An Open Letter to the Gutless Sheep Masquerading As The People's Representatives a.k.a The 107th Congress

On the cold November evening of November 19, 2002 our democracy and our fundamental freedoms have sustained a serious body blow, thanks to you. The passage of the abomination known as the Homeland Security Department marks a dark chapter in our nation's history. Not only have you, our elected representatives, gleefully stripped dedicated workers of century old civil service protections and made them wholly vulnerable to political pogroms, which this blatantly anti-worker administration will most surely undertake, you have expanded and worsened the destruction of the Bill of Rights started with the passage of the USA (UN)PATRIOT Act.
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The Homeland Security merger mess
A Harvard analyst says government consolidation won't improve the fight against terrorism quickly, and maybe not at all. The reason: Most big corporate mergers fail.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a mammoth federal agency whose chief goal -- to protect Americans against terrorism -- is daunting. But leaving aside the matter of terrorism, the mere creation of the new department, which will employ about 170,000 people and bring together 22 government agencies, will be a huge challenge for the officials charged with the task.

What are the department's chances -- not only of surviving the harrowing merger process, but of actually making us safer than we are today? Ashish Nanda, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and an expert on corporate mergers, says that we shouldn't expect any magic soon.
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"An irresponsible exercise in political chicanery"
In a fiery speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Robert Byrd calls the Department of Homeland Security a butt-coverer for Bush, a corporate boondoggle and a license for Uncle Sam to spy on Americans.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve the landmark Homeland Security bill. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was one of the few senators voting against it, and in an address on the Senate floor, he raised fundamental questions about the need for the new agency and whether it will have the desired impact. What follows is the full transcript of his remarks during the conclusion of the Homeland Security debate.
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