SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

You remember the Bush administration's recent little slip-up on personal privacy:

Personal data on about 17.5 million veterans, including their birthdates and Social Security numbers, was stolen last month when a burglar took a laptop containing the information from the home of an analyst for the Department of Veterans Affairs....

And you probably also remember that the Bushies vowed to make amends:

The Veterans Affairs Department offered to pay for a year of free credit monitoring for the veterans, which it said would cost about $160.5 million.

You may not remember exactly how the Bushies wanted to make amends:

Last week, the department said it would cover most of that cost by taking money from accounts that pay health and other benefits for veterans.

Some people got upset at that. Democrats in particular complained.

But not to worry! Now we're assured that the cost of this isn't going to come out of other veterans' programs:

... In a letter on Wednesday, Rob Portman, director of the White House Office of Management, recommended paying for the monitoring by taking about $130 million from a food stamp employment and training program, a farmers' assistance program, student loans and a program for young people released from prison.

Ah, much better, right?

The Bush administration: champions of ordinary Americans. Not like those damn elitist Democrats.

****

UPDATE: The VA says the stolen laptop has been recovered and (per AP) "there is no evidence that anyone accessed Social Security numbers and other data on the equipment."

What do you think happens next? Think they'll try to charge the vets for the data protection that's already been extended to them? Think they'll try to cut the $130 million from the other programs anyway?

****

UPDATE: More bumbling was revealed at hearings today:

Under House questioning, the VA also:

Disclosed it had lost sensitive data in at least two other cases. In Minneapolis, a VA employee put a laptop containing data for more than 60 veterans in the trunk of his car, which was then stolen. There have been two reports of identity theft from that incident, according to Buyer.

In Indianapolis, a back-up tape containing files on as many as 16,357 legal cases involving veterans was lost from a VA regional office. Nicholson said authorities and the VA inspector general were investigating, and those whose information was lost would be provided credit monitoring.

D'oh.