Should the Department of Homeland Security be abolished...

[-..__...]

or simply restructured/reorganized/reevaluated to a more modest level that doesn't foster paranoia or violate Constitutional rights?

[groovedaddy]

1. It was as large an affront to the Constitution as the Patriot act. Both should go. n.t

[onenote]

2. its not so much the department that worries me as the laws

If you get rid of DHS but still have the Patriot Act, I don't think much would have been accomplished.

DHS has been an organizational mess from day one. Some degree of restructuring/reorganization is essential. But dismantling it wholesale and trying to reinsert the various pieces back into other departments and agencies also seems wasteful and inefficient. The key is to change the laws and to get strong managers in charge of the various agencies within DHS.

[ramapo]

3. At least change the name

It sounds so Soviet-like.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Rename it Fatherland Security and we have a match

[The2ndWheel]

5. Which agencies get abolished

or re-anything to a more modest level? Not only will it continue to exist, but it will increase in size. Once it's established, it's really not a matter of should anymore.

[YOY]

6. It should be reabsorbed into the proper agencies.

Run by a bunch of idiots. The word in DC is that it really is a huge waste of money as many of it's security items are and were already covered by other agencies.

Everyone I know who worked that at one point in time pointed out that their hiring had nothing to do with intelligence or capabilities but lack thereof.

[Renew Deal]

7. It should be considered.

What do they do that can't be handled by other existing departments? I know they want to put it all in one place, but I don't think DHS was well conceived and well excecuted.

[peace13]

8. Not only is Homeland 'Security' a waste of money

It impedes the response time of any real agency that could help. The US Coast Guard is one example. Those folks have really slipped since HS got involved.

[On the Road]

9. I Think It Should be Reorganized Back to Its Previous Components

Having a DHS subordinates the function of all the components to "security."

FEMA seems to me to be the biggest candidate for splitting off, but there are others. Here are the components of DHS --- is anti-terrorism the overriding mission of all of them?

U.S. Customs Service – Treasury
U.S. Coast Guard – Transportation
U.S. Secret Service – Treasury
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service) – Justice
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service) – Justice
United States Federal Protective Service (part of ICE)
Transportation Security Administration – Transportation
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center – Treasury
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service – Agriculture
Office for Domestic Preparedness – Justice
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Strategic National Stockpile and the National Disaster Medical System – HHS
Nuclear Incident Response Team – Energy
Domestic Emergency Support Teams – Justice
National Domestic Preparedness Office – FBI
CBRN Countermeasures Programs – Energy
Environmental Measurements Laboratory – Energy
National BW Defense Analysis Center – Defense
Plum Island Animal Disease Center – Agriculture
Federal Computer Incident Response Center – GSA
National Communications System – Defense
National Infrastructure Protection Center – FBI
Energy Security and Assurance Program – Energy

[zorahopkins]

10. YES!

Absolutely the Department of Homeland Security (Ho* I HATE that name and all that it implies) should be abolished.

The ONLY reason it *as created *as to keep the American people in a state of perpetual fear -- so that *e *ould all become compliant sheep in a Bush/Cheney/neocon tyranny.

No* that *e have at last thro*n off our shackels and elected a President *ho *ill restore America's rights, and America's position in the *orld, there is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for such a vile, heinous department in OUR government!

Note: In protest of the continuing occupation of OUR *hite House by the illegal and totally corrupt Bush/Cheney regime of thugs and cronies, I REFUSE to use the letter bet*een "V" and "X", and I urge you to do the same.

[hunter]

11. Yes. Abolish it. And the DEA too.

I'd also merge the Air Force into the Army and Navy, and then shrink the entire DOD down until only the Coast Gaurd, Merchant Marine, and National Gaurd remain.

[tom_paine]

12. Yes. Filthy Homeland Security lucre is how we are being Bushified-Nazified.

The danger is far from over.

Should HS be abolished?

Should the old German SS have been abolished?

Same answer, and for largely the same reasons. These institutions are simply incompatble with Free Societies.

[dpbrown]

13. YES! Nothing sounds more like 1930s Germany than "Homeland Security"

Place the agencies and organizations back where they belong.