DHS: Old Enough to Serve Pork Properly

DHS: Statue of Liberty is not an icon

The Department of Homeland Security has declared that New York City will get it’s terrorism funding slashed over 40% this year because based on it’s new criteria for doling out taxpayer money: they don’t make the cut. From ABC’s Blotter (via Political Wire):

New York has no national monuments or icons, according to the Department of Homeland Security form obtained by ABC News. That was a key factor used to determine that New York City should have its anti-terror funds slashed by 40 percent–from $207.5 million in 2005 to $124.4 million in 2006.

[...] “I think the facts are clear,” Bloomberg said. “What they’ve really done is taken what was supposed to be threat-based and just started to distribute it as normal pork.”

[...] [Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told ABC News] “The process they used is also somewhat bizarre. They basically subcontracted it out. They, as an agency that has 180,000 employees, they went outside, and (used) some sort of peer review, and those people were not privy to any intelligence information … The, the whole process is really kind of unfathomable to those of us who need this funding.”

Damn it New York, don’t you know you’re supposed to waste all your money on useless contracts buying Segway scooters, shiny new tactical police vehicles and other lobbyist approved law enforcement suppliers if you want to keep getting it?

Build a monument to Bush the great and you’ll get an increase in your yearly pork kickback next time.

Update: Buzzmachine points out that they didn’t get the money because they filled out the forms wrong and faxed them instead of going through the proper steps of electronic filing, saying “How about trying to do what’s right and necessary to protect citizens from terrorist murderers. I thought that’s what a Department of Homeland Security was supposed to do.”

posted Jun 2nd, 2006 by vforvandyke
  • Timothy West

    just put bushes head on the statue of liberty, cut off the tits and the dress, and they will get anything they need.

  • http://www.sundwall4congress.org Eric Sundwall

    It would still be in NJ.

    Tim – can you email me about a LP video for my race ? I have an idea that involves Hillary. It’s right up your alley. Thanks.

  • vforvandyke

    Eric: Actually it’s owned by NY, but the land is owned by NJ:

    Some people also believe that the the statue is is New Jersey, not New York. This is an urban myth. While Liberty Island is geographically closer to New Jersey than New York, it is part of the Empire State the same way Staten Island is, even though it, too, is closer to New Jersey than New York City. There was, however, a long-standing dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey over the Ellis Island immigration station. After it was abandoned, the island was converted into a popular tourist attraction, which infuriated New Jersey. The Garden State had given the island to New York for immigration use, and now wanted a piece of the tax revenue being generated by the tourists. In the 1990′s a federal court ruled that the Ellis Island immigration station is, indeed, part of the state of New York. However, it also ruled that all of the land added to the island by New York since it was originally donated is part of New Jersey since the island was expanded into New Jersey waters. So when you visit, you can stand inside the building and be in New York, then step outside and be in New Jersey.

  • error

    Man, you beat me to it. Then again I was busy being slashdotted. :)

  • http://www.sundwall4congress.org Eric Sundwall

    Geeesh . . . I was just phishing for Tim’s email.

    You guys are too much :-)

  • happyjuggler0

    I’m not a big fan of New York. Too damn arrogant for my taste. But that said….

    Are they out of their %$#@*&^ minds? I’d be willing to bet that NYC represents over 50% of the genuine future threats by terrorists. Not counting domestic terrorist scum like Timothy McVeigh, just how many of the terrorist acts in the US have been outside of NYC? How many of the deaths? On 9/11 there was the Pentagon and the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. There was Richard Reid getting tackled (thankfully) in the act of committing a terrorist act (i.e. trying to set off his shoebomb). I’m not sure you can say this was in a state anywhere though since it was airborne. There were those anthrax deaths in the wake of 9/11, which by the way Bush conveniently forgets to mention when he says we have been terrorist-free since 9/11 thanks to him.

    In other words, NYC is still the prime target for international terrorist scum. If we are going to be doling out taxpayer money for this, it ought to go to NY

  • http://libertysfight.com/ LibertyFighter

    In an unrelated story, Congress announced today that NYC is slated to receive $200 million to build a bridge to the Statue of Liberty as part of SAFETEA-LU.

  • blowmedown

    “Damn it New York, don’t you know you’re supposed to waste all your money on useless contracts buying Segway scooters, shiny new tactical police vehicles and other lobbyist approved law enforcement suppliers if you want to keep getting it?”

    I thought that’s exactly what NYC *was* doing? Maybe Bloomberg’s preferred pork providers list differs from Chertoff’s?

    It isn’t as if any of this farking nonsense has done squat to improve anyone’s safety. The only effect of spending that DHS money (other than enriching rent-seekers) is further erosion of our Liberty. To the extent that it draws attention to the intrinsically corrupt nature of government, public squabbling over these ill-gotten gains is an unalloyed GOOD THING.

    Keep it up, assholes, we’re enjoying the show!

    -BM

  • http://willtoexist.com Trevor

    The above post would be great except you just couldn’t resist throwing in that last sentence.

    I don’t get the Bush hate. He’s just one little cog in a giant machine. The most visible cog, certainly, but it’s not like he invented some new form of evil.

  • jnice

    Didn’t Bush invent the “Axis of Evil”?

  • Paul Pace

    Apparently Chuck Schumer complained about Georgia getting an increase in terror funding, saying (paraphrased)”What do a bunch of peanut farmers need with the money?” See, this is why people think yankees are arrogant.

  • http://www.americanpolitic.com Joe Magyer

    “Apparently Chuck Schumer complained about Georgia getting an increase in terror funding, saying (paraphrased)”What do a bunch of peanut farmers need with the money?” See, this is why people think yankees are arrogant.”

    I ripped Schumer a new one on this specific issue on my blog.

  • http://www.SegwayNYNY.com itsi atkins

    Keep Segway out of your arguments. We have enough hurdles to jump and a 5k scooter is not the problem.

  • http://www.phillies2008.org George Phillies

    Nptwithstanding, back in 1950 there were a series of since-declassified war plans completed, assuming war with the USSR. There was a careful analysis of possible Soviet targets, showing that there was _one_ point in the USA, a successful russian attack on which was a potential warloser for us. That place was given several fighter wings, a division-equivalent of troops, etc to defend.

    For two points, name the location.

    Hint: It was not a city, nor located in a major city, nor was it a weapon production or research facility.

  • vforvandyke

    George Phillies: The secret IRS complex in Montana? :P

  • http://www.phillies2008.org George Phillies

    The critical location was the shipping locks between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. If they ceased to function much of the American steel industry would shut down, midwestern grain would no longer get to market, and various other bad things would occur, and there would be no rapid fix. The locks in question are no longer so critical.