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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (24242)	8/5/2003 1:25:02 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

The conclusion of your article Careful examination of the Bush administration’s record on homeland security invites the inescapable conclusion that President Bush has given homeland security more lip service than action. While some progress has been made, not nearly as much has been done as might be expected given that Bush has declared homeland security to be his highest priority. There are several reasons why the president has not followed through on his promises to make the nation more secure. First, the administration has put far more energy into overseas operations, believing that assertive overseas military action trumps efforts to strengthen the defense of the homeland. Second, in line with this administration’s overarching effort to cut the size of the federal government and devolve governmental functions to the state and local level, the Bush administration has simply not devoted the resources—financial, political, and administrative—to ensuring a strong and effective federal role. Along these lines, the president’s overriding commitment to slashing taxes has led him to underfund efforts to improve intelligence coordination, communication, and border control.106 Most significant, however, is that the president and his key advisors are ideologically constrained when it comes to dedicating themselves to homeland security. His administration’s antigovernment stance led them to reject comprehensive overhauls of the identification system and to oppose instituting a student visa tracking system. The president’s belief that homeland security, like crime fighting in general, is a state and local responsibility has led him to limit federal support to state and local governments, putting much of the burden of homeland security on cash-strapped states. Most disturbingly, President Bush’s inattention to domestic security has led us into a war on terror without the benefit of America’s secret weapon: entrepreneurial spirit and overwhelming technological superiority. Though the terrorists have the advantage of stealth, secrecy, and suicidal fervor, we should be fighting back with our own strengths, including our adaptability to changing circumstances, our creative drive, and our ability to quickly develop and implement new technologies through both private and public funding. President Bush has devoted much rhetoric to bringing our entrepreneurial spirit to other elements of government, but on homeland security he has consistently sided with the ponderous, underfunded status quo over fostering the kinds of innovations that will help keep our citizens safe. President Bush’s strong words and dramatic settings for speeches have helped make Americans feel safer. It is time for Bush to move beyond mere words, however, and implement the policies that will thwart terrorists and make Americans safer not in theory, but in reality. While I agree that an Admin whose domestic goals are to cut taxes and shrink government is "congenitally" ill suited to formulate an effective Homeland Security, I think the problem goes deeper. This is an extremely ideologically driven Admin that ab initio has single mindedly pursued an agenda that existed prior to its "selection". Homeland Security was not part of that agenda, nor, except in an ancillary way, is there any benefit to "important contributors". Hence, from this Admin's perspective, it's a necessary step-child - given only "lip service". JMO lurqer