According to the Boston Globe, a government reports issued by the Congressional Research Service, states that an unprecedented number of death threats against President Barack Obama, the rise in racist hate groups and a new wave of anti-government fervor threaten to overwhelm the U.S. Secret Service. This has raised new questions about the agency's overall mission. It seems that the 144-year-old agency is tracking a far broader range of possible threats against our nation's leaders and it also investigates financial crimes such as counterfeiting as part of its original mandate, further stretching the agency paper thin. The Secret Service may very well end up having to curtail or abandon some of these mandates, such as financial crimes, and focus more on protecting leaders and their families from assassination attempts and thwarting terrorist plots aimed at high-profile events.The report calls for a review of the Secret Service's mandates and that it should eliminate the functions that are ineffective and hand off others, such as investigating financial crimes to another entity, and it states that the review should look at how money and staff are allocated, as well as whether some of the agency's functions and workers should be transferred to the Treasury Department. The Secret Service had long been under the Treasury Department umbrella, but was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003. It was established July 5, 1865, to thwart counterfeiting and headed by Chief William P. Wood, which has been expanded to encompass a host of electronic and financial crimes.
Its mission was also expanded in early years to investigating the Ku Klux Klan, non-conforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, land frauds, other infractions against federal laws and conducting counterespionage operations during the Spanish-American War and World War I. The job of protecting presidents was added to the Secret Services' list of responsibilities in 1894 with Grover Cleveland, who was guarded on a part-time basis. The role was expanded after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 and in 1917, it became a crime to threaten a president of the United States. So, one can see how the scope of that responsibility has grown in years past, so much so that guarding the president and other top officials account for most of the Secret Service's $1.4 billion yearly budget, which continues to grow.
According to the Globe, the agency has been directed by Congress to guard an "unprecedented" number of individuals, including presidents, vice presidents, their immediate families, former presidents and vice presidents, as well as visiting dignitaries and presidential candidates during campaigns lasting longer than we have ever seen. The Globe also adds that the Service currently protects 32 people - 24 full time and eight part time. It also coordinates security at high-profile events, such as meetings of world leaders and political party conventions. Between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, the Secret Service said it protected 116 heads of state and 58 spouses.
It is very unfortunate that there are many among us who just cannot accept the fact that the country has elected its first African American president. The domestic threat against President Obama is growing at an alarming rate. You will recall that he was given Secret Service protection 18 months before the election, which was the earliest ever for a presidential candidate. He has been the target of more threats since he ascended the presidency than any of his predecessors. That's scary and very troubling. The extremist fringe is emboldened by the actions of seemingly sympathetic politicians and television and radio personalities. The bottom line is that the Secret Service must revisit its mandates and decide which functions should be handed off to another government entity or else they will literally have a real problem on their hands.
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