Interesting nugget buried in the testimony from the OMB Director on the budget today:

(Don't hold your breath... he doesn't make any bold statement that shows he's ready to act on the implications of that... but hey, the concept is out there...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arWhyoO6os8 @ 3:25

I have a better idea - don't buy the devices, and you don't need to hire more people. @:-)

And even better, if you stop the stupidity and harassment, TSA can do just as "good" a job with a lot less people than they have now.@:-)

But then Herr Pistole cannot continue to build his Korps under Frau Napolitano's Ministerium fuer Staatssicherheit...

Yeah, stop making sense, it just confuses 'em.

I was thinking last night, reading about the budget and staffing increases, that they're going about this all wrong. TSA puts people at airports (train stations, bus stations, football games, ...) and waits for the traveling public to come to them. Terribly inefficient, really.

Now what if TSA could assign an individual "officer" to each non-TSA person* in the country? Your Personal Security Officer, or PSO, could accompany you every moment of the day, not only through the airport and on the train, but while you were packing for your trip, or getting dressed, or walking (transportation) to your car (transportation) to make sure that you NEVER EVER do anything that could harm transportation.

You couldn't assemble the ingredients for a mythical liquid bomb, because your PSO would be there in the basement watching what you do. You couldn't hide a pound of C4 in your collar () or in a body cavity, because your PSO will be there watching you shower and doing the laundry.

Sure, you nay-sayers will point out that this would require half of the population to be employed by DHS as PSOs. But isn't it better to be safe than sorry? Is any price too high to pay to ensure that no one ever gets blown up on an airplane again? And you'll point out that no one will be watching the international visitors. That's okay, because under this scheme, no international traveler will ever want to visit the US ever again.

I'm pretty sure this is the end game. Go ahead, laugh. You laughed when we said they'd be strip-searching grannies, didn't you?

* You don't need to assign a PSO to another PSO because, duh, they've had background checks.

didn't the old East Germany try something like that?

At least somebody had the stones to ask this question.. Let's hope he acts on it!

Historically, this was the reasoning behind the Third Amendment.

No doubt. But historically, DHS and TSA haven't let the Constitution get in their way.

They've trashed the First, First, Second(?), Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth(?), Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Clearly they're looking to collect the whole set.

I would suggest we need just one TSO.

To be placed in the Smithsonian so we never forget what a big mistake TSA was and hopefully to never make the same mistake again.

We have the 'If you see something say something' campaign going @ all wal-marts so that should just about cover all of amerika.
Besides, you can't hire all the pizza drivers to become PSO's how else am I going to get my NY size/style w/xtra cheese food and bacon, peperoni, meatballz?

^^ Can I make a nomination?

"How many TSA agents do we need?"

Thousands, and more Thousands Standing Around
After all, its all for security... Hail Pissy!

RG, I expected better of you. As an engineer, I would have expected you to account for vacations, sleep time, off time, etc. 1 PSO just wouldn't be enough. Because if a PSO had to sleep, go to the doctor or vacation, you could do something that they wouldn't be able to stop. So you'd have to have a minimum of 4 if they're pulling 12's but realistically looking like 5-6 minimum.

That number might be able to reduce to have "group" officer for people traveling or working together, but let's be realistic - it would be a jobs program so it'd have to employ as many people as possible. So we'd probably have shorter shifts with more screeners, so we'd be looking more like 10% of "free" people with 90% being dedicated to security.

You've failed to account for the PSOs to watch the PSOs.

Ssshh. That's stage 2. It hasn't been announced yet.

As above, the PSOs have all had background checks, and therefore never EVER steal from people or beat them up or...

Ooops.