Bush to Slash Funding for First Responders

George Bush has always been far more willing to give money to Halliburton and Exxon/Mobil than he has to give it to fund our fire departments, police departments and healthcare system.

Well, here he goes again. In the good old Republican tradition of hurting Americans which we saw so blatantly in New Orleans after Katrina, Bush is proposing to cut federal funding to fire departments, police, etc. by half. From Salon.com:

The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press...

The department [of Homeland Security] wanted to provide $3.2 billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, but the White House said it would ask Congress for less than half — $1.4 billion, according to a Nov. 26 document. The plan calls outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year. This is President Bush's last budget, and the new administration would have to live with the funding decisions between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2009.

What? Elimination of funding for port security? Well, I guess he doesn't like port security since Democrats prevented him from turning our port security to his buddies in Dubai. More from Salon:

The proposal to drastically cut homeland security grants is at odds with some of the administration's own policies. For example, the White House recently promised continued funding for state and regional intelligence "fusion centers" — information-sharing centers the administration deems critical to preventing another terrorist attack. Cutting the grants would limit money available for the centers.

The White House's plan to eliminate the port, transit and other grants, which are popular with state and local officials, would not go into effect until Sept. 30, 2008. Congress is unlikely to support the cuts and will ultimately decide the fate of the programs and the funding levels when it hashes out the department's 2009 budget next year...

"This budget proposal is dead on arrival," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "This administration runs around the country scaring people and then when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they say 'sorry, the bank is closed.'"

...

Boxer was particularly incensed about the proposal to end money for port security — a big concern on the West Coast. "California's ports carry over 47 percent of all goods imported into the United States," she said. "A terrorist attack at any of California's ports could shut down our nation's port system and result in a mind-boggling loss for our nation's economy."

...

Bipartisan opposition to deep cuts emerged from New York, another state that would be hard hit.

"To zero out essential homeland security programs which have more to do with protecting Americans and fighting the war on terror than much of the money spent in Iraq shows how warped and out of touch this administration's priorities are," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat.

Well, the Democrats are giving us something to be thankful for. I am sure if the Republicans still had control of Congress they'd stand by Bush. Still, Republicans in NY, at least, are seemingly siding with Democrats this time around.