I have coined a “law” for discussing issues involving American politics, and I feel it appropriate to quote it here:

“We judge the level of our compassion in this country by the amount of money we’re willing to waste failing to solve a problem.”

Mind you, what the problem is is irrelevant. Solving the problem (actually being good at keeping terrorists off planes, for instance) is actually not a preferable outcome. If you solve the problem, then the Federal agency involved doesn’t need more money next year; that clearly is a failure of the system. Federal agencies *always* need more money, lots of it. If a terrorist does slip through, and launch an attack that results in–God forbid–fatalities, clearly the problem was that we didn’t *care* enough, and waste more money on the problem. If you devise a solution to the problem, even one that will clearly have 100% chance of success, if it’s cheaper than our current system, it displays your lack of compassion, and your mindless adherence to those evil rich Koch brothers and their plutocrat friends. Rights are meaningless; the only thing that matters is the growth of the bureaucracy. The only thing left is to get them into a union, regardless of what was promised when the agency was formed.