I find it difficult to believe that the bureaucrats that came up with this couldn't recognize the gaping hole and inconvenience that TSA PreCheck is. This could be interpreted as some acknowledgement of the security theater they're putting on, indicative of poor management/internal lack of faith at the TSA, or some combination of both.

As an aside - I've never had the opportunity to rant about this before - the Dane County Regional Airport is laid out in such a way that there are two escalators that go up to the security checkpoints on the upper level, one on each side of the ticketing counters. One is TSA PreCheck, the other is not (yes, entirely 1/2 of the locations they have available are TSA PreCheck, and there are always lines at the other side). The signage is very poor and many, many people end up going to the PreCheck side, get turned away, and then need to walk 10 minutes to the other side of the airport to go through the regular lane. Of course this could be avoided if you enroll in that program, but for people who travel by plane infrequently, the cost/benefit ratio just isn't there.