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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Kevin Rose who wrote (421614)7/2/2003 12:28:40 AM
From: American Spirit  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 769670
 
Yes, Anne Coulter quotes Joseph McCarthy as her mentor.
Shows you where she's at. Sure there were some commie spies, and we had them too, but McCarthy wanted to persecute everyone on the left, ruin their lives and put them in jail. Anne Coulter is a real witch. And as nuts or dishonest as they come. Take your pick.



To: Kevin Rose who wrote (421614)7/2/2003 1:24:28 AM
From: Skywatcher  Respond to of 769670
 
the respected RUDMAN speaks out against how we are being protected!!!
NOT!
The money that should be going to OUR COUNTRY for OUR PROTECTION,,, is going into the pockets of Hellaburnin and the rest of the EX pentagon/White House Corporate crooks to build up what we just spent BILLIONS BLOWING UP!
Heed This Prophet
The Los Angeles Times

Tuesday 01 July 2003

Former Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.) is in danger of becoming a Cassandra, blessed with
the gift of prophecy but ignored until after disaster has struck. It was Rudman and former Sen.
Gary Hart (D-Colo.) who declared, at the beginning of 2001, that the nation was sure to be hit by
a large-scale terrorist attack and needed better readiness. Then he and Hart issued a report last
year on the nation's continued lack of overall preparedness. On Monday, Rudman returned to the
topic, zeroing in on the low and uneven funding of local emergency forces, the first responders
against terrorism.

The new report, co-authored by former White House terrorism and cyber-security chief Richard
A. Clarke and sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, says the problem today is not that
President Bush or Congress has been oblivious to the dangers of biological, chemical or
radiological attack. Many things, from border patrols to airport security, have improved. However,
the report concludes that current federal spending for local anti-terrorism efforts of $27 billion per
year needs boosting by nearly $100 billion over five years and that homeland security spending is
poorly managed.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security disputed the report, saying its cost
estimates were "grossly inflated," the equivalent of calling for "gold-plated telephones" in
emergency communications centers. Gold-plated? Cash-strapped states and cities are
struggling to pay the bills: In a lengthy new study, James Jay Carafano, a scholar at the
conservative Heritage Foundation, says, "a serious concern for the future is whether state and
local responder assets will be sufficiently robust to deal with attacks." Only 13% of fire
departments, he notes, can provide lifesaving initial treatment in a chemical or biological
weapons attack with more than 10 casualties. Vice President Dick Cheney's home state,
Wyoming, gets nearly $36 per person in federal anti-terrorism funding, while California, with its
long, vulnerable border and busy ports, receives $9.

Between tax cuts and continued growth of military spending, domestic funding even for
anti-terror efforts will not flow easily. Rudman cannot be ignored, however, and his
recommendations for more efficient use of the available funds would be cheap to carry out, if
politically knotty.

Management improvements should include: beefing up the power of the House Select
Committee on Homeland Security to quickly allocate funds to emergency responders; improving
cooperation between the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments;
providing localities in search of help with "one-stop shopping" in Washington; and making grants
for several years, to facilitate planning. This is common sense, not radical thinking, and the
administration's defensive response to Rudman is what's indefensible.