The Latest Layer of Fat

The Washington Times notes the high cost of intelligence reform -- or, more exactly, of building a place to put it:

The emergency supplemental-appropriations bill the Senate is expected to take up today includes a quarter-billion dollars to build a headquarters for the nation's new intelligence chief….The $82 billion supplemental request, sent to Congress last month, says the $250.3 million requested for the Intelligence Community Management Account will be used for a new facility to house the office of the director of national intelligence, the "expanded National Counterterrorism Center, and other intelligence community elements."

Sam Smith comments, "This is already beginning to look less like a coordinator of intelligence and more like yet another intelligence agency."

Comments

[thoreau]

You know, this is what happens when the Democrats are in control: Every problem is addressed by creating some new agency with a big budget and a staff of civil servants.

Oh, wait...

[MJ]

Thoreau,

The Congressional Democrat leadership's position on this issue was actually what? If I recall correctly they were part of the stampede for implementing the 9/11 commissions recommendations without question (except for the ones on border control, hey even they have their limits). There were few in congress on the side of the angels on this issue, but even fewer of them were Democrats.

[joe]

I call foul, MJ. The problem described in the article isn't about the legislation, but the implementation of the legislation.

[MJ]

joe

My post was directed at the subject of thoreau's comment. Specifically: "Every problem is addressed by creating some new agency...". Furthermore, the problem you mention would not exist if the office was not created in the first place. Addressing the Democrats culpability in creating the agency is well within bounds of dicussion, since thoreau's subtly implying the new intelligence office might not exist if the Democrats controlled the government. Which is not the case.

There is no flag on the play. First down!

[thoreau]

Actually, MJ, I was implying that it apparently doesn't matter whether Democrats control the government. Either way the solution to a problem is to create a new government agency. The details differ, but the approach is always the same: The government needs more resources and powers so it can DO SOMETHING.

[McClain]

One rarely hears the public cry out:
"Such-and-such is so horrible! The government should do NOTHING or VERY LITTLE about it!"
So if we're talking Libertarianism vs. democracy,
my money's on democracy....

[Congressional blowhard]

We need a new agency. A new intelligence agency. Some sort of intelligence agency to coordinate, oversee, and manage all the other agencies and programs that deal with intelligence and information gathering. Some central agency to do this.

Yeah, that's it, a central intelligence agency.