Quote and Source

From the February 2005 issue

Quote

"We have to abridge individual rights, change the societal conditions, and act in ways that heretofore were not in accordance with our values and traditions, like giving a police officer or security official the right to search you without a judicial finding of probable cause."�

--Department of Homeland Security intelligence chief Gen. Patrick M. Hughes, eight months prior to his appointment, at a March 2003 forum at Harvard; quoted in Congressional Quarterly, October 27, 2004

Source

It's hard to get politicians to consider policy problems whose consequences come after the next election. But while campaigns turn on this quarter's employment numbers or this year's deficit, ever-expanding entitlement programs will need reform soon to avert a fiscal crisis that remains at least a decade away. The Government Accountability Office covers "The Federal Government's Long Term Budget Imbalance" with essays explaining the problem and simulation charts that are updated as new data become available.�