Instead of promoting aviation maybe the FAA should follow the example of other countries and add exhorbitant license fees and additional layers of bureaucracy. My friends across the pond and downunder are always bragging about how expensive it is to get some sort of "frozen" ATPL. I took a CAA style written exam a while back, it had wacky questions about the color of the light in the laser gyros and how many notches on the speedbrake quadrant. I remember a friend at KLM telling me he had to draw block diagrams of radio receivers.
FAA licenses don't expire, some overseas do and have a myriad of signatures with different dates for base checks, emergency checks and so on. In the U.S. this information is contained in training records.
The FAA isn't perfect but after seeing some alternative systems in other countries I think the level of oversight and support for airline flying is appropriate. A sound bite from a posturing congressman isn't exactly a convincing indictment of the organization in my opinion.
"We're here to help you..." - unofficial FAA motto (or one of the world's biggest lies)
