As pilots we are, above all, practical folks who prefer binary solution sets as opposed to loosey-goosey, touchy-feely solutions. Either something is, or it isn't. We are procedural by nature and like well-defined steps that lead to outcomes with as little surprise as possible. That said, when confronted with issues that have no easy answer (3371, Afghanistan, health care, recession) we are once again reduced to dithering debaters.

There is no easy solution to this question. All of us arrived in our seats through varying paths of experience; to apply a government band-aid mandating x-amount of experience or torturous checkrides, etc. is nothing more than knee-jerk BS for political expediency and to provide eye-wash for the lay public (think Patriot Act, TSA, DHS). This should be all our worst nightmare! Historically, the mass hiring of 300 hour wonders has been, thankfully, rare; it is a statistical rarity driven by unusually rapid growth. There is no need for government-mandated minimums. I don't think we'll see that kind of need again for quite some time. Try to find more than one economist who thinks that we will be roaring back into prosperity and full employment anytime soon, with a corresponding demand in air travel.

My point? Let the FAA, untouched by congressional goons, run the airlines. Yes, our training can always be better. Yes, a few bad apples will always slip through the cracks; they are part of every organization and should be promoted to chief pilot or some other position that involves as little flying as possible You cannot legislate bad pilots out of existence. They will always be around, no matter how much you punish the rest of us.