[jet_silver]

The government doesn't look to trim fat and always fights any attempt to decrease the number of people who depend on it for a pay check.

Bureaucracy is set up such that the number of people who report to you is a direct measure of your importance. Decreasing that number produces panic. That is why when there are staff cuts, it's always in a bureaucrat's best interest to cut the -most useful-, most important services he provides. The outcry he's depending on is what gets staff restored.

The only way the axe will fall on ATF is if voters decide to cut its budget by means of electing candidates who are on a mission to cut ATF. These candidates will now find themselves being called 'terrorists' and will be mercilessly harassed - and possibly jailed - under the USA act.

That's one reason why the USA act is -evil-. Feingold for President.