Should Gov't Be Nixing Cell Phones on Planes?

The clip below is a bit from our discussion on the show last week about a Congressional subcommittee saying no on a voice vote to lifting the FAA's ban on cell phones on commercial aircraft.

As much as I can't stand people on cell phones all over the place in public, now that safety is not an issue -- cell phones do not, as once claimed, mess with with the plane's radar -- I don't think the government should be involved. Fine if the airlines themselves want to do it, but Congress should not be legislating courtesy or morality. The European Union is now allowing cell phones on planes, even as some of the European carriers are saying no. Besides, it's not like it will be cheap -- or included in your minutes -- since it will still require using satellite transmission, so few people will be gabbing loudly through the whole flight. (It will be about as expensive as those phones the planes used to have in the seats, give or take.)