Flight 253 aftermath: Chris Dodd amendment cut airport security funding by $4.5 million
The president called the attempted Flight 253 terror attack a “systematic failure” and he is exactly right, he also promised to hold those responsible accountable for their action. (or inactions)
We are now learning that Chris Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut, offered an amendment to a bill that slashed funding to airport security by $4.5 million. The money that was destined to be spent “for screening operations and the amount for explosives detection systems,” was instead sent to one of Chris Dodd’s favorite constituency groups.
With the trillions of dollars that this administration has spent, I find it odd that $4.5 million had to be stripped out of a bill in order for Chris Dodd to pay off his constituency group. What is $4.5 million when you are spending trillions? $4.5 million isn’t even a drop in the bucket to this administration, yet Chris Dodd had the appropriations removed from the bill.
It is interesting to see what spending the Democrats in congress find unneccessary. This is just another example of Democrats not taking national security and terrorism seriously enough.
America's Watchtower 
Why limit finger pointing to just democrats? DeMint has a hold on the appointment of the TSA chief. Little hard to get the ducks in a row when there is no leadership. Also, it seems that the republicans have cast votes against the bill for funding the TSA. The bill included appropriations for the scatter ray machines that would let agents see through clothing. Looking at some of the people who cast nay votes, it looks like a who’s who list of republicans in the house. Interesting that something so important would be opposed by the ones who are now criticizing.
As for Dodd, this seems to be par for him; he is one corrupt SOB.
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The same TSA chief that it took Obama until September to name. By that time Democrats were too busy trying to force healthcare reform down our throats to put up a fight on the TSA. Not condoning Jim DeMint here, but if Democrats had shown the urgency on this issue as they put on healthcare they could have forced this vote. Republicans can not stop them, and now there is word that Harry Reid will force a vote on Southers after the recess. This should have happened before.
As far as blaming Republicans, I will have a post tonight about how GITMO detainees, released by Bush, helped to plan this attack.
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Healthcare….security….healthcare….security….
Such decisions these politicians have to make…
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Funny how you mention that it would have delayed thee vote on health care reform. That is exactly why I think the hold was placed on the nomination. As fast as DeMint came out and said that we should not be unionizing the TSA really reeks of CYAism. It is consistent with all of their other delaying tactics. They have even put holds and filibusters on funding for defense. What happened to patriotism and supporting the troops? Makes me wonder just how serious the republicans are about security if they are so willing to put politics before security.
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An interesting point, but if his real motive behind blocking Souther was to stall healthcare reform, it backfired as Democrats seem to have chosen healthcare as the number one issue this term.
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Supposedly there is a document passed around detailing the delay tactics.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021274.php
My thought is that it is more about regaining congress than stopping it. There is a correlation between the length of debate and the drop in polls.
Really in the end, I think the insurance companies got what they wanted; something toothless and watered down with an added bonus 30 million new consumers for their corporate buddies. To be honest, I think they will just play lip service to those who try to get the mandate ruled unconstitutional. Maybe I’m just being cynical.
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I think that the insurance companies did get what they wanted in this deal, certainly the far left agrees with that from what I have read. As far as being cynical, I think that most of us who follow this stuff closely are cynical at heart, it seems to come with the territory.
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With all due respect Mr. Pink Eyes
Fair and balanced is not pointing out that “they do it too”
Terrant is quite wrong
Demint was right to block Souther. ( I can see you know that)
Souther is no leader he’s just another water carrying collective socialist injected for the very purpose of swelling the Demigod minions
Southers has refused to state whether he would change TSA policy on collective bargaining. Souther will make the TSA Union.
TSA should be blocked from as much money as possible because it is a money pit. Let it go privet I say!
It was bad enough that Bush created the TSA in the first place. I was very disappointed in Bush for that. We don’t need to give TSA eternal perpetually in incompetence by making them union.
All airline security should be a market driven enterprise.
If that were the case it would be an easy fix when security is breached.
Fire the current security team and hire a new one.
If Transportation security was privet there would have been no way our panty bomber would have gotten through three privet security teams.
Instead we have this conglomerate called TSA which proves itself worthless and now Southers wants to make it union.
I for one agree with Demint.
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I don’t think that I was using the “they do it too” defense. At least that was not my intent.
You are right that Souther hasn’t committed to unionizing the TSA but I would guess that he would. Can you imagine having national security hanging in the balance of a union employee when the union rules state it is time for that employee to have a break?
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I was talking about terrant’s finger pointing point not you.
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Ah, okay, that makes more sense. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
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Ah… but the original article was about how the money Dodd redirected to a crony could have been used for counter terrorism. There is two sides of a story and I was pointing out DeMint and the fact that the upper leadership of the house republicans voted against funding for the TSA. One of the things in that bill was millimeter wave scanners that would have greatly improved the chances of catching the recent attacker.
Now, I did not know about the TSA nomination being made in September. The article that I read is now updated with that fact. When I read it, it sounded like this nomination has been hanging out there for much longer. The union thing is just a red herring. I don’t know why DeMint felt the need to cover his posterior so quickly. It (along with the delaying tactics the GOP was using) makes me think his motivations are questionable. For the record, I am not sure that I would want union hacks handling security.
That said, I don’t think that privatization is the magic bullet that you are making it out to be. You really would be just trading general incompetence with someone trying to cut corners to boost the profit margin. Case in point, the Amsterdam airport, the same airport where the Christmas bomber boarded the plane to Detroit, uses private contractors for passenger screening.
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I want to focus on Dodd. This is what Dodd does. According to Michelle Malkin (pg 283)
“Senator Dodd has been in the middle of every major legislative battle in 08/09 expanding big government/big business alliance. He championed the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, supported the $700 billion TARP banking bailout, sponsored massive injections of taxpayer funding into the mortgage industry and crusaded for Obama’s pork-filled finance contributions.
The number 1 recipient of campaign finance contributions from scandal-plagued financial behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is five-term Senator Chris Dodd.”
Dodd does this kind of wheeling and dealing to get financially compensated on the back end of these deals. He is all about the back room deal!
From opensecrets.org (again in MM book)
“Between 98-08, Dodd raked in $165,400 in donations from the federally-sponsored mortgage enterprises, including $48,500 from political action committees and $116,900 from individuals”
Furthermore, on page 285, MM says this about Dodd…
“Leading corporate moochers that sought and/or secured government bailout money had enough change ( I am beginning to loathe that term) to spare for Dodd, including Citigroup ($428,300), Morgan Stanley ($211,300), and Lehman Brothers ($154,300). [….] Bank of America also[…] tossed in approximately $70,000 between 06-08 and stood to benefit from Dodd’s subprime mortgage bailout measures.”
Can you now see why that I can’t stand this man. He has only one goal in life – Dodd! If you don’t have Dodd as a last name, too bad.
I’m sure if we were to dig into this even deeper, Dodd got a big fat check on the back end.
BTW, MM is my abbreviation for Michelle Malkin.
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And didn’t Dodd also get a sweetheart mortgage deal from Countrywide? I think that he did.
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Heh… you can probably fill an encyclopedia with Dodd’s corruption.
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Chris Dodd and those in the progressive(formally know as liberal) movement are unpatriotic and stand for policies that would destroy this nation as we know it. True they are the forces of change, but a radical change that flys in the face of traditional American values. Dodd and those like him are Americans, but they are the new Benedict Arnolds. They are not the voices of a oppositon party, but the voices of a traitorous mob who think they have the partiots of this nation on the run. These progressives have crossed the line and have thrown the Constitution under the bus.
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The discussions seem to point to an interesting point. How much have the Dems given to private industry, i.e. evil corporations? Seems like quite a lot. Dodd’s clearly a major player in that, but in the end, he’s just one of many. I just find it ironic, because all last summer, we were the “astroturf army” that was funded by the insurance industry. I for one, am still waiting to get paid. 😛
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Maybe they paid you what they thought your services was worth 😈
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HAHAH
Terrant, you are such a trouble maker.
We all know tea party throwers get paid with taxpayer dollars just as all the non partisan groups do like ACORN and the SEIU.
I for one tried to shake down the insurance companies but they told me I was epidermally challenged so their money went to other more effective shake down artists like the reverend brothers.
I am the MOB!
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That was a pretty funny line by Terrant, you have to admit.
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John Pistole lied when he told americans that the christmas day bomber was responsible for the increased security and the pat downs and full body scanners were necessary to protect americans from terrorist, here is the truth that can be goggled by anybody who is interested, the christmas day bomber was on homeland security no fly list and his own father notified the authorities that his son was dangerous and boarding a plane headed to the united states, right after the failed attempt former TSA administrator michael chertoff hit the talk show circuit promoting his full body scanners that he was peddling, knowing that americans would be hesitant to use the devices john pistole gives his agents two weeks worth of training and tells then to pat down travelers who refuse to use those devices, while this was going on janet napolatano was in the process of suing the state of arizona for just asking anyone suspected of being in this country illegily and where was our president on the golf course enjoying the sun.
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