[TheRealThing]

then he created the biggest expansion of federal gov in our lifetime

President Bush first created an Office of Homeland Security in the White House
and then, with the Homeland Security Act of 2002, laid plans for a new
executive department. The DHS was funded with billions of dollars and staffed
with 180,000 federal employees when it opened for business on March 1, 2003.
It qualified as the largest reorganization of the federal government since 1947
when, fittingly, the Department of Defense was established.

But here’s the strange thing: unlike the Pentagon, this monstrosity draws no
attention whatsoever -- even though, by our calculations, this country has
spent a jaw-dropping $791 billion on “homeland security” since 9/11. To give
you a sense of just how big that is, Washington spent an inflation-adjusted
$500 billion on the entire New Deal.

is it working?

You tell us. Posts like this one prove once again that many folks have their opinion given to them by others. The article you 'excepted' or plagiarized those two paragraphs from ;^ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/home..._20130228/ was published by "truthdig" who, by their own self assessment are a "news site providing: expert coverage of current affairs; thoughtful, provocative columnists, presented from a progressive point of view."
This will catch you by surprise but, news given a political slant isn't news at all. When one adds opinion to news, it stops being news and becomes OPINION. They push a social justice doctrine. Everything they publish is jaded by the same old tired liberal progressive slant.

I'll tell you one thing. If there are at least two people who love the Department of Homeland Security. That would be none other than Barack and his appointee for Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. Sweeping legislative measures taken up under these two's leadership certainly has not diminished the level of spending by the DHS, or the torrent of illegal immigrants we see walking the streets of nearly every community in this land. They have held the gates open wide to increase the total number to over 11 million of them as admitted by this administration to be running amok so far, many of whom are getting food stamps and free health care. Some are building bombs and blowing up innocent hard working marathon runners, along with friends, family and interested bystanders. It's about like a bunch of liberal progressives the likes of truthdig, to sit around and slam spending when it can be blamed (no matter thin the point was stretched to make the connection) on conservatives.