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TSA and Government Waste
An article in last week's New York Times told the sad, sad story of the bureaucratic Transportation Security Administration:
"The Transportation Security Administration wasted money on an operations office lavishly equipped with artwork, tens of thousands of dollars of silk flowers, expensive kitchen equipment and a state-of-the-art fitness center with towel service, according to a report by the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department that was released on Tuesday."
Among the items that the department's own inspector general found the agency wasted money on:
- $253,292 of artwork
- $29,032 for an art consultant
- $30,085 on silk plants
- $13,861 on lamps and other items
- Seven kitchens, nine microwave ovens, and 10 refrigerators (incluidng two expensive Sub-Zero models!)
The spending occurred in 2003 "while the agency was setting up a $19 million transportation security center...for 79 full-time employees."
What a mess.
Yet the most disturbing part of all this is a report published the same day "concluding that the TSA's airport screeners had made no progress since 2003 in detecting weapons or explosives."
Is it fair to say that the entire TSA is a huge waste of money? I'm not sure. It's about time for the TSA to stop worrying about things like banning lighters and fix itself.
· Transportation Security Agency Criticized [New York Times]
Posted in on April 25, 2005, 07:45 AM | Permalink
