http://www.independentmail.com/news/2007/nov/08/backlog-log-jam-washington-a gencies-woefully-behin/
The backlog log jam: Washington agencies woefully behind Independent-Mail Thursday, November 8, 2007 The item "backlog" must be the entry on every page of the Word-a-Day calendar in Washington. The number of claims for Social Security disability payments has doubled since 2001, according to the AARP Bulletin. An article in the November issue reports that some applicants wait years for a decision; it can take years for a case to even come up for review. After Louis Ferraro died, his wife was notified that his disability was approved. It was more than a year after he first asked for a hearing when his claim was originally denied. Now comes the news that there is also a backlog in the number of Americans who are trying to get their names removed from the terrorist watch list. More than 15,000 people have appealed to the government since February, said a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department. According to USA Today, one of them is John Anderson of Minneapolis. He hasn't made the attempt himself, but not because he is any threat to America. In fact, he's a real Yankee Doodle Dandy, born on the 4th of July - in 2001. He was first stopped in an airport at the age of 3, trying to board a plane for his first trip to Disney World. When an airline employee demanded (and was pretty darned surly about it, according to family) who John Anderson was, his mother pointed to a stroller where little Johnny was probably still drooling after his nap. He can fly, the reporter notes, but "because his name is flagged, his family can't print out a boarding pass for him online and he must check in at the ticket counter so an airline official can see that he's a child." Someone at the Transportation Security Administration has repeatedly promised to send her the proper forms, his mom said, but nothing has arrived. The forms are not on the TSA Web site, she added, making it tough for the average American to know what to do next. (This reminds us of a gentleman of our acquaintance who was "killed" by a computer glitch at the Social Security Administration. His daughter went with him to the local SSA office and after pointing to her dad and saying, "Look, he's alive" 17 consecutive times, it only took 90 more days for his benefits to be restored.) Processing time for a request for removal is about 44 days, said a TSA spokesman. The goal for resolution is 30 days. But with 2,000 requests a month, that goal is far from attainable. The list of "anyone with potential ties to terrorism" contains 750,000 names, according to USA Today. Last October, "60 Minutes" did a report on the criteria of TSA's more specific no-fly list, reviewing 540 pages of information. "Before 9/11, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from air travel totaled just 16 names," said reporter Steve Kroft. "Now there are 44,000." Updated figures in April added 75,000 names to the list. Among them were Sadaam Hussein (at the time on trial in Baghdad), convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, now serving a life sentence in Colorado, and numerous deceased individuals. There were also thousands named Gary Smith, John Williams or Robert Johnson. It's true that more precautions have to be taken than in days past, to ensure safety and also to prevent another disaster. We get that. But doesn't it make sense that if the government is putting Robert Johnson on the no-fly list, they have a little more information than just his name? The TV report noted that, "The Robert Johnson meant to be on the No-Fly List would seem to be the known alias of a 62-year-old black man who was convicted of plotting to bomb a Hindu temple and a movie theater in Toronto. After serving 12 years, he was deported to Trinidad. But the airlines ticket agents don't have any of that information on their computer screens. They just have the name, not even a date of birth." With all of those names on the list of folks to watch out for, you might be surprised to know that in the quest to stop the little Johnny Andersons of the nation from concealing anything in their Mickey Mouse carry-ons, "a number of individuals" on the TSA no-fly list have gone through screening without detection, according to the General Accounting Office. Presumably they haven't asked for their names to be removed from the list. Why would they even bother? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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