You Want To Get Rid Of A Government Agency, Start with Homeland Security.

[HurricaneDC]

Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey

This agency keeps the country safe. Besides, it creates jobs for thousands of people.

the "creates jobs" argument is possibly the biggest steaming load of hippo **** ever

the government could tell us all to go dig a small hole in our yards and pay us $100. there's 300,000,000 jobs created right there

[ovcatto]

Did anyone know that the FBI has a police department to protect the FBI?

Then you got your:

National Zoological Park Police

United States Supreme Court Police

United States Capitol Police

United States Government Printing Office Police

Veterans Affairs Police

United States Mint Police

National Institutes of Health Police


In 2004, federal agencies employed approximately 105,000 full-time personnel authorized to make arrests and carry firearms in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Compared with 2002, employment of such personnel increased by 13%.

Nationwide, there were 36 federal officers per 100,000 residents. Outside the District of Columbia, which had 1,662 per 100,000, State ratios ranged from 90 per 100,000 in Arizona to 7 per 100,000 in Iowa.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by ovcatto

Just some random thoughts about the mess called Homeland Security.




Why isn't TSA under the Dept of Transportation?

Why is there a Customs & Border Protection AND a Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency and why isn't Customs back under Treasury where it belongs and Immigration under the Justice Dept?

Speaking of which, why is there a DEA, an ATF and a FBI? Local police departments seem cable of having different units charged with those same functions and they work rather well.

As for the top layer at HLS, what the hell do does HLS need a Civil Rights & Civil Liberties officer can't they just call the Justice Department? A counter narcotics officer WTF? Intelligence and analysis? This country has 1,271 different intelligence organizations and that doesn't count private contractors.

Great Britain gets by with 5!

But no one seems to want to talk about streamlining any of this.

PS - If anyone has any suggestions as to what to do with the Coast Guard, I'm all ears. The Guard started out under the Treasury Department, then shuffled over to Transportation and now is sitting over in Homeland. It still provides vital functions for all three departments as well as Defense so I don't know where to put it.

Secret Service could be split up between Treasury and the White House.

Toss TSA? I could go for that.

[Deezus]

I've always wondered why we still need a $1.2 billion Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives(ATF).

First off, prohibition ended in 1933--we're not busting bootleggers these days. Moonshine in the Appalachans? Cigarette smuggling? That's small potatoes these days... And the actual tax collection and regulatory functions related to alcohol and tobacco are overseen by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau under the Treasury Department after restructuring the agencies.

So as it actually stands--we could easily just transfer anything left that's related to the firearm and explosives regulatory enforcing divisions of that department over to the FBI or local authorities. Basically as the ATF stands, they're the little brother of the federal law enforcment agencies--and with their somewhat checkered past, probably a lot of people wouldn't mind seeing them go...

Another one--if you legalized marijuana in this country--the DEA would basically be unnecessary as well.

[MJJersey]

Originally Posted by Frank DeForrest

Good luck getting rid of this cancer. Government never downsizes, it just morphs into something bigger under the lie er uh guise of streamlining for efficiency.
Financial collapse is probably our only chance to be rid of it.

Agreed. Once a monster like this is born it becomes an immortal consumer of money and liberty. Thanks small-government Republican D-bags.