Cross posted on Daily Kos
Elections have consequences, so do recess appointments.
Post Katrina recess appointments take on an even greater urgency since we now know that most Bush regime officials in extremely sensitive positions are incompetent, inconsequential, unqualified political hacks.
Since we’re outsourcing our port operations, it’s time to take a quick look at two recent hack appointments. Julie Myers got considerable attention when her name came up a few months ago–that was before Dubai. It’s worth looking again, now that in her capacity as assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforement she’ll be front and center.
God help us.
Julie Myers, and Tracy Henke, both of them are directly in the chain of command in protecting our vulnerable infrastructure including the ports.
Personnel Announcement
President George W. Bush today recess appointed the following individuals:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Julie L. Myers, of Kansas, to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement).Tracy A. Henke, of Missouri, to be Executive Director of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness at the Department of Homeland Security.
If I’m not mistaken, you get recess appointed when someone tells the president you won’t be approved by the Senate.
Okay, moving right along.
Before the Dubai deal was even on the national radar, Mayor Martin O’Malley was complaining publicly that Ms. Henke was not responding to the security needs of Baltimore, one of the cities slated to be taken over by DP World.
O’Malley said the department “had no answers again” when he asked two homeland security directors in attendance about the top three priorities of the department.
The pair — Office of Grants and Training Executive Director Tracy Henke and Coordination and Preparedness Acting Director Chet Lunner — did not directly answer the question, but promised O’Malley they would work to get local governments appropriate resources.
“It’s the same assurances we receive every year,” O’Malley said. “I believe if you continue to cut funding at the current rate, it’ll be eliminated.”
So all the bullshit we’re hearing about how Homeland Security will protect our ports is just that, bullshit.
Funding cuts.
Baltimore received $11.4 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative in 2005, down from $15.8 million in 2004. Total funding for the initiative, which is a part of the Homeland Security Grant Program, was cut from $855 million in 2005 to $765 million in 2006. Funding for first-responder block grants was cut this year from $1.1 billion to $550 million. The overall budget for DHS increased by $2.6 billion for fiscal year 2006.
Which Ms. Henke was going to look into.
Henke said her department’s mission is to help on the state and local levels through funding, training, exercises and technical assistance. When asked if she thought the budget cuts will stop, Henke said it will be “a collective decision.”
http://www.journalism.umd.edu/...
Here are a few other tidbits from the people who know her best, one of the hometown newspapers:
When Tracy A. Henke assumes a top homeland security job Monday, she will begin under a swirl of controversy.
Henke, a former Missourian, will be managing the federal government’s coordination with state and local officials for natural disasters and terrorist attacks. The controversy involves the way she was named to the post, as well as her background and qualifications for the job.
Her supporters call her an extraordinarily hard-working and effective administrator. But some critics said she had little experience relevant to the job she is about to assume, while others questioned her role in a racial-profiling study last year that resulted in some discord within the Justice Department.
Even Lieberman! Lieberman?
Her appointment was criticized Thursday by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which held a hearing on Henke’s nomination last month.
Lieberman said he was “particularly troubled” that Bush appointed Henke before the committee held a vote, saying that showed “disrespect for the Senate and for the American people.” Lieberman urged the committee to engage in “particularly searching oversight” over Henke’s actions while she is in office.
Now let’s take a look at Julie Myers whose only qualification for her recess appointed job is that she is the neice of General Richard Myers and I gather the wife of Michael Chertoff’s chief of staff.
Here’s how Ms. Myers was described by the Washington Post.
Myers, a niece of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers and the wife of the chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, had been criticized by Republicans and Democrats who charged that she lacked experience in immigration matters.
And this:
The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
How about this from the official ICE web site? Kind of scary to think Ms. Myers is running the show. Time to recall Michael Brown anyone?
Border Security
As the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security, ICE plays a critical role in protecting U.S. borders and ports of entry while restoring integrity to the nation’s immigration system.
About ICE
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is one component that completes Border and Transportation Security (BTS), which is underneath the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The mission of the entire BTS is to secure the nation’s air, land, and sea borders. As an organization that is part of BTS, ICE also strives to achieve a more specific mission.ICE’s Mission
To prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money, and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is responsible for identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities in the nation’s border, economic, transportation and infrastructure security.
So much for Homeland Security. And what did Mr. Bush say the other day, something along the lines that we do not need to be concerned about security?