[It'salmosttolate]

THIS IS LIKE GETTING A REDUCTION ON YOUR TAXES BECAUSE YOU FORGOT TO SEND THEM IN.

[Paleo Conservative]

THIS IS LIKE GETTING A REDUCTION ON YOUR TAXES BECAUSE YOU FORGOT TO SEND THEM IN

That's a great idea.

[El Gato]

You wouldn't mind giving the CIA, as an institution, more money. for anti-terrorism. After all, somebody has to do the job. However, heads should roll over the fact that they did not do the job prior (and probably since) 9-11. Christians In Action has rarely been worth the powder (or C-4 ;) ) it would take to blow them up.

[HassanBenSobar]

Yeah, well, we all were rightly disgusted by x42's emasculation of the CIA budget and policies. So *some* increase in funding would seem warranted. It sure looks stupid from the 'reward for performance' perspective, of course.

On the other hand, as far as 'waste' goes, CIA funded research contracts are as heavily regulated, tracked, and penny-pinched as other govt. contracts. I know it sounds like there's room for abuse, and some will trot out stories of $600 hammers--maybe there still is waste and abuse elsewhere. However, the government bid and contract process is actually very, very tightly controlled to limit how much money contractors get, how they spend it, etc. It really is, I have to deal with this all the time. As much as I often feel that government is wasteful, my perspective is that it's more a question of WHAT is being funded, not so much that individual agencies are not thrifty. They're cheap as hell!

That having been said, I'd love to see lots of waste cut at the AGENCY level (e.g., dissolve the so-called Civil Rights Commission and dethrone Her Highness). I'm sure there are plenty of other such agencies to cut, too...