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TSA Blue Flu

TSA absenteeism may be the end of the shutdown.

If Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers don't show up to work, the processing of passengers will slow to a crawl or stop completely. Their next payday is this coming Friday, and these are not highly paid workers, likely living paycheck to paycheck.

If they do start calling in sick, it isn't like you can fire the lot of them. With an economy at full employment and the necessity of security background checks, it will not be easy to replace them.

When Republican passengers start being impacted, their message to the president may change quickly. A painless border wall means that those who want it do not have to shoulder any of the burden, which could be changing rapidly in the coming days. We shall see ...

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.