Did you know that we will soon have more border patrol agents than we have soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, where we spend twice as much on an annual basis?
Under the spendy hand of the GOP's Senator Graham, $3-billion more will flow to the border for:
... 45,000 jail beds, 23,000 border patrol agents, 300 miles of vehicle barriers, 700 miles of fencing, 105 radar and camera towers and four unmanned aerial drones.
I cannot see any way that they are going to get "700 miles of fencing" out of a measly $3 billion, can you? (and you know what that means, this is just the second installment of twenty ...).
When signing what some thought might be the last of the WH pork for Texas, just last year, in October, the White House proudly reported that, since Bush took office:
# More than doubled funding for border security - from $4.6 billion in 2001 to $10.4 billion this year;
# Increased the number of Border Patrol agents from about 9,000 to more than 12,000 - and by the end of 2008, we will have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents since the President took office;
Last year's legislation promised that the problem would be well in hand in 18 months. With the deadline just six months away, another $3 billion?:
Secure Fence Act of 2006 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, within 18 months of enactment of this Act, to take appropriate actions to achieve operational control over U.S. international land and maritime borders, including: (1) systematic border surveillance through more effective use of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based sensors, satellites, radar coverage, and cameras; and (2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful border entry and facilitate border access by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, such as additional checkpoints, all weather access roads, and vehicle barriers.
Why stop at 23,000? Why stop at 18 months? Why stop at $10 billion a year? How much more will the "good politics" of the border cost us, before we make the choices that we have to?
