Monday, April 07, 2003

...in one measure of just how badly the city’s finances are being strained by the demands of civil defense, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has quietly undertaken a fund-raising drive designed to bring in money for the department from private benefactors.

"It is absolutely unacceptable that New York City’s police commissioner has to spend his time passing the tin cup for private contributions to support the technology, equipment and other needs associated with protecting the city from further acts of international terrorism," Mr. Kravis said. "New York City is at the highest risk, and our Police Department plays an important role in providing intelligence information and security for the country."

The Bush plan has been assailed in recent days by New York elected officials—Republicans as well as Democrats—who argue that it would provide New York with less federal security money per capita than every state except California.


That's from an article in the New York Observer. New York City, the most obvious target of any likely terrorist apart from D.C. itself, is still getting shortchanged, and things are so bad that even city plutocrats such as Henry Kravis, a co-founder of the Wall Street firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, are dissatisfied with the Bushies. Sorry if I seem like an NYC chauvinist for bringing this up, but we generate a hell of lot of wealth here, which you'd think would mean something to Bush. Apparently it doesn't, perhaps because we don't wear boots while doing it.

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