Politics

The Republicans hate “big government” for a very good reason…

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• Friday 8th June 2007

…they’re completely incompetent when it comes to administration. From Katrina, to FDA food screening, to the all new, super-duper, Homeland Security passport regulations, if there’s no bribery, campaign contributions, lying, or illegal political advantage involved, they don’t have a clue.

From the NY Times:

Responding to anguished travelers at risk of being grounded by a broken passport system, the government announced today that it is easing its rules for summer travel in the Western Hemisphere.
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Passport offices around the country have been struggling with a backlog of millions of applications since the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative started in January. The program requires air travelers for the first time to show passports on returning from Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the hemisphere, not including United States territories
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Constituents who applied for passports as long ago as February — sometimes paying $60 extra for expedited service over the regular $97 — and with air tickets in hand had not received their documents.

With toll-free phone lines overloaded, travelers have thronged the 14 passport offices, seeking scarce appointments to plead their cases in person. The agency here, among others, has created teams to expedite cases with imminent deadlines. Some travelers said they could not apply for visas without passports.

You weren’t planning on going anywhere soon, right?