An e-mail:
The money that NYC is getting is being wasted. We have this idiotic program where the NYPD randomly check bags at subways. Of course, if you’re asked to be searched, you can refuse. Better yet, cops don’t stop people from leaving the station once they’re in. Only if the world’s dumbest terrorists come to NYC to bomb a Subway will they be caught by this program…and that’s with a whole lotta luck. I commute every day with a bag and have yet to be searched even once. These are cops that could be better used elsewhere. Why is the Federal govt. forced to pay for nonsense decisions at the local level? If Peter King can point to one single arrest for as much as a pocket knife with this stupid program, I’d be surprised. The NY Times reported that NYC was denied more money because the things it asked for – like to pay overtime for police – wasn’t what they were looking to fund. King dismisses this as bad paperwork. No, this isn’t’ just “paperwork”. It’s Bloomberg’s plan. King should blame Bloomberg, not DHS. Maybe King would like to release just what NYC asked for and what it was denied? Sunshine should flow both ways. NYC has received $400 Million in DHS grants since 9/11. How about an accounting of where that money went? If anything, King should be calling for the end of DHS. Bush was right to oppose it. It’s a joke. But these idiots in Congress demanded it…now deal with it.Here’s the worst part. King said DHS is at war with NYC. Really. I’m sure the 150,000 soldiers in Iraq would rather fight in King’s pork war than the current fight they’re in. King’s furious because so many in his district lost people on 9/11. Well, guess what…we all know somebody who died. And to say we’re at war with our own government over what amounts to a rounding error in NYC’s budget is way out of line. To show how idiotic this is, they’re arguing over, at most, $75M. To put this number into perspective, NYC pays out roughly $500M in personal injury claims per year.These guys in Congress are freaking clueless.