Anti-terror funding cuts: President Obama is making New York City less safe
www.nydailynews.comMichael Daly
Thursday, May 13th 2010, 4:00 AM
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Nicastro for NewsArmed officers lock down Times Square at the scene of the attempted car bombing by
Faisal Shahzad (below).
Well, Mr. President, maybe when you come to the city for a political fund-raiser today
you can explain how you can allow cuts in funding to protect those of us who live,
work and raise our kids in the terrorists' bull's-eye.
Cuts that come in the immediate aftermath of the attempted car bombing in Times
Square.
Which came in the aftermath of the attempted bombings in the subway.
Which came in the aftermath of a dozen other attempted attacks.
Which came in the aftermath of the mass
murder of thousands on 9/11.
All of which came before the next attempt,
which is sure to come.
Most experts think the chances are better
than ever it will be in the subways. Yet the
Department of Homeland Security is cutting
our transit funding from $153 million to $
111 million.
Money to protect the port is being cut from
$45 million to $33.8 million.
A government official who is privy to some
of the intelligence that is summarized each
day for the President says there is a
"constant threat stream" regarding New
York.
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"Absolute insanity," the official said of the
cuts.
The Homeland Security Department is
trying to duck the blame for the subway
part of the insanity, saying that the cut for
New York only reflects an overall transit
security cut by Congress.
But all Congress did was approve the
funding request from the White House,
which was down from $400 million to $250
million.
The White House being your house, Mr.
President.
On Monday, as I walked with my 16-year-
old daughter to the subway that takes her
to school and me to work, she began
talking about the terrorists.
"I was just wondering," she said.
I told her that it is up to each one of us to
fight the terrorists by refusing to be
terrorized, by continuing to ride the trains
and walk the streets.
I realized that I was talking to her like she
was a solider in a war, and I began to scold
myself.
I then realized that's exactly what she is.
Bronagh Daly did her part by continuing
down into the subway, riding one of the
lines that was targeted by the bombers in
the fall.
The Times Square car bomb was a block
from where she went to a Boys Like Girls
concert not too long ago.
Now, I have to figure out a way to tell her
the President she so admires is leaving her
and her city less protected.
Maybe you can explain it to her, Mr.
President.
mdaly@nydailynews.com