Department of Homeland Security busted!

We can't just blame this one on Michael Chertoff, the current Secretary (left) nor the original Secretary, Tom Ridge (below, right) -- whom I thought of very highly, despite his political persuasion. It's bureaucracy at its worst -- or maybe, at its most Normal."

What kinds of oversight can account for such nonsense as 2000 sets of dog booties that have been sitting in storage for ... yes, Katrina! They now think they might not need them, but roughly $70,000 has already been spent to buy and store them ... just in case Katrina comes back to Louisiana.

Or what about the dozen or so Apple iPod Nanos and more than forty iPod Shuffles (what the heck are they anyway?) that were picked up (bought!) for the Secret Service and for which it has now been determined the Department of Homeland Security has been overcharged?Or (and this one is really neat) 37 black Helly Hansen designer rain jackets (another $2,500) for use at a firing range that ... you guessed it ... shuts down when it rains anyway. Even the US Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) got in on the act and Homeland Security bought a beer-brewing kit -- and ingredients -- for more than a thousand dollars to brew alcohol while on duty (to be used as a social organizer for the USCGA).

When it comes to imagination, the Homeland Security procurement pukes really came through in flying colors. They cannot even find a couple dozen printers and GPS (global positioning units) ... another $170,000 and ... get this ... they lost more than half of twenty boats they bought for $208,000.

Department of Homeland Security employees were issued 9,000 credit cards for official use and the limits were raised on those cards from $2,500 to ... get this ... $250,000 after Hurricane Katrina plowed through last August and September. The current investigation -- demanded by both Democrats and Republicans -- finds that 45% of the purchases on these cards are and were "improper." (They spent about a half a billion dollars with those cards, by the way!)

Well, take it from an old Government hack -- bureaucracy is what makes the saying, "close enough for Government work!" so true ... so very, very true.


Department of Homeland Security ... but not its own "security"

How many illegal aliens do you suppose they will find on our southern border if they can't find a dozen of their own boats and, oh yes ... did I mention that they "lost" more than a hundred laptops? In fact, I only mentioned a few of the items that I found (that they lost!) while surfing the .gov sites on the net.

Those of you who call yourselves "conservatives" out there in Blogland are right on when it comes to big, fat, bloated Government -- it not only breeds corruption; it promotes it! We liberals have to take it on the chin when these kinds of messes pop up.