Because, somehow, in the warped world of Homeland Security, if your city is a top target -- and has been attacked -- you need less money to prepare:
The Department of Homeland Security yesterday slashed anti-terrorism money for Washington and New York, part of an immediately controversial decision to reduce grant funds for major urban areas in the Northeast while providing more to mid-size cities from Jacksonville to Sacramento.That's classic. Say one thing, do another.
The announcement that the two cities targeted on Sept. 11, 2001, would suffer 40 percent reductions in urban security funds prompted outrage from lawmakers and local officials in both areas, who questioned the wisdom of cutting funds so deeply for cities widely recognized as prime terrorist targets. The decision came less than five months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff unveiled changes in the grants plan intended to focus funding on areas facing the gravest risk of attack.
I always thought it was very telling that during the last election, Bush tried to scare the country using the threat of terrorism. But, his scare tactics didn't work in the very places that actually were attacked on September 11th. He lost in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and DC. He also got trounced in Northern Virginia. The places most at risk rejected Bush. Now, his Department of Homeland Security is putting those places more at risk.
