Apparently unions--or at least that's the way Dems would portray the GOP's approach to airport security. Politico's Ben Smith has interesting stuff on the blame game over the recent airliner terrorism attempt:

Perhaps the largest impediment to change at the [Transportation Security Administration]: South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint has a hold on the appointment of a TSA chief, over his concern that the new administration could allow security screeners to unionize.Republicans have cast votes against the key TSA funding measure that the 2010 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security contained, which included funding for the TSA, including for explosives detection systems and other aviation security measures. In the June 24 vote in the House, leading Republicans including John Boehner, Pete Hoekstra, Mike Pence and Paul Ryan voted against the bill, amid a procedural dispute over the appropriations process, a Democrat points out. A full 108 Republicans voted against the conference version, including Boehner, Hoekstra, Pence, Michelle Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Darrell Issa and Joe Wilson.The conference bill included more than $4 billion for "screening operations," including $1.1 billion in funding for explosives detection systems, with $778 million for buying and installing the systems.

"Starve the beast" has been the GOP approach to government since the Reagan era (though Republican budgets show kitty is getting some pretty hefty scraps under the table). Problem is that starving beasts are more likely to bite back.