Background Checks Draw Increased Ire

Employees and contractors at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles are the latest to complain about the background checks required to get new federal ID badges under a presidential directive. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin heard their complaints during an all-hands meeting at the lab this week, the Associated Press reported. Griffin said he doesn't mind giving up personal information in the course of such investigations. "I‘m sorry if it sounds to you that I‘ve surrendered to the dark side," he said. "I don‘t see it that way."

The NASA folks are not the only ones concerned about the new background checks, of course. Just check out the comments we've received on this subject since Daniel Pulliam wrote about complaints regarding the new investigations from a union representing workers at the General Services Administration earlier this week.