There was an interesting article in today’s local newspaper about how much pocket change passengers going through screening at the Nashville International Airport leave behind in their mad dash to catch a flight.
If you’re like me, you’re not going to believe how much money is literally left on the table each year at the Nashville airport. How about $400,000? That’s a lot of nickels and dimes. Here’s the article in today’s paper.
I was thinking that since the Nashville airport is nowhere near the busiest airport around (an admittedly dated list of airports showed Nashville coming in around 39 with Atlanta, Chicago and LA topping the list), perhaps all of this pocket change that passengers “donate” to the government could be put to good use.
Right now, the money left in the little bowls as you go through passenger screening is gratefully accepted and kept by the TSA. I suppose that is better than some organizations in the government getting the money, but what if the money were applied to the national debt instead?
How much money do you suppose is left in all the U.S. airports each year? It’s got to be a boat load if $400,000 is left in Nashville.
Hey, maybe this is a way for all those folks who feel that they’re undertaxed (read, Warren Buffett) could throw a little bit into the till for the good of everyone. Instead of just some jingling money, the guilty undertaxed could throw in some folding money or maybe just write a check to the Treasury.
Anyway, I’d like someone to ask the candidates at the next Republican debate (and to ask the President, when he has his next news conference) what they think would be the best use for that abandoned pocket change at the nation’s airports.
Short of sending everyone in the country a little Christmas gift each year (300,000,000 people divided by a lot of pocket change might be enough to buy everyone a cup of coffee–hey, that might stimulate the economy!), I vote to apply those nickels, dimes and quarters to paying down the debt.
That’s my platform if I ever decide to run for office.