Pentagon Halts Contractor Clearances

[Rose Siding]

The Pentagon stopped processing security clearances for government contractors this week, potentially exacerbating a shortage of employees authorized to work on the government's most secret programs.

The Defense Security Service blamed overwhelming demand and a budget shortfall for the halt, which caught the government contracting community by surprise. Already, 3,000 applications have been put on hold, said Cindy McGovern, a DSS spokeswoman.

"We're holding them now to see if we can resolve the issue. The more drastic step would be not accepting them" at all, McGovern said, a step the agency considered but dropped for now.
....
The move affects not only defense contractors, but also those who work on projects for more than 20 other agencies, including NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801878.html

There you have it; we HAVE to increase the War budget. Isn't this a little like extortion?

[Rex]

1. 600 billion dollars on Iraq and we still have guys getting blown up

by home made land mines. Guess they will have to outsource to a company like Halliburton to just do everything that the Carlyle Group can't scoop up off the side of the road. :eyes:

[Sinti]

2. Geez, budget shortfall? Come on, this is ridiculous.

When they're done spending all our money protecting us, what's going to be left to protect?