Missing the Point
The front page of today's Philadelphia Inquirer contains the right-column headline Attack against Clarke escalates. This leads into a full-page spread examining Sen. Frist's assertion that Clarke may have given inconsistent testimony, a recap of his accusations in 9/11 Committee testimony and his book, Condoleezza Rice's refusal to testify publicly, and so on.Oh, and in the back, on page A6 is a three-column inch AP story. Here it is, in it's entirety:
I'm a bit startled at Rep. Maloney's indolence. How dare she suggest that failure to fund CPB and ICE is a failure to act against terrorism? What could this so-called "Immigration and Customs Enforcement" agency do to keep us safe anyway? Do they send troops to Iraq to oust Saddam?The Homeland Security Department said yesterday that it was putting a hold on new hires at two bureaus for a few weeks while it analyzed whether they were spending more than their budgets allow.
Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said budget analysts were reviewing the payroll systems of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The analysts are trying to determine the accuracy of initial projections for their spending for the whole year.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security, said the action would hamper efforts to prevent terrorists from entering the country.
"This administration has spared no expense to open new firehouses in Iraq but won't even keep our Department of Homeland Security solvent," Maloney said in a statement.
The hold on hiring does not affect the Transportation Security Administration, Murphy said.
The move was first reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal.
I didn't think so.
