Friday, October 01, 2004
"...what dollar amount is needed...?"
Yesterday in the comments section of this post, Don asks the burning question:
"what dollar amount is needed to FULLY fund Homeland Security?"
This question seems especially relevant in light of the Kerry/Bush exchange of last evening regarding Bush's failure to fund the necessities of Homeland Security. At one point, Kerry declared that 90% of the shipping containers that come into Florida go uninspected. And Bush responded with:
This is one of the fundamental differences between the two candidates. Bush's message is one of continual tax cuts and shrinking of the government. But as Bush is also fond of saying, "9/11 changed everything.". As a nation, we can no longer afford to make tax cuts the top priority. We were attacked by a group (Bush calls them 'folks'..and Jon Stewart noted that it makes them sound like the people you see at the Olive Garden..LOL) of individuals who murdered 3000 people on our soil. And they'd do it again given the chance.
Our shipping containers go uninspected. Our air marshall program has suffered serious cutbacks after having never been fully funded. Our nuclear plants, energy facilities, water treatment facilities, etc are all going unprotected. Our roads, bridges and subway systems have been woefully ignored by this President. Our fragile electrical grid also goes unprotected.
How much is it going to cost? Good question. But the question you really ought to be asking yourself is...how much is it going to cost (not just in dollars) if we don't?
|
"what dollar amount is needed to FULLY fund Homeland Security?"
This question seems especially relevant in light of the Kerry/Bush exchange of last evening regarding Bush's failure to fund the necessities of Homeland Security. At one point, Kerry declared that 90% of the shipping containers that come into Florida go uninspected. And Bush responded with:
I don't think we want to get to how he's going to pay for all these promises.
This is one of the fundamental differences between the two candidates. Bush's message is one of continual tax cuts and shrinking of the government. But as Bush is also fond of saying, "9/11 changed everything.". As a nation, we can no longer afford to make tax cuts the top priority. We were attacked by a group (Bush calls them 'folks'..and Jon Stewart noted that it makes them sound like the people you see at the Olive Garden..LOL) of individuals who murdered 3000 people on our soil. And they'd do it again given the chance.
Our shipping containers go uninspected. Our air marshall program has suffered serious cutbacks after having never been fully funded. Our nuclear plants, energy facilities, water treatment facilities, etc are all going unprotected. Our roads, bridges and subway systems have been woefully ignored by this President. Our fragile electrical grid also goes unprotected.
How much is it going to cost? Good question. But the question you really ought to be asking yourself is...how much is it going to cost (not just in dollars) if we don't?
Return to Main
