TSA Denies Wrongdoing

Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) tried to find out just how well the TSA and its screening contractor, NCS Pearson (now Pearson VUE) were treating themselves, during the recent hiring frenzy. When they were ignored by TSA capo James Loy, they wrote him a letter, with a copy to the Inspector General. "TSA recruiters put staying at posh resorts ahead of their mission to enhance security at America's airports," was one of the lines in the June 27 note.

The TSA arrogantly won't say where its budgeted dollars go, citing "national security;" but the senators, among others, are peeved that the TSA is always saying it doesn't have enough money, when it puts 20 of the Pearson folks up at the (pictured) Wyndham Peaks at Telluride (CO) for seven weeks, or when it pays the bills, "sometimes for months," according to a Leslie Miller/AP story, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the Manele Bay Hotel in Hawaii, the Hawk's Cay Resort in the Florida Keys and the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

According to Miller, the TSA says that it was justified, because lesser accommodations didn't have the kinds of communications equipment that the high-line digs did. Nevertheless, he notes that, "At the Wyndham in Telluride, for example, it can cost up to $6,000 to install a router and a high-speed cable line and up to $3,500 per month for one computer and connection."

The TSA, according to reports, is about a billion dollars short for this year, having spent 15~20% too much. It's 'national security,' you see, and 'responsibility' is for the little people...

FMI: www.tsa.gov