Think Bush will get a bounce from another terrorist attack? Keep in mind this very terrific, page one story in USA Today about our crumbling Coast Guard. Yes, it's been underfunded for decades (most of their ships are almost 40 years old!), but Bush has been our President since 9-11. He's had three years to attack this problem.
The Coast Guard's ships, planes and helicopters are breaking down at record rates, which may threaten the service's ability to carry out its post-9/11 mission of protecting ports and waterways against terrorism.Stunning details include radar systems that break down daily, to the point where some ships have no idea who is even a mile away when patrolling our coasts. (They buy store-bought radars with their own money just so they won't be completely blind.)
And what is Bush's reaction to this?
That's right, we had a 20 year program to upgrade the Coast Guard formulated three years before 9-11. Then the US is attacked and Bush's instinct is to DELAY upgrading the Coast Guard's vital equipment needs from 20 years to 25 years! Republican Senator Olympia Snowe wants to speed this up to 10-15 years. But they're both out of their minds. $20 billion to provide essential needs of the Coast Guard and BEGIN to secure our coastlines and ports? We spend $5 billion a month in Iraq. And Bush wants to DELAY this? And why 10-15 years? It should be done in 2 years. This is a WAR and Bush is callously leaving our coastlines unguarded.The Bush administration wants to increase the amount of time it will take to replace a fleet that's among the oldest on the globe — older even than fleets owned by nations such as Algeria and Pakistan. The "deepwater" replacement program, conceived in 1998 as a $20 billion, 20-year plan to replace the fleet, could be increased to 25 years under a White House plan.
The strategy would save the government money in the short term. The White House budget office declined to comment.
What are some of the duties of the Coast Guard?
The Coast Guard was moved into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 and given primary responsibility for maritime security in addition to its regular duties. The added responsibilities include patrolling the nation's 361 ports and 95,000 miles of coastline, boarding and inspecting tens of thousands of cargo ships and recreational boats, and reviewing security at the nation's commercial ports.
As the 9-11 Commission reported:
"While commercial aviation remains a possible target, terrorists may turn their attention to other modes. Opportunities to do harm are as great, or greater, in maritime or surface transportation."We've heard time and time again that our ports are highly vulnerable and we aren't doing nearly enough to protect them. And what is Bush doing TODAY? Cutting back; pinching pennies. As always, he wants to rattle his sabres but have a "pain-free" war on terror. Only the children of the poor are expected to fight. No dramatic push for a Manhattan Project of energy that would find new sources of power that would wean us off our dependency on Middle East oil. No responsible call for money to strengthen our security -- no, Bush calls for tax cuts for the super-wealthy, not taxes to make our country secure.
Do you feel safer with Bush as President? Is he making the right decisions in how to protect this country in the war on terror? When he takes questions from reporters in the next few days, ask Bush why during a war on terror he is leaving our coastlines unguarded? Why does he want to delay the upgrade of the Coast Guard fleet from 2025 to 2030 to try and save a few pennies? Does he really think 2030 is a reasonable target year to bring our coastline security up to speed? Our ports are vulnerable and Bush is asleep.
