Free Republic

In recent years, we have heard much about the failures of the auditing firms, particularly, but not limited to, Arthur Andersen & Co., in the performance of their audit function. Numerous critics over the years have pointed to the conflict of interest that exists within an auditing firm with respect to the promotion of a firm's consulting practice and, in a lesser regard, tax practice, which appears to compromise the independence of the auditing firm.

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal government announced that it would preempt all state jurisdiction over airport security. The federal government preempted state powers without regard to balancing federal and state responsibilities so that these responsibilities, and related costs, could be distributed across federal, state, and local governments. To carry out this preemption, the federal government recently reported that it will employ more than 47,000 federal recruits in the fight against terrorism as newly trained security screeners at 424 airports nationwide.