Pork is the terrorists' friend: $36,300 grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to protect bingo halls from terrorists

From Citizens Against Government Waste:

Bingo Terrorism
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
By: Jessica Shoemaker

Wastewatcher, February 2006

In October 2005, the Kentucky Office of Charitable Gaming won a $36,300 grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to protect bingo halls from terrorists. The office will buy laptop computers with access to a law enforcement database. Local authorities are concerned that terrorists may try to raise cash by playing bingo or running a charitable game.

John Holiday, enforcement director at the Kentucky Office of Charitable Gaming, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he did not know of any terrorists currently profiting from Kentucky bingo. “But the potential there, to me, is just huge,” he said. “I actually went on the Web and did a lot of research about this. There are articles that have linked terrorism to charitable gaming.”

Holiday’s comments illustrate the problem with DHS grants not being allocated on the basis of risk. There was never an objective assessment that found a higher risk of terrorist infiltration in Kentucky’s bingo halls than other types of employment. Instead, a state official obtained the federal grant based on a hypothetical scenario he pieced together while perusing the Internet...

That's $36K less available for real Homeland Security somewhere else.

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