Senators Say Bush Weakened Fight on Terror Funds (one Repub)

[joeunderdog]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two influential senators accused the administration on Monday of weakening the government's ability to clamp down on terrorism financing and urged President Bush to create a central agency to focus on it.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Charles Grassley of Iowa, and the panel's senior Democrat, Max Baucus of Montana, said the creation of the Homeland Security department after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had left a gap in the ability to fight financial crimes related to terrorism.

"This same restructuring has disassembled and scattered the government's apparatus to detect, investigate and prevent financial crimes," they wrote in a joint letter to Bush.

The senators pointed to a lack of resources, direction and coordination and duplication of effort among the multiple agencies in Treasury, Homeland Security and other departments that now collect intelligence on financial crimes.

more...http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4691472§ion=news

[ozymandius]

1. Charles Grassley: "shut your fool mouth, Zell Miller"

Now that Miller has decided to shill for Bush because he is "strong against terror" - perhaps Grassley can be vocal in his denunciation of Bush's anti-terror policies.

[FlashHarry]

2. Occasionally, Chuck gets it right.

I know he's big on whistle-blower protection. I think he's pressing the FBI translator story as we speak.

[9119495]

3. He is my senator, and he still is a grandstanding fuck.

During the impeachment stuff, he was another GOP "if we only had Reagan" asshole. Probably every senator does one or two things we agree with. Grassley is good on that whistle blower stuff, but he also kissed Randy Weaver's ass when he came before the senate to complain about his wife and child being killed at his remote Idaho compound because he refused to cooperate with reasonable requests to determine if his white supremacy would result in hate crimes or terrorist bombings. Finding out what happened in Idaho would have been fine, but kissing Weaver's ass and acting like he was a tortured hero?

[Ediacara]

4. Way to go Max!

[goforit]

5. Is their conscience rining in their ear?....All they need to do is follow

Cheney's, Poppy's and baby W's money handlings
and they'll find the people who commit the crimes!!!

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Bushies still not getting it done, just as Clarke is saying --