political site.
We should stay on point.
Who cares what a few Congresswomen in New York City think.
@Courtney — Well-aware, when that is the case, but in some places, no amount of “Business” or SkyTeam Elite Plus or oneworld Emerald or Star Alliance Gold, etc. matters. Even at JFK T5 and T8, they basically stop PreCheck after 9PM on many nights, so status and class of service don’t always help, even if you ‘paid’ extra, indirectly.
She just wants attention
“Nationalize the whole airline industry” LOL shareholders/ lobbyists/ …. would love that … never going to be considered.
And let’s not forget the industry is global
Btw TSA PreCheck is just one of the “it’s only for the rich” bs lines – to appease the base – not having “TSA PreCheck” is for the ones who do not travel
@Parker — Thank you. As an NYC resident, I assure you, we have not descended into chaos, and most folks are quite pleased here. That said, what may work well for NYC, might not work well everywhere. It won’t stop those who make caricatures and boogeymen.
Lots of people want many things.
Lots of people have very different opinions.
We send our people to congress to work out a compromise with both sides.
If not, regardless of party it’s rarely good.
3 incumbents will leave congress. It’s not a bad day.
When I was younger, I wanted Kristin Bell to leave her husband for me. I had a better chance of that happening than this person has of nationalizing the airlines.
@Nicn – Sorry, dude.
@Nicn — Our ‘thot’ leader, in-action!
Elections have consequences! Very, very scary!
@Kenneth — You ever see Don’t Look Up? “No politics. We just want the jobs the comet will bring.”
Look, nothing wrong with wanting to stay on-topic, to discuss the nuances of proposed aviation regulations, and to try to not descend into cheap ad hominem attacks. But, trying to separate aviation infrastructure from politics is impossible; the topic is inherently political.
More like “View from the Right Wing”, amirite?
@1990 get a life mate. You spend all day every day on these blogs’ comments
The US has regulated airlines but never has had nationally owned airlines. Most of the rest of the world has tried that and found it wanting.
@1990 – You sure are having to defend and deflect a lot today. I find the “if a libertarian or 47 said it you would agree” hilarious. Remember if “wishes and buts were candy and nuts we would all be happy boys and girls at Christmas”.
I know there are not many Republicans in the NYC area, but maybe these Democrats are too liberal for even the moderate Dems. Maybe they will see how far left the Dems are trending. Then again many Republican pols are idiots and will squander the chance.
@Thomas
Amen brother
@jack the ladd — Much the world has privatized their flag carriers, but they didn’t abandon public oversight. There’s a huge middle ground between Soviet state ownership and the Wild West.
@Midix Eregshun — Usually, we need two wings to fly. (Or at least the left wing, too.)
@Thomas — Have you ever made a comment that wasn’t about me on here? (Are you also using @D Fray as an alias now?)
@Michael Mainello — Oh, not to worry, we’re saying “Merry Christmas!” again…
I lived in NYC from 1995 until 2013. When I lived off Hudson in the West Village there was this little wonderful park you could sit out in when warm weather finally came in May. A friend recently told me that the park is full of homeless, crazy people and drug addicts. Smoking fentanyl out in the open. Gone are the beautiful flowers and now just trash everywhere. You would not dare sit on any of the benches.
I guess some here consider that an improvement in the quality of life.
@George Romey – The Gulianni & Bloomberg years were outstanding for law abiding citizens. The Mayor’s that followed have really ruined a great city.
The funny thing is that outside of the Palestinian issue there’s nothing she says that you wouldn’t be surprised to hear from Trump and his minions.
.
@George Romey — Abingdon Square or Walker Park? Either way, West Village is doing great, these days. Your ‘friend’ is lying to you, or you made them up to propagate similar fiction. Classic blue-city-bad tropes. Y’all are full of it. Turn off Fox/OAN for a minute. Come visit.
@Michael Mainello — Nice rose-colored glasses you got there. The city is better and safer than it was in the 1990s by most metrics, and our real estate is thriving (for better and worse, because it can be expensive to live here, still, worth it) since so many people actually want to live here.
the new Communist. Cuba did this . How did that work out?
@tomri — Oh no! They lack PreCheck in Cuba? How sad. A tragedy. *sniff*
@1990 – Tell that to Gov Cruella, begging for the moneyed folks to return. Also Mayor muzzie who has to beg for money to balance a budget.
“She just wants attention.” No, Gary, *you* just want attention. Or rather, you want clicks and increased levels of engagement.
So one person who will now face a Republican challenger for one, ONE U.S. House of Representatives seat in New York has made comments in the past that you post as an indication of the upcoming fall of society. Or at least the end of aviation as we know it.
Thankfully, most of us know better.
@Kate Snowden – “in the past” …? This was last month. And it’s news here because she wants to eliminate precheck, nationalize the airlines, and she’ll be a member of Congress.
@Michael Mainello — Nah, Hochul’s doing just fine; better than Cuomo. Would like to see two new Senators, though; no, not your ‘team,’ and not establishment shills either. Time will tell, but the tide is changing, sir. Best prepare for that, or not. No worries.
@1990 – I know, you want politicians that ignore the Constitution. Your form of government has always failed so you want to try it again. It is a pity that you are so anti freedom and liberty.
Just because some crazy dominican found a subject that touches the nerve if equally ignorant losers (and pseudo intellectuals like 1990) does not mean any of the nonsense she spews will happen
Where is the mossad when we need them?
It’s scary when cuckoos that never grew up get elected. The election process is supposed to stop this from happening.
@Michael Mainello — You’re projecting, like usual. Would calling you a fascist make it so? I donno; I hope you aren’t.
I’ll support and defend the entire US Constitution and its Amendments. You may interpret them differently, or not like some of it, and that’s fine, yet, it’s also where the Founders were so brilliant as to enable us to change and evolve through its processes. (Naw, naw… ignore that… Article 2 and the 2nd Amendment are the only real ‘laws’ /s)
@Doug — Is that a call for violence? Sheesh, that’s not the answer to reasonable disagreements on commercial aviation security-line policies… (or, is it that you own an airline and don’t want to be forced to sell a 10% ‘golden share’ like #47 did to Intel? Most ‘socialist’ president of my lifetime. Some would say, he’s a nationalist and a socialist… huh… it is a thinker… too ‘faux intellectual’ for ya?)
@BM — You mean since 2016, right? RIGHT? (Oh, the irony and hypocrisy…)
I will be honest I just skimmed over this but in regards to nationalizing airlines::
They were bailed out in 2001, then again during the Great Recession and then again during Covid and now they would like more money because of fuel prices spiking because of the Iran war.
If they keep getting billions from taxpayers that is already a partial nationalization.
“Off with her head” (figuratively)
She’s on to something.
The world’s best airport, Singapore, does not have expedite lines.
The world’s best airlines, Qatar and Singapore Airlines, are de-facto nationalized.
The data is quite clear that she’s totally right on this one.
@Mary – outside of terminal 4 security is done at each gate at changi and tell me about high quality pakistan international airlines again?