DHS Stands by Anti-Terror Cuts (to DC and NY)

[MountainLaurel]

As a DC resident, this makes me wonder when our Reichstag fire will be coming.

A top official at the Department of Homeland Security said the agency will not reconsider its decision to cut anti-terror grants for Washington and New York by 40 percent, despite criticism and pointed questioning yesterday by congressional representatives from those regions.

George W. Foresman, DHS undersecretary for preparedness, stood by the complicated formulas used by a secret panel of reviewers to divide $711 million in 2006 funds for urban areas across the country. The result was that Washington and New York, the two areas targeted on Sept. 11, 2001, will get less than last year, while Omaha, Charlotte, Louisville and other cities will receive more.

"I feel confident in the risk analysis process and the peer review process," Foresman said at a congressional hearing, calling his agency's risk analysis "incredible." "What we need to do is a better job in communicating with the communities."

But Foresman appeared to have a difficult time communicating with the congressional panel. Lawmakers from both parties lambasted DHS and called its decision-making process "mind-boggling," "a mystery" and "goofy" and said it doesn't appear to meet its stated goal -- distributing federal dollars to regions that face the greatest risk of attack.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/15/AR2006061501345.html

[Virginia Dare]

1. D.C. vs. Wyoming?

D.C. is getting the equivalent of $4.50 per person

Wyoming is getting the equivalent of $16.00 per person

Now, I wonder why WYOMING is getting all that $$$$$, could it be?.....Nah, that's a crazy conspiracy theory.

I like this quote:

"we're protecting the grizzly bears in Wyoming and not the people in D.C."!!!

[LynneSin]

4. You wanna here crazy

More people live in Washington DC than in Wyoming

[MountainLaurel]

5. It's the people in DC

We're a majority minority city that voted 90 percent for Kerry. Apparently, we're worthless in the eyes of DHS.

[tanyev]

2. OK, Rep. King.

Didn't you threaten to open an investigation into Hookergate if the DHS moneys weren't restored to New York? Go get 'em.

[LynneSin]

3. I swear sometimes, our government is trying to break up the United States

and I'm starting to think that might not be a bad idea. NYC and DC bring in more money to this country from the number of citizens that live there paying taxes (and hell DC isn't even a state) to the number of people who visit these places for tourism. I'm starting to think that if these cities were smart, they'd keep their federal tax dollars to themselves since I'm sure they could put that money to better use than having it shipped off to some other state that barely contributes to the overall budget.

In a nutshell - NYC & DC are paying into the government way more than these red states and yet the red states get all the money. I'm tired of this form of government 'welfare'.