What Do You Do for the Money, Honey?

Ugh. Can one useless color-coded graphic really cost this much?

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Spending: $34.2 billion

Percentage change from 2005: +6.8 percent

Highlights:

-Would increase Border and Transportation spending by 10 percent, to $16 billion, including $37 million for 210 new border patrol agents.

-Would create a nuclear detection office to monitor and report attempts to import, assemble or transport unsanctioned nuclear or radiological materials. The budget also would double spending, to $262 million, on developing detection devices for Customs and Border Protection agents.

-Would cut state and local coordination efforts by $420 million, or 11 percent.

Homeland Security is one of the few agencies that would not suffer an overall spending cut in 2006. The new spending largely comes from more than $4.8 billion in fees - 60 percent more than is expected in the current fiscal year. To do this, the White House proposes increasing airline passenger fees by $3 in 2006, raising the cost from $2,50 to $5.50 for each leg of a round-trip ticket.

We already have a "homeland security" department---it's based in the Pentagon, and does a fine job of it when a foolish Congress and feckless president don't sic the lawyers on them.