New York Not Important In DHS Eyes
The Department of Homeland Security has decided that since no major monuments are there to protect, New York gets a forty percent cut in DHS funding.
(HT: Hugh Hewitt)
From Times Square and the Empire State Building to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, New York is a city of spectacular landmarks. Ask any of the 41 million tourists who visited last year.
But according to the Homeland Security Department, New York has no national monuments or icons _ a determination that led to a 40 percent cut in anti-terrorism funding.
New Yorkers are seething over the news, and some are demanding the firing of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., charged that the Bush administration had "declared war on New York" with its decision to reduce anti-terrorism funding by $83 million while increases went to cities like Jacksonville, Fla., Louisville, Ky., and Omaha, Neb.
"I'm not begrudging any other city, but why would you cut the No. 1 target in the country by 40 percent?" said King, who demanded an investigation. "How can you possibly justify that?"
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday said President Bush "should not come back to New York and stand with us" until his administration comes up with more money to keep New York safe.
"This is wrong and unfair, but also outrageous," Schumer said. "The bottom line is this is abandoning New York."
The cutback comes nearly five years after the terrorist attack that killed 2,749 people at the World Trade Center, and a week after a Pakistani immigrant was convicted of conspiring to blow up the subway station at Herald Square, the site of Macy's flagship store, one of the world's most popular shopping destinations.
Dropping Schumer's rhetoric, I'd like to say that if this goes through (and DHS officials comment later that they're "going to go back and look at it") this is the most retarded thing that could go down. Yes, they had better reconsider that before the torch-and-pitchfork GOP start sounding off for Michael Chertoff's head on a platter. If this is what the equivalent bureaucracy of DHS can come up with, it's time to toss these yo-yo's out.
Reconsideration. Um, yeah. I think so. As Hugh points out, al Qaeda loves to come back to the same targets they have hit before. That includes Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles. (Yes, LA's included due to the Millenium bomber caught at the Candaian border by an astute border patrol officer.) We can't just walk away from the evidence about how they operate. All three of these cities should get their share of the funding based on their threat assessment.
The Statue of Liberty? Times Square? The Empire State Building? How about JFK or La Guardia? Let's move onto DC, shall we? The Washington Monument? The Pentagon (already hit once)? The Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials? No monuments that would fall under the definition of a threat? Please. If that is their serious assessment, it's time to get rid of these guys. I personally do not want to see any attack on a place where our enemies can kill any civilians. Let alone a large memorial or airport where the body count could be extremely high.
Publius II
The Department of Homeland Security has decided that since no major monuments are there to protect, New York gets a forty percent cut in DHS funding.
(HT: Hugh Hewitt)
From Times Square and the Empire State Building to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, New York is a city of spectacular landmarks. Ask any of the 41 million tourists who visited last year.
But according to the Homeland Security Department, New York has no national monuments or icons _ a determination that led to a 40 percent cut in anti-terrorism funding.
New Yorkers are seething over the news, and some are demanding the firing of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., charged that the Bush administration had "declared war on New York" with its decision to reduce anti-terrorism funding by $83 million while increases went to cities like Jacksonville, Fla., Louisville, Ky., and Omaha, Neb.
"I'm not begrudging any other city, but why would you cut the No. 1 target in the country by 40 percent?" said King, who demanded an investigation. "How can you possibly justify that?"
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday said President Bush "should not come back to New York and stand with us" until his administration comes up with more money to keep New York safe.
"This is wrong and unfair, but also outrageous," Schumer said. "The bottom line is this is abandoning New York."
The cutback comes nearly five years after the terrorist attack that killed 2,749 people at the World Trade Center, and a week after a Pakistani immigrant was convicted of conspiring to blow up the subway station at Herald Square, the site of Macy's flagship store, one of the world's most popular shopping destinations.
Dropping Schumer's rhetoric, I'd like to say that if this goes through (and DHS officials comment later that they're "going to go back and look at it") this is the most retarded thing that could go down. Yes, they had better reconsider that before the torch-and-pitchfork GOP start sounding off for Michael Chertoff's head on a platter. If this is what the equivalent bureaucracy of DHS can come up with, it's time to toss these yo-yo's out.
Reconsideration. Um, yeah. I think so. As Hugh points out, al Qaeda loves to come back to the same targets they have hit before. That includes Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles. (Yes, LA's included due to the Millenium bomber caught at the Candaian border by an astute border patrol officer.) We can't just walk away from the evidence about how they operate. All three of these cities should get their share of the funding based on their threat assessment.
The Statue of Liberty? Times Square? The Empire State Building? How about JFK or La Guardia? Let's move onto DC, shall we? The Washington Monument? The Pentagon (already hit once)? The Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials? No monuments that would fall under the definition of a threat? Please. If that is their serious assessment, it's time to get rid of these guys. I personally do not want to see any attack on a place where our enemies can kill any civilians. Let alone a large memorial or airport where the body count could be extremely high.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 5:47 PM
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