Oh, how articulate, informed, willing to share perspective to inspire other in response and idea for the common good of our populace….necessary in these days where the obvious void in leadership, disregard for Constitution as well as State Constitution and even the law by “entrusted” supposed – public servants – must be reminded as to why they were elected or chosen to serve and with numerous government leadership seeking personal agenda, frustration here on Main Street USA w/such blatant leadership indifference towards citizen has offered up more than the tea party and Scott Brown. Guns and ammunition at all time sales, mistrust of everyone and everything government….

Mr. Cumming, pls continue….Your scholarly replies and intuitiveness, coupled with a CV of many years of dedicated public service are very much valued here at the coffee shop on Main Street USA where you are followed to the letter and have a growing number of supporters finding so much merit in your direction affordng us confidence that someone truly understands what is necessary to address what both republicans and democrats have passed on to us for it is no longer the worry of what our grandchildren will deal with, but whst we must face daily and in our not-to-distant future in a Republic we love, yet raped by those seeking prowess in power bankrupting this great nation, a pillar of hope for so many in despair.

It is interesting that fellows like Barney Frank and gals like Nancy Pelosi think they know better than WE her on Main Street USA who know the price of a half gallon of milk and loaf of bread and w/all the talk and all that has passed these many years, beltway politics, state-wide career politicians and Wall Street have all contributed to nothing less than a nation bankrupt and destined for third world status….

Mr. William Cumming, I do hope your shared commentaries in this blog will inspire others to respond and from this small beginning, we may move forward, salvage what is good and well, Mr. President, with hopes to become a second term President quickly waning as you, too look the other way as Wall Street writes its big bonus checks while Life here on Main Street USA becomes even more challenging….who will stand as Winston Churchill stood amidst today’s dysfunctional and self-serving?

God Bless America!

Christopher Tingus
PO BOX 1612
East Harwich, MA 02645
chris.tingus@gmail.com

My belief is that officals and Presidents used to once take an oath of office wherein their duty to “Preserve and Protect the Constitution” was included and paramount. Recently a watered down version seems to be used. Why is this important? First because the first job of the President and appointed officialdom is NOT to protect the American people and their property only. But also to protect the Constitution. Okay that stated, the QHSR is totally silent on any vision of what is involved in preserving and protecting the Constitution in the era of new kinds of threats by nation-states and non-state actors. DHS has ONLY been headed so far by lawyers so perhaps time for a change.

Basically I looked for evidence in the QHSR that DHS and the Homeland Security enterprise was a learning organization. Documenting where priorities and resources might be gainfully applied and whether there were mistakes or wasted efforts in the past.

I think that we do know that collaboration, cooperation, and coordination might be successfully enhanced if certain changes were made in DHS budgets and those of other relevant organizations. I can only look for tell-tales as an interested outsider that the correct steps for learning from past mistakes or efforts has resulted in readjustment so here is where the document must be flyspecked for evidence.

First it is clear that DHS has become a major bureacratic threat to several other Executive Branch organizations, principally DOJ, DOD, and HHS. Why when all are involved in missions, programs, functions, and activities that should be complimentary and not rivals. Readers of this blog know that I believe HS was properly labeled a civil function of the US governement and that it was designed in part to relate on a substantial daily basis with the intergovernmental context in which the civil government operates. This is foreign territory for DOD except for the National Guard (NG). Also it appears that DHS has largely developed a uniformed service/law enforcement culture. This is not helpful. And by the way when Law Enforcement does not include the word “Criminal” as a predicate it causes huge confusion. This problem starts with DOJ. All civilian officials and employees take an oath that used to contain the words “and faithfully execute the laws of the United States.” This includes civil law enforcement not just criminal law enforcement. But the federal establishment tends to jump right to criminal law enforcement when it thinking of it role and culture. As an example, I would totally decriminalize the immigration laws, but make sure that all such laws have fines, confiscation of property and extradition for enforcement. This is NOT in my opinion a role for the STATES and LOCALS but in fact almost exclusively a federal mission and needs appropriate support from Congress with funding and paying attention and skilled administration.
The DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] was clearly and erroneously excluded from DHS and now DHS is building sub rosa a substantial equivalent. This makes no sense. And by the way any formal agreements between DHS and other departments and agencies that are not classified should be noticed in the federal register and their substance revealed including whether the agreements are funded or not-funded [except perhaps on a standby basis]!
I would also recommend that the US Coast Guard be sent to DOD even in peacetime and not just upon declaration of war as is now the case. The reasons are many but too long to articlulate here. Also the entirety of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should be returned to DOT and the Secretary DOT given more latitude in using the assets of that effort to protect the American transportation system and stop using it as a hidden subsidy to an airline industry that has already documented itself as having a failed business plan. The hidden federal subsidies to that industry are shocking in their scope.

These recommended changes might well improve the focus within the DHS.

But I think the QHSR could have improved that focus even more. And so further suggestions here. Cyber Security, critical infrastructure protection, and computer security should be managed under a single Administrator and become a signifant effort not just in DHS but all Executive Branch components.

But that effort should not be the prime focus for DHS leadership. Why? Clearly prevention and protection are part of the mission of DHS. But we (the US) has substantial evidenced that will fail if not to terrorism to Mother Nature. So the first and foremost mission of DHS should be to help the President develop an effective and efficient and fully operation civil domestic crisis management and response system and chain of command and all that operates with the context of the Constitution including federalism. This could be helped by the Secretary’s Intergovernmental Relations operation recently reassigned to the Secretary’s office by this FY appropriation act.

The second primary mission of DHS should be its effort to deal with the threats of WMD and whatever that entails. This is technical and complicated.

The third primary mission and evidenced by the recommendation on CIP, Cyber security, and computer security above is that DHS should do everything it can to assist and improve the efforts on non-DHS HS missions, programs, functions, and activitiesm that are not housed in DHS. This probably means funding of formal liaison relationships and if necessary funding staff in other agencies and departments and housing and funding reps from other agencies in DHS. Some really critical HS functions are housed in understaffed, underfunded organizations like EPA. This is not a simple task but must be done. DHS permanent liaisons to each STATE governor must also be immediately staffed and funded. And probably with the major NGO’s like ARC.

NO OTHER ORGANIZATION IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH has the luxury of DHS in that its day job and night jobs are virtually identical. Thus probably OMB has to allow delegate agency funding whereby the HS budgets in other Exective Branch departments and agencies are in fact brought within the DHS appropriation and DHS given some role in recommending and approving those budgets.
And finally let’s spin off roles that have nothing to do with HOMELAND SECURITY but were swept into DHS because it was not created by functions but by organizational transfers. One example, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and mitigation efforts for natural disasters.

Okay enough for now.