Of course it won't be cheap, but they just tripled the goddam budget in a month or so. That ain't exactly a cost overrun. Look where its going, too. Standard government operating procedure. Step one of course is hire HUGE numbers of Federal employees--skilled or not--which is after all the top priority of any Federal agency. And then the new equipment. Granted, the stuff at airports needs updating, but knowing what you know about how corporations and Federal money interact, is it likely that the top-of-the-line, high tech, security equipment is being sold to the government at a slight markup? Or that maybe low-tech, more practical solutions are being overlooked (like armed air marshalls or armed pilots) in favor of mandatory magic bomb detectors that would have to be purchased by every large airport at ruinous cost and massive profits?

Although I have seen nothing to prove that this is so, I would be willing to bet that there are a number of tech company lobbyists parked outside the doors of the government employees who will be making these decisions, just as with almost every other government agency in existence.

Sure, having huge, high-tech detectors in every airport would be swell, but is this massive rampup just more Chicken Little panic? I don't have all the answers, but I know from experience what has happened in other Federal agencies, and in many cases getting the actual job done falls pretty low on the priority list. Financial accountability falls even lower.