Balance the budget the easy way

Last week I got back from a trip. Like always, I enjoy flying. It is a great way to travel. How can you beat it? You get to sit there, watch a few mindless movies and they bring you food and drink. You don't have to think about anything or do anything. Great right? Well it used to be better.

Back before 9/11 was the good days of flying. You could show up to the airport 30 minutes before your flight and still be able to board the plane. They were days that we didn't worry about the terrorists or if we had to much liquid in our carry on. There was not fear about someone using the cutlery to kill you or if you had bombs that wouldn't blow up even if you tried. They were days when you didn't have to take your coat off to go through the metal detector and didn't have to take your laptop out of your bag. They were great days without loads of mindless rules that even a small child could circumvent.

Then 9/11 happened. I remember it well. I was in shock as I am sure you were. As a result we all willingly gave up some of our freedom. Along with it went the joy of easily catching a flight. All in the interest of "safety."

Are we any safer today than we were then? I propose that we are not. In the news we find regular examples of bad guys getting through our airport security only to be caught by the last line of defense, no not the air marshals, they are caught by the other passengers. (The Christmas day bomber)

So what do we get from having the Department of Homeland Security? More security? No, fear mongering. What do the colors they use really tell us? They tell us that we should be even more paranoid about a threat that they repeatedly demonstrate they know absolutely nothing about and know even less about how to stop. Aside from the peddling of paranoia, what do we get? More bureaucracy. I don't like to use buzz words like bureaucracy but that is exactly what it is. Just a piece of history, we took the very same government agency in place who was charged with our airport security pre 9/11, and yet was not able to stop it, and make them the single largest US government agency. I am sure that whoever thought up the idea sits around late and night chuckling to themselves thinking "haha all we had to do was give them a new name and different color shirts and people are thanking us instead of blaming us. "

Mr President- Lets cut the least productive parts of government out. When agencies repeatedly demonstrate that they do not preform the job they are established to provide we should remove them. We need to get rid of the department of Homeland Security. Aside from creating lots of high paid and high pensioned government jobs we all have to pay for now and well into the future, do they benefit America? NO! Any value they add is undone by all of the unintended negative consequences they create.

Lets free these workers. Let them into the work force of America and ask them to provide value to others by providing a service that adds value.

I propose that we get rid of the entire Homeland Security group and allow the people with the record for making our flights safer take charge -the regular passengers. Lets start balancing the budget the easy way.

One more rant before I go. Why cant the TSA (a part of the Homeland Security umbrella) manage to get your bag on the plane after they dig through it? I understand it is their right to invade our privacy when we fly, but it is not their right to invade your privacy, delay your bag to dig through it then force you and the airline to fill the gap. But don't worry they will make up for it by sticking a little note in your bag that lets you know they dug through your underwear. Next time I should leave a well soiled set of underwear inside my suitcase as a surprise. :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this or on other ways we can eliminate government waste by eliminating the agencies that add no value.