Gephardt: Alerts Too Costly for Local Law

[NNN0LHI]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031229_1946.html

WASHINGTON Dec. 29 — Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt said Monday the government needs to urgently devise a way to reimburse state and local law enforcement for their added security costs during each heightened terror alert.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the former House Democratic leader said a reimbursement system was even more essential than a proposal over the weekend by other House colleagues to refine the Bush administration's color-coded alert system.

"I think it is worthwhile to look for ways to improve (the alert system), but the biggest failure here is the administration is not helping state and local governments with the economic costs of going to these different terror alerts. Every time they do one of these, the local fire, police, emergency service people are put on extra time duty. That costs money," he said.

"One of the reasons that all of these state and local governments are in financial trouble is they have never gotten the funding from the federal government to do the homeland security stuff they are being called on to do," he said.

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[Dr. Wu]

1. Why shouldn't the local govts raise their tax?

It makes no sense to pay Washington to write a check to my city. Does anybody really think that all the money will come back?

[NNN0LHI]

2. What. So Chimpy has more of my money to give to the corporate whores?

Fuck that! My property taxes are killing me now.

Don

[Dr. Wu]

3. How much money are you willing to send Washington

who will "promise" to send it back to your town for Hometown Security?

[NNN0LHI]

8. How much you ask?

Lets begin using the trillions of dollars in tax cuts that the Chimp is trying to give to his biggest campaign donors over the next ten years. What do you think?

Don

[Cocoa]

4. it's about accountability

The feds are the ones issuing the alerts.

Why should localities pay for Rove's games?

[joeunderdog]

5. Funny, I had a LTE on this issue printed today

http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/frame/getpage2.pl?cgi-bin/s/thestoryv2.pl+slug-slettbc

It's a ridiculous, expensive game. It accomplishes nothing for the average citizen.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Good letter. The alerts are annoying in

their uselessness.

[joanski01]

7. Are these expensive

alerts part of the plan to bankrupt America? Keep us afraid and bankrupt us at the same time?

[Deesh]

9. Budget Talk by Gephardt

Gephardt criticizes Bush for unfunded security measures deemed too expensive for local governments to pay for.

This "revelation" has been knocked around now for weeks and months. Gephardt won't be riding into the White House on its sizzling feet.

Budget matters -- including paying for Homeland Security measures -- begin in the House of Representatives, of which Congressman Gephardt is a member.

He could have acted on this a long time ago, and didn't. Nice guy, but no field sense for what's happening.