Not sure what political capital was spent as the ACA was completely a Democrat bill. Not one Republican voted for it. What funding did the Republicans block? The Democrats were in power. But I, a Republican, will agree that Oberstar, a Democrat, was one politician who gave a damn about us and tried to do something about it. Most of the rest, of both parties, are B.S. artists trying to line their pockets.Either way the Democrats let us down on this issue. I suspect a lot of political capital was spent on the Affordable Care Act, and our little part of the FAA bill was allowed to die on the vine.
Remember the Republicans "the party of no" blocked a lot of funding bill that cycle and the FAA bill was cut up into many small parts just to avoid our issue, but to fund the FAA.