The Foxes BUILT the damned Henhouse

Disgusting. That's the only word left for the allegedly "pro-security" GOP that could be said. It has become apparent that they are all for "security"- the security of their pocketbooks and their jobs. Everything else is lip service big enough to put a Ubangie paddle into.
Resisting any kind of Federal regulation, no matter how important, is the Prime Directive of business in America these days. "Regulation" means restraint to the powers of money, and restraint means not making every dime possible, no matter how greedy, how environmentally disastrous, or how dangerously you operate.
Let's take a little "peek" at the Nation's Chemical plants. Now, you or I, AKA reasonable people, would think that THOSE would be high danger places, that the Feds should be all over those things securing them, and training the private forces that work in them. You or I, AKA reasonable people, would think that after watching the Fed finally take over airport security (which HAD been run privately by the airlines, paid for by the airlines, and manned by airline employees at minimum wage) that there would be few arguments left about patchwork haphazard security continuing across America.
YOU or I.
Thankfully, the people in charge know better-- because they are against "Big Government" doing things like running any National Security at those sites. It's perfectly OK to strip search you and I when we get on a plane or a train- but it's WRONG to even allow Homeland Security inside the fence line at some chemical plants. And they DON'T. The Bush Administration thinks that OK.



HU????? The Feds are OK with a chemical plant giving them Ubangie service about what kind of security they have without any inspections? The Feds are just going to walk away????

Of course they are honey child... the Feds ARE big business, and if you missed that, let me recap the great energy billings of 2000 right after the Dubyou win (Enron execs are even now lying through their teeth to avoid long jail terms now that the tapes of their rip offs and the e-mails have surfaced, screaming smoking guns that all the gas masks in Washington cannot avoid smelling). Or mention the huge tax cuts they all got (and the largest profits in the history of the US were just reported by those same companies......now, the argument that they will make more jobs has proved bogus- are YOU working for Chevron? So, would you like to pay more taxes and have them get MORE cuts? They will if you blink).

The Federal GOPS have spent the last 6 years writing legislation and making sweeping enactment's that most of us never hear about, that will make it impossible to reign in corporate greed and pollution, open up huge tracts for GOP pillagers (you remember the Pillage People, right? 70's band of men with nothing in common but a sense of style), and line the pockets of the UBER rich indefinitely. But the American people can swallow nicely, pay more out of their own pockets- and live with horrible personal restrictions while the dangerous businesses get yet another free pass.

The Fed has actually BLOCKED regulation in this area. A recent TIME report states"The EPA and the fledgling White House Office of Homeland Security spent months developing a legislative package requiring the chemical industry to beef up security. In March 2003, a dozen senior Administration officials met in the Old Executive Office Building next door to the White House to put the finishing touches on what they considered a major initiative.
At that meeting, though, officials were surprised to see a new face- Phillip Perry. As the top lawyer for the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Perry helped oversee Adminisratrion regulatory intitiaives. According to Bob Bostock the Homeland Security adviser to the EPA, Perry, who hadn't attended any of the prior meetings, declared the proposal dead in a matter of minutes. Perry said"......"that the chemical industry was taking voluntary steps that were sufficient".


I wonder if they are sufficient as those taken by our beef industry to control Mad Cow disease (none were taken until Japan quit buying our beef. They are still feeding diseased pieces of other animals in cow feed, and Japan still won't buy our beef anymore. You are paying more for meat now to offset those loses to the Beef industry, and your family is taking a chance with every Big Mac about when the first fatality will happen in the US).

Who is Perry? Well, aside from being a sleeze, his father in law is Dick Cheney- the Vice president. Who says the GOP aren't into family values?
The funny part is, now, Perry's mouthpiece says that Perry doesn't remember the meeting and that Bostock's account is not accurate or fair.

HU? If he doesn't remember, than what the hell can he comment on? If he remembers enough to know this guy is not accurate, then by all means, INFORM US of what Bostock is allegedly misrepresenting-- and if you cannot remember, than please don't try to tell us that you don't remember but you do. (Work shall set you free folks!).

Time goes on to say that today only about 1,100 of the nations 15,000 biggest plants participate in ANY kind of security program-- they participate in a "voluntary one".
Wow. I want to participate in voluntary tax paying. Voluntary traffic rules. Voluntary jury duty. Oh yeah. I could get into this.

White House officials are also apparently protecting their business interests - they all own stock or have been promised cushy after-Bush jobs, and in order to make sure that their big daddies are happy, they are openly blocking legislation to make us safer. In June 2003 Ed Markey introduced a bill to mandate 100% inspection of airline CARGO. Yep- you and I have been losing our freaking little nail clippers while the BIG opportunities to ship 100 pounds of explosive have been DELIBERATELY ignored.
Why? It would be TOO expensive for the shipping business to bother to make us safe.
I may never fly on another plane-- hell, they want to strip search babies, but we are all expendable while sitting over cargo holds full of big UNKNOWN piles of stuff?

That isn't the appalling part. The appalling part is that after the bill was introduced and passed, Department of Homeland Security sr. officials argued and won to have it stripped out of the legislation.
6 billion pounds of cargo --- and the carriers that forward the freight are the only ones that are supposed to check it and make sure it's safe. Without regulations, guidelines, rules, oversight, or anything other than the ongoing spot inspections that the Fed has been doing for 25 years. I guess it is too expensive and will cut into their 17 BILLION dollar profits annually. Yeah. But I have to cough up my knitting needles.

"Its commerce over common sense" Markey complained to deaf Federal ears. Russ Knocke, Department of Homeland Security says it "maximizes security without shutting down the systems".
God they really do think we are bumfu*k stupid ignorant cows out here.
Don't depend on the Department of Homeland Security to change their tune and actually TRY to protect us anytime soon. Phillip Perry is their new general council. He prolly got a promotion after shutting down any effort to protect our chemical plants.

So- what's a taxpayer making less than a million a year supposed to think?
If you are a Republican loyalist, you already think whatever they tell you to and nothing more. You already drank the cool aide and have bought your ticket to hell, God help you.
If you are either a free thinking man or a disgruntled voter of any party, than you are probably thinking what many of us Democratic right wing liberal types have been thinking all along.
We got taken for a HUGE ride on this "security of the US" thing. 9-11 was used as a reason to strip the US of every dime (have you seen today's deficit??) and make fools of everyone for the benefit of commerce.
We are in MORE danger than we were before, because NOW we THINK we have Homeland Security. The only thing they are securing is their contributors wallets.