George McGovern: Abolish the TSA and Homeland Security

by Robert Wenzel
Economic Policy Journal

Recently by Robert Wenzel: NYT Comes Pretty Damn Close to Reporting That Obama and Geithner May Have Known Each Other When They Were Children in Asia

Former Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, who ran on an anti-Vietnam war platform, is calling for the Transportation Security Administration and the entire Homeland Security Department to be eliminated, reports The Hill.

In a new book, What It Means to be a Democrat he says that current airport security procedures are "ridiculous." He writes, further:

The whole silliness of our response is exemplified by what has happened at our airports. Once sources of architectural pride, air terminals are now barricaded behind concrete. Inside we are required to remove our shoes and belts, hand over our gels and liquids and submit to body scans – with the ante being raised each time there's a new scare.

What upsets me the most is when I see an elderly woman trying her dardedest to comply with these ridiculous rules. As if she could possibility harboring an explosive in her suitcase," he continued. "Now that our initial distress over 9/11 has dissipated, I suggest that we stop this needless hassle, a palliative that costs $7 billion a year and rising.

Then he takes on all of Homeland Security:

To my mind, in fact, the entire Homeland Security department – with its more than 200,000 employees and more than $42 billion budget – ought to be dissolved," he wrote. "The third largest Cabinet department, it sprang from 9/11's shock waves to put the agencies that deal with counterterrorism, including airport safety, under one roof. "

I believe we should leave the business of protecting the American public from terrorist attacks to the FBI, the CIA and our police department.

Reprinted with permission from Economic Policy Journal.

November 18, 2011

©2011 Economic Policy Journal

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