Gary North may be a lot closer to reality than a lot of other folks, including those institutions to which we pay taxes.
Koskinen's IT Working Group met for the first time today, and I was impressed by the breadth of representation. It is being chaired by Kent Hughes of the Commerce Department, and includes DoD, the FTC and agencies. All major IT sectors are participating, along with IEEE.
One of our key messages was the need for the administration to become more fully engaged in focusing on the general public, i.e., distributing information re ideas for personal and community contingency plans. Koskinen wants to stay focused on getting people to zero in on remediation, testing, etc., but given the fact that there are going to be gaping holes, this administration has no choice but to address non-business related issues.
John is concerned that warnings re possible consequences will evolve into self-fulfilling prophecies and create unnecessary panic. I believe some level of panic is inevitable. However, the more information that can be provided in advance, the less the degree of panic.
Final thought: I get a little irked when I sit in meetings with folks pulling down major bucks and here them talk about the need to prevent people from pulling their money out of banks, liquidating their investments, etc. I agree with the overall sentiment, but I am willing to bet that every single person in the room already has developed a plan for doing the very thing that s/he is insisting the government must discourage others from doing.
Enough venting.
Ken |
