Letter: Thank smaller government for vulnerability

Friday, Dec. 28, 2001 | 3:20 a.m.

Smaller government. Reagan sold it. People bought it. Even Clinton bought into it.

Clinton and Congress downsized the government by reducing appropriations to the federal agencies. This reduced the deficit spending of the Reagan-Bush years and eventually achieved a balanced budget -- even a surplus. This is something to cheer about, but let's look at the other side of smaller government.

The 9/11 hijackers lived in this country for two years while they planned and trained for their mission. The downsized CIA never had a clue. Thousands of people enter the U.S. every day from countries that preach hate America in their schools, in their mosques, and in their media. The downsized State Department hasn't the staff to screen these people. It doesn't even have sufficient staff to issue them visas, so the State Department delegates this job to travel agents, according to U.S. News and World Report.

I could go on, but space does not permit. The new smaller and more efficient federal agencies all sing the same refrain. "It is our job, but we don't have the staff to do it." And so the smaller government people bought is not big enough to protect us from a cave-dweller hiding in the most backward nation on Earth.

VERNON BOSTICK