Lessons of 9/11
How soon we forget. What were two of the messages that we kept hearing after 9/11? One was that the country needed to do a better job diversifying its transportation network. This included improving passenger train service to decrease the reliance on air travel. The second was how important it was to help the "first responders" including local police deal with the threat of terrorism.
What were two of the major cuts in the new Bush administration "budget" cuts? Cuts to Amtrak and federal funds to local police departments. Meanwhile the administration is spending billions of dollars on a war that had little to nothing to do with the threat of terrorist attack on this country. Of course the money to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the proposed changes to social security, are not covered in the budget that Bush has promised to balance in the next five years. The smoke-and-mirror administration pays for these endeavors out of the discretionary fund. A fund that is suppose to pay for unexpected expenses such as aid for the tsunami catastrophe.