100 Hours, First Shot
This rant was orignially going to be about something important, but let's cover the first act of legislation passed by the new Congress in the massive "100 hour" campaign they promised the country. Republicans have cried foul saying the Democrats promised to give them more of a voice in running the government than the Republicans gave the Democrats. Well, honestly, tough. These are the joys of being the majority. While the true test of power is how and when you use it, that does sometimes mean doing as much as you can as fast as you can. Sometimes that means cramming massive pieces of legislation down the throats of America as fast as possible, for their own good. Well, that sounded bad, and it is bad, but at least the first piece of legislation we have to deal with this way is 9/11 commission implementation.
Yeah, the Democrats decided to really win New York in 2008 and do what the Republicans did not do, for a multitude of reasons, much to the entertainment of conspiracy theorists. The first thing it calls for is proportional funding for higher-risk terror targets. While they promise all states and cities will get a base funding level for counter-terrorism and all that, the places that have been attacked before and are likely to be attacked again get more money to prevent an attack. Somehow, this simple bit of logic eluded the last Congress who mostly saw Homeland Security spending as the greatest trough for pork-barrel. So, now, in theory, the law says the funds have to get divided up more equally.
One of the ways that is going to happen is the next provision, which is better funding for first responders, which is the fancy way of saying more money to cops, firefighters and EMTs. Which is a good thing because they need the money for. . .ok, I don't know what, but they do, and I have no doubt they will find a way to spend it. Like better emergency breathing gear, better isolation facilities for people exposed to various things and generally better training for other people who are not necessarily professionals in the field. You know, the little things in fighting the war on terror and securing the homeland and all that. So odd that the Democrats are keeping Bush's promises in the 2004 presidential campaign. Or at least, the good ones.
Then they started in on the other biggest problem on September 11, what the military types call Unity of Command. Which was sorely lacking on September 11th, partially accounting for why there was lack of real response. The measure clarifies that those in charge have to deal with those local, regional and/or tribal authorities ahead of time so prepared responses will be known by all. The things that are generally under the rubric of "coordination" but hey, let's go with the now. Now, with the money from the previous part, you get actual coordination and communication that might actually prevent some nasty things from happening anymore.
Airline and airport security was also massively addressed. More bags will be checked, there will be actual oversight of the government agencies involved on a regular basis, rules will be examined and re-examined, exceptions made only with the approval of Congress when it comes to policy. Personnel matters are cleaned up by making them more accountable to their agencies, and through them, to Congress. They also talked about a more advanced method of screening bags and passenegers. More importantly, more advanced ways of passenger grievance for badly screened luggage, being harrased or other general problems with the entire system. And within 90 days from implementation of the Act, there will a test supervised by Congress of all these procedures and methods.
Lastly (I hate using that, but I hate using "I" too, so there we are), they went into one thing that Kerry went into during his campaign but got nowhere with. Granted, it wasn't his best proposal (his best, by the way, was when he pledged to double special forces spending and efforts in Iraq), but it was possibly one of the most interesting. He called for greater inspection on crago coming to the United States, both by plane but especially by ship. Almost none of the cargo coming in by ship inspected and most of the most likely terror targets are coastal port cities. The best way to get a nuclear weapon to the United States right now is by ship. Not by missile, not by plane, by boat. It takes longer, but it is more effective and will get you right into the heart of Manhattan, Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington DC (if you're willing to go up the Chesapeake, Miami, Seattle and other places. But, this bill calls for scanners and other latest technology to be used in scanning ships and cargo containers.
In short, the first bill of the massive volley of legislation to come is a pretty good one that keeps the promises Bush has failed ot keep with his party in Congress. The vote was 299-128, which means about 70 Republicans voted for this. Peter King (R-NY) was not among them, calling this bill a shameful act making the lives of New Yorkers part of a 100 hour act. Of course, he has had since July of 2004 since the 9/11 Commission Report came out to propose this anything of this kind for the memories of all those people, but I guess the mood was never right for him.
Which leads all this back to the question regarding all legislation: if not now, when?
So it is written, so do I see it.
Yeah, the Democrats decided to really win New York in 2008 and do what the Republicans did not do, for a multitude of reasons, much to the entertainment of conspiracy theorists. The first thing it calls for is proportional funding for higher-risk terror targets. While they promise all states and cities will get a base funding level for counter-terrorism and all that, the places that have been attacked before and are likely to be attacked again get more money to prevent an attack. Somehow, this simple bit of logic eluded the last Congress who mostly saw Homeland Security spending as the greatest trough for pork-barrel. So, now, in theory, the law says the funds have to get divided up more equally.
One of the ways that is going to happen is the next provision, which is better funding for first responders, which is the fancy way of saying more money to cops, firefighters and EMTs. Which is a good thing because they need the money for. . .ok, I don't know what, but they do, and I have no doubt they will find a way to spend it. Like better emergency breathing gear, better isolation facilities for people exposed to various things and generally better training for other people who are not necessarily professionals in the field. You know, the little things in fighting the war on terror and securing the homeland and all that. So odd that the Democrats are keeping Bush's promises in the 2004 presidential campaign. Or at least, the good ones.
Then they started in on the other biggest problem on September 11, what the military types call Unity of Command. Which was sorely lacking on September 11th, partially accounting for why there was lack of real response. The measure clarifies that those in charge have to deal with those local, regional and/or tribal authorities ahead of time so prepared responses will be known by all. The things that are generally under the rubric of "coordination" but hey, let's go with the now. Now, with the money from the previous part, you get actual coordination and communication that might actually prevent some nasty things from happening anymore.
Airline and airport security was also massively addressed. More bags will be checked, there will be actual oversight of the government agencies involved on a regular basis, rules will be examined and re-examined, exceptions made only with the approval of Congress when it comes to policy. Personnel matters are cleaned up by making them more accountable to their agencies, and through them, to Congress. They also talked about a more advanced method of screening bags and passenegers. More importantly, more advanced ways of passenger grievance for badly screened luggage, being harrased or other general problems with the entire system. And within 90 days from implementation of the Act, there will a test supervised by Congress of all these procedures and methods.
Lastly (I hate using that, but I hate using "I" too, so there we are), they went into one thing that Kerry went into during his campaign but got nowhere with. Granted, it wasn't his best proposal (his best, by the way, was when he pledged to double special forces spending and efforts in Iraq), but it was possibly one of the most interesting. He called for greater inspection on crago coming to the United States, both by plane but especially by ship. Almost none of the cargo coming in by ship inspected and most of the most likely terror targets are coastal port cities. The best way to get a nuclear weapon to the United States right now is by ship. Not by missile, not by plane, by boat. It takes longer, but it is more effective and will get you right into the heart of Manhattan, Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington DC (if you're willing to go up the Chesapeake, Miami, Seattle and other places. But, this bill calls for scanners and other latest technology to be used in scanning ships and cargo containers.
In short, the first bill of the massive volley of legislation to come is a pretty good one that keeps the promises Bush has failed ot keep with his party in Congress. The vote was 299-128, which means about 70 Republicans voted for this. Peter King (R-NY) was not among them, calling this bill a shameful act making the lives of New Yorkers part of a 100 hour act. Of course, he has had since July of 2004 since the 9/11 Commission Report came out to propose this anything of this kind for the memories of all those people, but I guess the mood was never right for him.
Which leads all this back to the question regarding all legislation: if not now, when?
So it is written, so do I see it.