More TSA asshattery

I talked to a guy on a flight a year ago, who despite being a contractor for the DHS, and having a high security clearance, is on the terror watch list, and it takes him weeks to get approval to fly. All because some member of some terrorist organization stole his identity and used his information to open bank accounts. That's been fixed, but he can't be removed from the terror watch list.

Agreed. What every good baby is in DHS should be thrown out with the bathwater. We need to start over.

 

With current fuel prices, we won't have to worry about airline security much longer.

 

^ True...

The TSA is a joke but what else do you do in the time being...I guess I was naive to think that hey, this is a good start and they'll roll out the "Real" program later...

 

The argument is that airlines should take responsibility for airline security, and the government should hold them responsible. I'm not sure I agree, but it's interesting.

 

that's essentially the system we had before 9/11, and then we bailed out american and united, rather than letting the market punish them for their failures.

 

I don't think you have a clue what you're talking about here. The work DHS does is absolutely essential.

If you want to shut something down or redirect funds, then shut down the war in Iraq and redirect the funds to DHS. We need more funds, not less.

Again, you have no freakin' idea what the hell you're talking about here.

 

The TSA is a joke. Most of those people aren't the brightest in the world, and some of those people are drunk with power. To honestly expect them to stop terrorists is expecting a lot. Honestly how can you tell the difference between a laptop and a bomb? The battery on most laptops can explode. They need to go back to lax security. The chance of a terrorist blowing a plane is really low. I prefer not to give up my privacy or spend my money on security. The war on terror is like the war on drugs. Its a never ending war of wasting money. Screw the DHS shut them down too. We already have the NSA, FBI, and CIA wasting our money; we don't need another dept leaching our money. I want less taxes. I don't want to spend 100 of billions of dollars on finding the boogey man aka terrorists when there are children without food and people in poverty. We need to fix NO not find the some supposed terrorist.

 

Most of the functions of DHS are necessary. That they have to be combined into one organization is not. The next administration really needs to look at this and make some changes... starting with the name, which has a vague Nazi-like connotation.

 

I strongly, strongly disagree. Combining those agencies under one umbrella -- and forcing them to be 'team players' -- was one thing I had been advocating waaaay before 9/11 ever came about. I can tell you that those agencies have been a lot more efficient and responsive since DHS came into existence. Do they do everything perfectly well? Of course not, what government bureaucracy does? Actually, scratch that, not even the private sector has been immune to bad decisions or poor outcomes or even corruption. To expect 'perfection' from imperfect men is a bit hypocritical. Suffice it to say that the old alternative was a lot worse than the present.

Most of the wasteful spending is being done overseas, not at home. There are still areas of HS that need shoring up, but the whole point of DHS was coordinating existing efforts, and filling in the information 'gap' that existed because none of those agencies communicated in a positive manner (they did communicate in the past, but mostly in the form of turf wars). DHS not only fills in those intelligence gaps through coordinating efforts, it also provides a largely 'neutral' group of observers (i.e. the higher ups) who can hold these agencies accountable from without, in the process saving Congress the trouble of having to do it themselves, and perhaps public money that's wasted in the process. And that's just the obvious stuff, there is a lot more being done behind the scenes, but I would rather not go into details.

Obviously, there are 'weak links' in the DHS, and that should be addressed, but that should NOT be taken in any way, shape or form as indicative of the entire organization.

 

Thanks for the response.

Sorry, but from where I'm looking (NRF and ESFs), that's just not the case. I don't see the organizational mindset changing enough for NIMS to be as effective as it could be, I don't see the coordination on the ground, and I don't see the higher ups trusting the people on the ground. I do see an exponential increase in people that have an OK before any decision can be implemented on the ground. Now, you can argue that the political aspects of the current administration have affected the agencies ability to unite or function in certain areas, and I would obviously agree... though I think the combo of political manipulation and unwieldiness of the organizational structure both play a part. I understand there have been improvements since Katrina... but that's a low bar. You could also argue that the intelligence side is much better, but from what I've seen of the other side, I would have to have more info than your say so.

I think doing a major bureaucratic move like this under duress and panic is problematic. Should have had more thought go into this... we don't even know all the facts about the intelligence failures and manipulations regarding 9-11 and the response, so why did we rush to respond based on what we thought we knew?

I do appreciate the fact that NIMS is now being pushed on everyone, but it's a really a radical idea for organizations to accept, and again, I see lip service and org charts, but no true commitment to NIMS on behalf of DHS (except for the Coast Guard, who recognized the value and changed their culture before 9-11).

Nobody's arguing for perfection, just questioning whether the current set-up is the most effective. Likewise, the choice is not between now and then, but between now and what's most effective.

Frankly, this statement would be scary for any administration and is downright frightening in this administration. There is no way a group of higher ups in any Federal agency is going to be neutral observers... they are all higher ups for a reason and it rarely has to do with neutrality. Furthermore, I've had enough of the Executive Branch assuming the duties of the Legislative Branch. There should be absolutely no cause for an Executive Branch agency to "save Congress the trouble" of oversight.

Again, from where I sit, the organization looks more like Yugoslavia than the US... and I really would like a new name.

 

most of the people who work for TSA are big assholes who think they dont get compensated enough for their "heroic patriotic work saving american from the evil turbanheads"

i remember they were giving my grandfather a hard time about bringing a lotion or something so he was giving it back and the stupid b**** w**** started lecturing about keeping everyone safe or some ****. damn TSA scum