TSA Uses Expensive Criminal Investigators To Fail To Investigate Security Vulnerabilities, Says Report

TSANot that the TSA needs more
trouble, but then again, the rest of us don’t need more TSA. And we
really don’t need overpaid, poorly deployed Transportation Security
Administration criminal investigators sent hither and yon on
expensive, poorly conceived tasks that pretty much anybody could
have done at lower cost. And we don’t expect the agency tasked with
providing transportation security to lack any sort of game plan for
determining if it’s doing its job. But that’s exactly what’s been
happening, according to a report from the DHS Office of Inspector
General.

The report
(PDF) found that the Office of Inspections (OOI), which is largely
staffed by well-paid criminal investigators and tasked with
detecting vulnerabilities in TSA security systems and conduct
internal inspections, doesn’t operate efficiently. Specifically,
the OOI uses criminal investigators receiving “premium pay” to
perform duties that could have been performed by other employees at
lower cost. More troubling for an office detailed to determine if
the Transportation Security Administration is actually providing
some sort of transportation security, “Quality controls were not
sufficient to ensure that inspections, internal reviews, and covert
testing complied with accepted standards.”

OOI did not effectively plan its work, did not adequately
measure its performance, and did not have quality control
procedures to ensure that all divisions complied with standards
that the office had committed to using in its work. OOI also could
not require other TSA offices to respond to its recommendations. In
addition, TSA did not hold OOI accountable for developing and
implementing effective quality controls over its resources,
staffing, and operations. As a result of the issues that we
identified with OOI’s quality controls over its work products, TSA
management may not be able to rely on this work, and the office may
not have accomplished its mission to identify and address
transportation security vulnerabilities.

TSA OOI salariesTop-heavy staffing in terms of criminal
investigators is projected to cost an unnecessary $17.5 million in
Law Enforcement Availability Pay (which is 25 percent higher than
base pay) over five years, the report adds. That doesn’t take into
account additional costs from the ability to retire with full
benefits at age 50 after 20 years of service, and faster accruing
pensions. In fact, criminal investigator salaries account for 68
percent of OOI salary costs, even though the law enforcement-rated
staffers are often used for work that anybody could do.

And then there’s that additional problem of not actually
accomplishing its mission, despite those costs. The report warns
that, without quality control, planning or adequate standards,
“management may not be able to rely on OOI’s work.” And since that
work consists of trying to ensure that the TSA is actually
providing security, the rest of us can’t really rely on the TSA as
a whole.

Not that we ever thought we could.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/07/tsa-uses-expensive-criminal-investigator
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from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/07/all-aboard-for-a-sun-filled-intellectual
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A.M. Links: Federal Employees Sue Government for Late Pay, Maine Police Chief Says No to Legal Marijuana, $15 Minimum Wage Initiative Wins in Seattle Suburb

  • Federal employees who worked
    during the government shutdown
    are suing the government
    for damages because they weren’t paid
    on time. It would be so satisfying to watch the government fight
    itself if it weren’t taxpayer dollars it was fighting over.
  • Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
    acknowledged that enrollment figures for Obamacare for
    October 
    will be “very low.”
     Only six people signed up on the first
    day of enrollment. The government’s top healthcare IT official,

    meanwhile
    , has stepped down and is headed to the private
    sector.
  • Al Gore slammed the NSA’s surveillance program and predicted
    it will be reined in
    . Let’s hope that’s more accurate than his
    weather predictions.
  • Despite the ordinance legalizing marijuana, the police chief of
    Portland, Maine says officers will
    still issue citations
     for possession. On the bright side,
    he also said reprimandning pot smokers is a low priority.
  • Backers have declared an initiative for a
    $15 hourly minimum wage
    at Seattle’s Sea-Tac International
    Airport to be victorious.
  • Twitter Inc
    could face volatile trade
    in its debut Thursday on the New York
    Stock Exchange, but analysts remain enthusiastic after the
    money-losing social media company priced its IPO above the expected
    range.
  • Syrian troops have retaken a
    key rebel-held town
    south of Damascus, according to state-run
    media.

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from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/07/am-links-federal-employees-sue-governmen
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Gold Monkey-Hammered Below $1300

The initial ramp-and-revert in gold (and silver) prices gave way to a $20 price collapse once Draghi began speaking – as if someone decided that Draghi’s speech was somehow ‘credibility-providing’ for the status quo… we assume this move is reflective of Draghi’s ‘dis-inflationary’ warnings (though th einitial move seemed sparked by the better-than-expected GDP print – so Taper on?) What the un-reflexive jerk in precious metals fails to see – it would seem – is the need for the European central bank to reflate by whatever means possible that deflationary trend…(even if the Fed slows, it will be back soon enough). Gold futures saw volume explode as he began speaking (and US GDP pronted) but price plunged and volume legged even higher as Draghi mentioned the ‘d’ word…

 

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/1bfUch_Iss0/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Q3 GDP Roars To 2.8% Despite Weakest Consumer In Over Two Years

A day of fireworks that started with the stunner by Goldman’s head of the ECB has just gotten its second wind following the preliminary announcement of Q3 GDP, which roared from 2.5% to 2.84%, far above expectations of a 2.0% annualized number.

On the surface this was a bad number for Taper watchers, as it may mean the Fed will actually have to moderate its monthly flow precisely at the time when the ECB was forced to do “whatever it takes” in its fight with inflation, however a quick look at the internals shows that once again there is much more than meets the eye: because while the headline print was the strongest since Q3 2012, the core driver of economic growth, Personal Consumption, grew 1.5% below the expected 1.6%. Specifically, of the 2.84% number, PCE was just 1.04%, the lowest since Q2 2011!

Elsewhere, fixed investment – an indication of capex –  was just 0.63%, below the 0.96% reported last quarter. So what drove “growth”? Why the traditional hollow component: Inventory, which amounted to 0.83% of the 2.8% print, double the 0.41% in the prior quarter. Net trade added an additional 0.3%, and finally government ticked on a modest 0.04% – the first positive contribution since Q3 2013.

In short: a little in here for everyone, with the market bulls happy to point out that the US consumer is the weakest he has been in over two years, while economist happy to highlight that the US economy is, in fact, growing at a brisk pace.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/pMpgClA_MMo/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Un-Californicated Jobless Claims Reverts To 10-Week Highs

Assuming the last few weeks were useless garbage data and based on the fact that the government claims no states “estimated” data this week, the 5th weekly miss in a row for jobless claims (albeit very minor) has the level reverted to mid-August levels. Notably, extended and emergency benefits rose 65,000 to 1.37 million people.

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/25bdPlMwvbI/story01.htm Tyler Durden

ECB's Draghi Explains His "All-In' Rate-Cut Move – Live Press Conference Stream

We noted yesterday that if the EUR got much stronger then peripheral Europe was going to lose much of its ‘competitive’ gains and while this is a notable surprise to many, we can’t wait to hear how Draghi explains the decision given the world’s insistence that Europe has turned the corner already… (which it clearly has not).

  • *DRAGHI SAYS EURO AREA GROWTH RISKS REMAIN `ON THE DOWNSIDE’
  • *DRAGHI SAYS EURO AREA INFLATION RISKS ARE `BROADLY BALANCED’
  • *DRAGHI: MARKET CONDITIONS POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE FOR ECONOMY
  • *DRAGHI SAYS UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS HIGH
  • *DRAGHI: EURO AREA MAY FACE PROLONGED PERIOD OF LOW INFLATION

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/azGi3V6YEiY/story01.htm Tyler Durden

ECB’s Draghi Explains His “All-In’ Rate-Cut Move – Live Press Conference Stream

We noted yesterday that if the EUR got much stronger then peripheral Europe was going to lose much of its ‘competitive’ gains and while this is a notable surprise to many, we can’t wait to hear how Draghi explains the decision given the world’s insistence that Europe has turned the corner already… (which it clearly has not).

  • *DRAGHI SAYS EURO AREA GROWTH RISKS REMAIN `ON THE DOWNSIDE’
  • *DRAGHI SAYS EURO AREA INFLATION RISKS ARE `BROADLY BALANCED’
  • *DRAGHI: MARKET CONDITIONS POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE FOR ECONOMY
  • *DRAGHI SAYS UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS HIGH
  • *DRAGHI: EURO AREA MAY FACE PROLONGED PERIOD OF LOW INFLATION

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/azGi3V6YEiY/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Markets Have Knee-Jerked Everywhere

Draghi’s ‘surprise’ rate cut has sent every correlated asset soaring this morning. Aside from the EUR crashing over 150 pips instantaneously, S&P 500 futures snapped 10 points higher to 1775; Treasury yields dropped 3bps; Silver and Copper jerked 0.5% higher (but quickly reverted in the former as the USD strengthened); European equities (especially Spain and Italy) popped 2%; and peripheral bond yields moved to new multi-year lows with spreads dropping 10bps or so. With Draghi now at ZIRP effectively, who’s next top pass the easing parcel to (not the Chinese). What is interesting is that US equities, Treasury yields, and commodities are all fading just a little off that kneejerk – even as EUR presses lower.

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/JrEynW99gQQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Car-B-Q Part III: Tesla Flames Out Premarket On Reports Of Another Car Fire

One momo company that will almost certainly miss out on all of today’s Twitter/ECB induced BTFATH-euphoria, is Tesla which is down 3% premarket at last check for one simple reason: the one shown on the photo below. This is the third reported car fire in the past month. So much for that “best safety rating of any car ever tested” – perhaps it really is time to inquire just what the NHTSA kickbacks were in order to go with that “objective” determination?

Source: Teslamotorsclub


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/cK65vxpUBzQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden