Will the next administration recognize our government?

The next administration to follow Bush and Company will be constrained by many things including 1) the war in Iraq, 2) the huge federal deficit, 3) reorganization of many federal departments and bureaus, and 4) the religious' based initiatives implemented by bush such as a) limits on stem cell research, b) funding religious organizations with federal grants, c) NCLB, d) the cost of the new drug benefit, and e) Patriot Act (which legally removes citizen's privacy rights, and allows our government to take into custody citizens without charge of any crime).

June 29, 2005
Bush to Create New Unit in F.B.I. for Intelligence
By DOUGLAS JEHL
WASHINGTON, June 29 - President Bush ordered today changes intended to break down old walls between foreign and domestic intelligence activities by creating a new national security division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation that will fall under the overall direction of John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence.

The directive by Mr. Bush is aimed at consolidating the power of Mr. Negroponte, whose authority over the F.B.I. had been left ambiguous. It also sets in motion a major restructuring intended to dissolve the barriers that have often kept the Central Intelligence Agency and the F.B.I. at arm's length, and elevates intelligence operations to new prominence within an F.B.I. that has remained firmly oriented toward traditional law enforcement, even since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, said the government would take steps to ensure that the changes did not impinge on American civil liberties. But in a briefing for reporters, General Hayden also said that the United States no longer had the luxury of maintaining divisions between its foreign and domestic intelligence structures, because "our enemy does not recognize that distinction."

The White House left it to Mr. Negroponte to carry out the overhaul, which will almost certainly be met with reluctance within the F.B.I. and the 14 other agencies the new intelligence chief oversees. Representative Jane Harman, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, cautioned that lasting change will require "sustained attention" from the White House.