Schumer's Bomb Detector Boondoggle
Senator Chuck E. Cheese has another of his regularly scheduled “There Oughta Be a Law” weekend press conferences:
Airline-style security measures just won’t work in mass transit, Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday in proposing that yet-to-be-developed bomb detectors be installed atop all subway cars.“It’s not there yet but it is certainly technologically feasible,” Schumer said. “If someone was carrying biological, chemical, explosive or nuclear weapons, it would go beep, beep, beep and the police would come find them.”
He said the devices would function like a “smoke detector” and be posted on train cars and at station entrances. Based on conversations with experts, Schumer said such detectors could be developed for $500 million.
Schumer’s amendment to a bill that would provide $50 million for research into such technology was defeated earlier this month.
The key term in this utter nonsense is “yet-to-be-developed.”
It’s bad enough when politicians embrace redistributionist, Warm Fuzzy Feeling, Politics of Pull, tax-and-spend programs for stuff that actually exists. But occasionally their hubris escalates to spending taxpayer money on things that don’t exist.
As if Congress can simply pass a law (and an appropriation) and — presto! — we have “beep, beep, beep” smoke-detector type devices that can be placed in subway cars.
While we’re at it, how about legislating a cure for cancer, a car that gets 1,000 mpg and Vapoorizer.
As I discussed at length in this November 2005 post, politicians cannot simply “legislate discovery.” Moreover, if the need (i.e., the potential market) for Schumer’s “beep, beep, beep” devices is truly $500 million, then surely private companies will be willing to develop them for the government. Demand creates its own supply. So why the $50 million taxpayer subsidy, which will go straight into the pockets of “profiteering” capitalists that ultra-liberals like Schumer love to hate?
Because of the Politics of the Warm Fuzzy Feeling: Smart or dumb, effective or wasteful, Senator Schumer “did something.” Aren’t you grateful?
The best way to fight the War on Terror is to, um, fight the terrorists. Not by wishful thinking, “beep, beep, beep” boondoggles.
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"If someone was carrying biological, chemical, explosive or nuclear weapons, it would go beep, beep, beep and the police would come find them."
Um, if a terrorist decides to plant a bomb on a subway train, and now knows that he can expect a "beep, beep, beep" and eventual police presence, won't he adjust his strategy to blow the train up when the beep goes off, before police can react? Spend $500 million dollars to have our trains blown up sooner. Brilliant plan.
More importantly, will conservatives now call Sen. Schumer a traitor to the United States for having given away the secret of how this (potential) future technology will eventually (maybe) work?
my first thoughts, too, Tony. This is probably the single dumbest idea I've ever heard.
Arguably, though, terrorists might be using the subways for transit/transportation, rather than as a target.
There is a cure for cancer. It's called prayer. Just ask the evangelicals. They've already legislated it into being. I don't know why you don't know about this.
Did the "beep beep beep" reference remind anyone else of the Ellen Feiss Apple commercials?