"Homeland Security"—Only for the Very Rich

Nov 25, 2002

The Senate passed the so-called "Homeland Security" Act. The vote was 90-9, showing that both Democrats and Republicans agreed.

Whatever Bush’s propagandists may say, this act provides no "security" for the population–only for a select few.

Drug companies that manufacture vaccines were given immunity from lawsuits over side effects from their vaccines. Eli Lilly happens to make thimerosol, a vaccine that includes a mercury-based preservative recently linked to autism in children. No longer does it need to worry about paying for the damages it let loose on tens of thousands of children. Nor do manufacturers of military vaccines who cannot now be sued when the vaccines they rush to produce without adequate testing prove to be harmful.

U.S. corporations that set up "headquarters" in offshore tax havens in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes were given the OK to hold government contracts! Doubtless, Bush recalls his own offshore exploits, when his Harken Energy Corp. established its own offshore address. This allowed Harken to hide some inconvenient debt and allowed Bush Jr. to sell off his stock before the debt came to light.

As for the political apparatus of Texas, they got a research institute–awarded to Texas A&M University.

By contrast, government workers, who currently have no legal right to strike, will lose more of the few rights they do have under civil-service and seniority protections. At one stroke, this widens the attack on government workers, while assuring that tens of thousands of new jobs will go to "friends of friends."One of the nine votes against this new nest of bureaucratic corruption came from Senator Robert C. Byrd. In his remarks he said, "That Department of Homeland Security will not add one whit of security in the near future to the American people." Not only in the near future, but never.