[mikeash]

I have no idea, but the airline's process for deciding who they hand it to has nothing to do with the background check performed by the government.

[msandford]

The point is that if airlines (or the TSA) can afford to give it to people that don't spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, perhaps the $85 "background check" isn't terribly thorough and therefore more of a joke than real security.