The real fact is that Bush did NOT want to federalize the security workers in the first place. He wanted to establish federal guidelines to standardize the national network. He lost, and rather than not do anything he signed the bill that federalized security. If it was something he wasn't even lobbying for, and just incidental, that leads further ammo to my question of why the author of the article suggested that something like hiring baggage handlers makes Bush a New Deal Democrat.
Only constructive criticisms based on actual facts and faults leads to any good.
The author is just using hyperbole to advance his argument. He does not acknowledge that those 40,000 screeners were replacements for the 40,000 rent-a-cops that were replaced.