Comments on: Pork delays transportation worker identification program

By: Two years of Homeland Stupidity - Homeland Stupidity

Two years of Homeland Stupidity - Homeland Stupidity — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:33:07 +0000

[...] This isn’t just a problem for the military. Homeland Security suffers from a major pork problem. Nobody outside D.C. really likes pork, so why does it keep coming back? There’s no end in sight to the waste of money, thanks to people like Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), the Prince of Pork, who diverted untold numbers of contracts worth God only knows how much back to his district, whether it made sense or not, and regardless of the damage to national security. [...]

By: TSA pushes port worker ID despite security, operational flaws - Homeland Stupidity

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:56:05 +0000

[...] One of those security weaknesses, GAO noted, is the fact that lost and stolen identity cards don’t get revoked before the cardholder gets a replacement card. Oops! Now you may be thinking that this is no big deal, because the cards have a biometric component, but just suppose the biometric readers aren’t working because they’re soaked through with salt water, or because they were built on crappy pork-barrel contracts rather than the best quality work available. Suddenly that lost or stolen card gets you into a supposedly secured area of a seaport, rail yard or airport. [...]

By: Immigration paperwork to be digitized in pork-barrel contract - Homeland Stupidity

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:32:24 +0000

[...] Under the first “call,” or task order, Datatrac is expected to digitize one million records in the next 12 months at the new facility it’s opened for the purpose in Williamsburg, Ky., in the home district of Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) who, not coincidentally, chairs the House Appropriations subcomittee for Homeland Security. Rogers is widely known as the “Prince of Pork” for bringing the homeland security bacon home to his eastern Kentucky district. [...]

By: Poor security threatens transportation worker ID program - Homeland Stupidity

Poor security threatens transportation worker ID program - Homeland Stupidity — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:40:24 +0000

[...] The program has been fraught with problems from day one, starting with numerous delays caused by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) trying — successfully — to get money for the program diverted to contractors in his Congressional district. The redacted report also identified a broader group of information security concerns that need to be addressed before TWIC is fully implemented. The program lacks clear definitions for assigning and distributing IT system responsibilities, procedures for periodic threat reassessments on people who are granted TWIC cards, procedures for criminal history checks and a records-retention schedule. [...]

By: Homeland security grants cut - Homeland Stupidity

Homeland security grants cut - Homeland Stupidity — Wed, 31 May 2006 23:22:27 +0000

[...] The few specific organizations that do benefit from this funding are located in the districts of House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and House Homeland Security Management Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., influential lawmakers who are not related. — CongressDaily [...]

By: The news just keeps breaking - Homeland Stupidity

The news just keeps breaking - Homeland Stupidity — Sat, 20 May 2006 09:38:49 +0000

[...] One thing I forgot to mention when descirbing the Transportation Worker Identity Credential, which has been delayed for years by Congressional wrangling over pork-barrel politics, was the fact that workers will be required to pay for their federal ID cards, the cost estimated between $105 and $139 for the inferior, less secure pork-barrel card. [...]