Homeland Security Funding Faulted Yet Again

This is not the first time that someone is complaining about the homeland security funding formulas and how money is divided up between big cities like New York and smaller communities.

The formula has been rejiggered once, and the latest disbursements haven't found fans in New York. New York City is going to see less money as a result.

But so are most every other city in the country - because the overall pool of money being divided up is smaller this year as compared to last year.

The $757 million in so-called Urban Area Security Initiative grants was just one piece of a larger $1.7 billion pool of grant funds awarded to states today, $500 million less than was available last year and $342 million less than what President Bush had requested that Congress approve.

Overall, New York State will get $183.7 million, which is a 20 percent drop from last year. That means New York State's per capita share of grant funds, which totals $2.78 per person, will drop to an even lower level compared to some rural states, like Wyoming, which will get $14.83 per person this year.

In real terms, this means that high value targets in places like New York City, which has already been the repeated target of al Qaeda, gets less money than locations that are sparsely populated and are getting money because Congress (that would be who does the appropriations) has spread the money around.

Despite the fact that it was Congress as a whole that voted for this distribution scheme, you've got individual members of Congress slamming the funding formula. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) considers this a 'war on New York.'

Make no mistake, this funding is crucial to New York. It goes for terrorism prevention and response measures throughout our city, including equipment, training, planning and exercises.

For example, the funding could be used for anti-terror intelligence and threat assessment; training for first responders and counter-terror specialists; communications equipment for emergency managers; additional bioterror detection and mitigation systems; mobile command and control posts; or simulation exercises. These are just a few examples of homeland-security outlays New York City might now have to cut back on.

The DHS tries to justify the cut by saying there were funding reductions across the board. True, the overall budget was lowered by 20 percent. But why cut New York City's funding by twice that level? And why give big hikes to cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, while drastically funding for the two major cities previously hit by terror attacks - New York and Washington, D.C.?

Here's a simple reason - because Congress decided to spread the money around instead of continually sending money to New York City and Washington D.C. Congress cut the President's homeland security funding package by $342 million dollars, and that money could have gone to restore at least some of the funding.

Then, there's the rediculous assessment that New York City does not have any monuments or other icons. This is one aspect of the funding formula. Does Wall Street not count? What about the Empire State Building? The Brooklyn Bridge? The George Washington Bridge? The United Nations building on the East River? Nuts. Simply nuts.

The question of whether the funds are being spent appropriately is a totally separate manner.

UPDATE:
Lots of folks are taking exception with the funding formula, including Dan Riehl, who slams New York and New Jersey politicians for grousing about the money. I'm sorry, but I don't agree with his assessment. There's something wrong with the formula when New York City rates a zero for national monuments or icons. Others think that the funding cuts and increases have a tie to political outcomes, but again, this latest funding formula is the result of disagreement over the way the funds were disbursed the last time (only now the pie is even smaller).

The fact is that while terrorists could strike anywhere in the US, they've struck New York City and Washington DC far more than any other location. One could also make a point of adding funding to Boston and Newark so that they can do a better job picking up terror plots before they head onto planes at their respective airports.

Also, for those who think this is simply about politics, several North Jersey counties that are predominantly Democrat received a significant increase in funding:

Meanwhile, funding for the six counties covered by the Urban Area Security Initiative -- Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Morris, Essex and Union, including Newark, Jersey City and Elizabeth -- was increased by 77 percent from last year, to $34.3 million.

"It is an absolute fraud. We got more UASI money, but we got less money in state homeland security," said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee. "This is like a card game. The Bush administration can't even get away with the sleight of hand anymore."

Of couse it's the Administration's fault that Congress cut Bush's funding request by $342 million.

UPDATE:
Here's a link to the actual report finding that New York City doesn't have any national monuments or icons. This is bureaucratic stupidity at its finest. Did anyone who reviewed this particular document even bother to notice the big fat zero where it lists national monument or icon?

And apparently that didn't register with anyone, despite the fact that we had a huge gala in New York City in 1983 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge (which is considered a modern wonder of the world)or the 1986 centennial for the Statue of Liberty - both of which attracted huge crowds and the world's largest fireworks display, and tons of diplomats, including President Reagan (at the Statue of Liberty event).

And yes, I know that the US Supreme Court ruled that the Statue is actually located in New Jersey and not New York, but the ferry access is provided from Battery Park in NYC - so it should count as a New York City icon/monument.

The Empire State Building is the tallest building in NYC since the WTC was destroyed by Islamic terrorists on 9/11, that is. It just celebrated its 75th anniversary. Even after the WTC was first built, the ESB was considered the face of NYC.

We've got Grand Central Station, which is more than 90 years old, and 575,000 visitors and 125,000 commuters daily. In other words, this one facility alone handles more people on a daily basis than many areas that got dedicated funds. In fact, it can handle more in a day than some entire states' populations (see Alaska,Wyoming and Vermont).