Even homeland security shorted By Daniel Schorr

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Even homeland security shorted
By Daniel Schorr

WASHINGTON - The first measure of a society's effectiveness is its ability
to organize itself to respond to its collective needs. The Romans, with the
Barbarians at the gate, couldn't. And the Americans, with Al Qaeda at the
gate, are having trouble getting their act together.

It was perhaps to have been expected that President Bush would shortchange
health and social programs while pouring money into tax cuts. Economist John
Kenneth Galbraith wrote in 1958 of a nation dedicated to "private affluence
and public squalor."

In the 2003 version of public squalor, cuts are recommended in programs like
preschool Head Start and free school lunches for poor kids. And the states
come under pressure to raise taxes for basic needs while federal taxes are
reduced.

As I say, some of this retrenchment in funds for public purposes, especially
for the disadvantaged, could have been predicted. But not expected was that
the president would shortchange this own stated No. 1 priority - the safety
of the homeland.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge may provide low-cost diversion with
color-coded alerts and advice to stock up on duct tape. But talk is cheap
and real security is expensive. One would have thought that, with memories
of Sept. 11, the president's first priority would be the first responders to
a terrorist attack - police, firemen, public-health workers.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley wrote in The Washington Post this week that
the federal government provided only $1 million of the $11 million his city
has spent on homeland defense. And, Mr. O'Malley asks why it is necessary to
wait for another devastating attack before taking action to protect
America's ports, railways, and borders.

Recently, former Sens. Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, who chaired a Council on
Foreign Relations study on homeland defense, warned that another Sept. 11
would find most of the nation's cities no better prepared to react than last
time.

It will take more than duct tape to meet this challenge. Maybe we need an
alert system on Capitol Hill that flashes red when Congress is about to pass
another tax break that siphons away money that our vulnerable infrastructure
could use in our defense.

€ Daniel Schorr is a senior news analyst at National Public Radio.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0221/p11s02-cods.html

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