Security Officials Hit Jackpot In Civilian Positions

Must be nice to be in a position of authority in our government. You are able to pass regulations and require certain types of equipment to achieve this goal. Then quit and go work for the company that is supplying the equipment to the government.

(Sea Times)Michael Petrucelli, for example, who was once acting director of citizenship and immigration services, moved within months of leaving his post in July 2005 to a job in which he lobbied the Coast Guard, another unit of the department, to test a power-supply device made by his new employer, GridPoint.

In their new roles, former department officials often command salaries that dwarf their government paychecks. Carol DiBattiste, who made $155,000 in 2004 as deputy administrator at the Transportation Security Administration, earned more than $934,000 last year from ChoicePoint, a Homeland Security Department contractor she joined in April 2005, the same month she left the agency.

Ridge, the former secretary, stands to profit now that Savi Technology, a maker of radio-frequency-identification equipment that the department pushed while he was secretary, is being bought by Lockheed Martin. He was appointed to the Savi board three months after resigning from the department and has been compensated with an undisclosed number of stock options Lockheed presumably will need to buy back.

In the coming weeks, Ridge said, he plans to open his own domestic-security and crisis-management consulting firm.

It's so nice to see that some are getting rich off of terror and war, and getting record tax cuts in the process. All the while the middle class is burdened with more and more debt trying to get by on one, two and sometimes three jobs. So much for the American dream!