TSA's Nude Scanners, Former Homeland Security Head Chertoff, and How Our Government Works
11.15.2010 Labels: TSA Nude Scanners Chertoff Rapiscan Stimulus Bill No Bid Contract Posted by Sic Ibid | 11.15.2010 at 7:49 PM
How our government works:
1) Get a position in the government.
2) Hype up some scare and advocate a solution to it
3) Sell/convince the government on your proposed solution, leave your government position, and partner up with the company that provides that same solution.
4) Sit back and enjoy your new money.
Michael Chertoff, while he was the Head of Homeland Security under Bush, advocated and pushed for installation and implementation of these new full-body scanners at our airports. Once he was out of "public service", Chertoff's consulting company (Read: Lobbying Company) landed as a client (Surprise!), Rapiscan, the company that makes the scanners. He is now a much richer person, I'm sure. There are multiple links to info about Chertoff and the scanner company. Below is a bit from rightpundits:
And finally, like most government scandals, follow the money. Guess which company owns a large manufacturer of backscatter x-ray devices? Give up? The Chertoff Group which is a security consulting agency run by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. That’s right, in the wake of the Christmas Day bomber Chertoff has been pushing for more and more of these full body image scanners and it’s no wonder considering that this is going to put a large chunk of money in his pocket. Go figure!
And a bit from Boston.com
Since the attempted bombing of a US airliner on Christmas Day, former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff has given dozens of media interviews touting the need for the federal government to buy more full-body scanners for airports.
What he has made little mention of is that the Chertoff Group, his security consulting agency, includes a client that manufactures the machines…
And what's this about a no-bid contract using money from the Stimulus Bill?
In the summer, TSA purchased 150 more machines from Rapiscan with $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Rapiscan was the only company that qualified for the contract because it had developed technology that performs the screening using a less-graphic body imaging system, which is also less controversial. (Since then, another company, L-3 Communications, has qualified for future contracts, but no new contracts have been awarded.)
It also turns out that none other than George Soros himself is profiting from the Nude Scanners. And the CEO of the company that owns Rapiscan, OSI, was "selected to accompany" President Obama on his trip to India last week (insert Nude Scanner Tech-Support outsourcing joke here).
HT: link 1 and link 2
UPDATE: Welcome Reddit readers! Please check out the latest TSA round-up from the San Diego Local Order of Bloggers (SLOBs).
