Portland city commissioner Dan Saltzman hasn’t lost his mind. He’s going to vote against Mayor Tom Potter’s welcome mat for terrorists at tonight’s city council meeting:
One can be concerned about the far reach of the USA Patriot Act and still support the Joint Terrorism Task Force. I authored last year’s City Council resolution expressing concern about the Patriot Act and calling on Congress to fix its most disturbing provisions. We must continue to work to ensure that the Patriot Act and the rest of our homeland security laws adequately safeguard the civil liberties that are at the core of our American values. But that effort should not sidetrack critical cooperation among our law enforcement agencies.
A recent trip I took to New York City included paying respect to the innocent victims of 9/11. It was an awkward silence at the 16-acre hole that was the World Trade Center. Among New Yorkers there is a silent, palpable sense of apprehension, a post-traumatic stress for many who were there. It’s difficult to imagine looking a New Yorker in the eye and explaining our rationale for withdrawing from the terror task force. It would feel disrespectful to even attempt to do so. They, more than anyone, understand that barriers to cooperation among law enforcement agencies anywhere place all of us at risk.
President Kennedy spoke in West Berlin during the Cold War and proudly boasted, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Meaning all free people, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. Wherever we may live, in our resolve to prevent terrorism, all Americans are citizens of New York. As such, we owe ourselves nothing less than to confront terrorism seriously and in collaboration with our partners.
That is what the Joint Terrorism Task Force is all about.
Unfortunately, Saltzman will be the only “no” vote on the mayor’s ill-considered move.
Potter’s opposition to the JTTF has little to do with the Patriot Act, and lots to do with his need to micro-manage every aspect of the police department. The man needs medical attention.
Outside Portland, Oregonians are worried about what Potter’s terrorist magnet will do to them:
But what a symbol this will be: If the vote goes as expected, Portland would become the first U.S. city to pull out of one of the FBI’s 100 or so task forces. The discussions have already drawn national attention, including a story in The New York Times and a recent editorial — opposing the city’s decision — in the Wall Street Journal.
“It sends a terrible message to federal officials, but also to the rest of the state,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican who represents Eastern Oregon. “And what message does it send to groups who might want to do us harm? Does it put out a welcome mat?”
“Welcome mat” Potter has a nice ring to it.
Let’s see: “confront terror”
U.S. military spending is almost equal to that of the entire rest of the world.
Military spending accounts for more than half of the U.S. federal budget.
How far do you want to go?
U.S. military spending is almost equal to that of the entire rest of the world.
No it isn’t.
Military spending accounts for more than half of the U.S. federal budget.
No it doesn’t.
Our military spending is 8 times larger than China, the world’s 2nd largest spender.
Look it up.
U.S. military spending accounts for more than half of U.S. federal discretionary spending. Look it up.
P.S.: What percent of your tax dollar is spent on “defense”?
I’ve read different accounts. What’s your info on this?
Chinese work cheap and Europe is getting a free ride, Kim, so what?
And you’re changing your story on the budget: first you said defense is over half of the US budget, now you’re talking about “discretionary spending”. Since most of the budget is non-discretionary (Social Security, welfare, Medicare), you’re said two totally different things. All we have to do is make defense an entitlement and shazam – no discretionary spending on defense. But here’s reality:
I’ve read lots of conflicting numbers all over the place.
Here’s something I just read:
The US military budget is more than 29 times as large as the combined spending of the so-called rogue states–Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, & Syria–who spent 14.4 billion.
The US & its allies account for two thirds to three quarters of all military spending in the world.
80 percent of each of our tax dollars goes to defense.
My point is not numbers, as such (you, I, or anyone can find all kinds of numbers on the web), but to ask at what point of military build-up are we going to feel safe?
I noticed the clever use of the term ‘discretionary spending’ kind of obscures the context….
2005 federal spending (estimated)
Military $ 527 billion
Medicare $ 521 billion
Social Security $ 519 billion
National debt $ 321 billion
Social programs $ 200 billion
Other $ 500 billion
I guess everything’s just dandy then.
There’s a pretty big gap between “80 percent of each of our tax dollars goes to defense” and “everything’s just dandy”. The US is a unique country, and we’re every tin-horn tyrant’s preferred target no matter how much we spend on defense, how much we support Israel, and how many interns the president has sex with. We’re also the preferred destination of most of the world’s immigrants, so there it is.
I was being sarcastic.
BTW, the budget does not include the figures for our wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. So try working with those figures.
The wars are being financed by ‘supplementary appropriations’, and Defense has just asked for an additional $82 million or it will be spending unauthorized funds.