Unintended Consequences of CAPPS II

The Federal government instituted CAPPS II this week. This is a more
enhanced version of current passenger screening/profiling where
passengers are assigned a risk category of green, yellow, or red based
on information a passenger is going to be required to provide before
being allowed on the plane--namely, full name, date of birth, and home
address. If done under the aegis of the government, vice private
industry, it appears to be a clear violation of the 4th Amendment
provisions against unreasonable search & seizure, and I'm sure it will
be contested at some point.

However, in the interim, I wonder if this isn't actually an
unintended benefit to those of us in general aviation. Those of us who
use our planes for business are probably aware of the "reasonable man"
litmus test for deduction of flying expenses where commercial air is a
viable option--e.g, it doesn't pass the "reasonable man" test to spend
$2400 flying from NY to LA in a small plane when a commercial ticket
could have been purchased for a fraction of that. The IRS would,
rightfully in my opinion, disallow that deduction. Tax books cite
case law instances to show what would be considered reasonable and
what would not.

It occurs to me that the invasiveness of CAPPS II and the general
inconvenience of commercial air travel in this country, post-911, has
signficantly altered the balance in this "reasonable man" calculation.
In other words, it is easier to make a case, in general, to use one's
plane for a legitimate business deduction, even when the cost of doing
so is significantly higher than a commercial ticket. The potential for
identify theft alone would be a justifiable reason to forego
commercial air. With the information one is required to supply now
under CAPPS II, plus a social security number, one would basically
have the "keys to the kingdom" to steal someone's identity.

I've followed the discussions in this newsgroup ever since 9/11 and
there seems to be genuine concern over the loss of rights and
privileges of active pilots. I'm not trying to diminish these
concerns, but suggest that in sum, the attack of 9/11 and the
subsequent over-reactions to it have actually made a pilot's
certificate a ticket to much more freedom than was previously the
case. As of today, it is the only way to fly in the countrry without
giving the federal government your home address and date of birth.

"A pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely
independent human being that lived on earth."---Mark Twain (referring
to Riverboat pilots, but I think it still stands true today)

Hank Rausch