Practical Travel Safety Issues - 10 year term for next TSA head?

http://wolf.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34&parentid=6&sectiontree=6,34&itemid=1514

Congressman Frank R. Wolf is proposing a 10 year term for the head of the TSA. Personally I think that is a bit long.

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=15&sid=1863555
Federal News Radio interview. (MP3 link in article)

it used to be that several appointee positions in the federal government were term appointments, generally 5 or 10 years. These were usually established for presumably non-political jobs requiring a certain set of executive skills and continuity of leadership. Among them were -- at least the ones I can remember:

1. FAA Administrator
2. NASA Administrator
3. FBI Director
4. NTSB Chairman
5. FDA Commissioner
6. Fed Chairman

Everyone except for the NASA Administrator was a bureau director under a federal department with a political appointee as their boss. The priotities of the president were executed by the cabinet member boss which allowed the term appointee to run their organization without any of the politics.

These days, even the NASA Administrator or FBI director are judged by their views on issues such as abortion and immigration reform and these litmus tests are as important or more important then their technical qualifications. So, I think the only ones on my list which are term appointments any more are FBI Director and Fed Chairman.

I'm not sure you would want a TSA Administrator on a term appointment when there are way too many unresolved political issues about civil aviation security. Frank is my congressman, so I will drop him an email on the subject over the weekend.

I support 10 year terms for the previous and current acting TSA leaders.

Maximum security.

No parole.

Commissioner of Social Security serves a 6-year term and does not report to a political appointee. Just another data point.

Bruce

I support 10 year terms for the previous and current acting TSA leaders.

Maximum security.

No parole.

My thoughts exactly! (Actually, I think most of them deserve life terms.)

I support 10 year terms for the previous and current acting TSA leaders.

Maximum security.

No parole.

While I agree they need to be placed in general population.
Some lonely soul may need a mate!

My issue with this is that it further removes accountability from an agency that is already unaccountable.

If you're guaranteed a job for a long period, not subject to periodic reappointment, it means you don't need to be accountable for your actions.

Presuming, for a moment, that TSA/DHS is like the Pentagon (e.g. it's a national defense agency), why should the TSA/DHS be subject to a process that's different from that of the Defense Department.

And more specifically, why shouldn't the head of this monster agency be reflective of the values and policies of the Administration?

Gen Pop is where every previous TSA "leader" belongs currently (David Stone excepted - he managed to die before he could be brought to justice - pity).