I was watching “60 Minutes” the other night, something I rarely do anymore. Yes, even I get tired of watching government officials being embarrassed week after week by CBS reporters with tough questions. But I was channel surfing and landed on CBS just as they announced that the show would include some stuff about the money being spent on Homeland Security. I watched and it was amazing! It started with Tiptonville, Tennessee receiving about $155,000 for anything that they might need to fight the war on terror. And the mayor of Tiptonville wasn’t even embarrassed. He considered Tiptonville a “prime” target for terrorists because of the fact that it is so remote.
No one from the Federal government tells the communities what to buy, just gives them a shopping list and a check. And do they ever buy! Amazing stuff, really and the best was Washington, DC; where they haven’t been able to spend even a tenth of what has been pushed at them. (And more is coming!) But one of the many things they bought were Dale Carnegie courses for the sanitation workers. And a bunch of orange traffic cones…And a computer system to aid in towing cars. (This all makes sense to you, doesn’t it?)The mayor of DC even became indignant at the thought that anyone would question such expenditures. Oklahoma received money for port security. How close is the ocean to Oklahoma? On and on it went. And then the senator from the oversight committee tried to explain it. But he had a problem; he was having a hard time stopping himself from grinning as he answered the questions. His struggle was quite obvious...
In a way, it was comforting to see, that despite a change in administrations four years ago, greed and incompetence still rules in our nation’s capitol and throughout the land. Yes, it’s still all about money…
No comments:
Post a Comment