Oink Oink
An enraging story from U.S. News & World Report illustrates the incompetence of Homeland Security, and the pork that is choking the system. While first-response units in Wyoming have more money than they know what to do with, New York and California units are drowning.
Most disturbing: The bottom five states (which, coincidentally, contain the largest airports in the country) are receiving the least amount of money per capita – Illinois, Florida, New York, Texas, and California. The top five? The Virigin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Wyoming, and American Samoa.
The House and the Senate are both pushing forth plans that will attempt to remedy this. The House’s plan gives 90% of funds based on risk, while the Senate plan gives 60% of funds based on risk. Homeland Security came to the forefront of the public’s attention in the wake of 9/11; let’s hope that it will not take another disaster for people to realize the funds are being poorly allocated and serious reform is needed immediately.
Equally infuriating: “A no-bid contract had the TSA spending $461,000 on a party to celebrate the agency's first birthday … Inadequately trained employees spent $500,000 on silk plants and artwork. Kitchens were outfitted with Sub-Zero refrigerators costing $3,000 each. And the belly of the building was filled with a 4,200-square-foot gym costing $300,000.”
Most disturbing: The bottom five states (which, coincidentally, contain the largest airports in the country) are receiving the least amount of money per capita – Illinois, Florida, New York, Texas, and California. The top five? The Virigin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Wyoming, and American Samoa.
The House and the Senate are both pushing forth plans that will attempt to remedy this. The House’s plan gives 90% of funds based on risk, while the Senate plan gives 60% of funds based on risk. Homeland Security came to the forefront of the public’s attention in the wake of 9/11; let’s hope that it will not take another disaster for people to realize the funds are being poorly allocated and serious reform is needed immediately.
Equally infuriating: “A no-bid contract had the TSA spending $461,000 on a party to celebrate the agency's first birthday … Inadequately trained employees spent $500,000 on silk plants and artwork. Kitchens were outfitted with Sub-Zero refrigerators costing $3,000 each. And the belly of the building was filled with a 4,200-square-foot gym costing $300,000.”
posted by Anonymous at 10:02 AM
3 Comments:
Our government at work. Nothing changes.
-Jack
Pork barrel spending is the best reason to NOT support one of the "big two" political parties. But it always begs the question - can a politician get elected without making the promises that result in this kind of stuff?
Nope, Shea.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years."
Author Unknown
-Jack
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