The Golden Revolving Door

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The Golden Revolving Door

Published: June 20, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/opinion/20Tues3.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It has been just over four years since the Department of Homeland Security was created, and it has hardly covered itself with glory. Katrina was a disaster of a disaster; ports are still far from secure, and chemical plants remain a huge target of opportunity for evildoers. But there's one area in which Homeland Security has excelled beyond anyone's wildest expectations: creating a giant, expensive crop of government-trained consultants and lobbyists.

As Eric Lipton reported in The Times this week, at least 90 top Homeland Security officials have gone through that famous revolving door between the government and the lobbying industry. That's more than two-thirds of the most senior executives from the department's infancy. It is hard to believe that the people running an agency that performs so badly could be so much in demand.