Senator Charles Schumer, who said folks at the White House "just don't get it and are not doing right by New York City on anti-terrorism funding" after it was revealed that funding for regular transit and port security was cut by 25%, now says, "I think it is unfair to blame this on the President." Instead, Schumer blames other White House departments: "Folks at OMB and at Homeland Security - they should have seen this and caught it.
But don't worry, the Daily News reports that Schumer spoke to Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Schumer added, "No one can doubt [President Obama's] sympathy for New York, his understanding of the threat we're under. That's one of the reasons he's going and visiting the NYPD this afternoon. But we need to take that sympathy and that understanding and translate it into action and dollars."
The White House says that counterterrorism funding to NYC actually increased, thanks to stimulus funds. Schumer doesn't happen to count the stimulus funding and grouses, "In this round, New York got 11% of the transit anti-terror funding and the port anti-terror funding. We get far more than 11% of the threat; we're far more than 11% of the target. We seem to be 75% to 100% of the target. So 11% is way out of line."
