Thu, Jul 17, 2003
TSA Denies Wrongdoing
Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ron Wyden
(D-OR) tried to find out just how well the TSA and its screening
contractor, NCS Pearson (now Pearson VUE) were treating themselves,
during the recent hiring frenzy. When they were ignored by TSA capo
James Loy, they wrote him a letter, with a copy to the Inspector
General. "TSA recruiters put staying at posh resorts ahead of their
mission to enhance security at America's airports," was one of the
lines in the June 27 note.
The TSA arrogantly won't
say where its budgeted dollars go, citing "national security;" but
the senators, among others, are peeved that the TSA is always
saying it doesn't have enough money, when it puts 20 of the Pearson
folks up at the (pictured) Wyndham Peaks at Telluride (CO) for
seven weeks, or when it pays the bills, "sometimes for months,"
according to a Leslie Miller/AP story, at the Waldorf Astoria in
New York, the Manele Bay Hotel in Hawaii, the Hawk's Cay Resort in
the Florida Keys and the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort in St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands.
According to Miller, the TSA says that it was justified, because
lesser accommodations didn't have the kinds of communications
equipment that the high-line digs did. Nevertheless, he notes that,
"At the Wyndham in Telluride, for example, it can cost up to $6,000
to install a router and a high-speed cable line and up to $3,500
per month for one computer and connection."
The TSA, according to reports, is about a billion dollars short
for this year, having spent 15~20% too much. It's 'national
security,' you see, and 'responsibility' is for the
little people...
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