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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 13, 2006
/ 15 Shevat, 5766
Your tax dollars on drugs
By
Debra J. Saunders
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If you want to understand how difficult it is to cut the federal
deficit — it will surpass $400 billion in the 2007 budget — take a look at
the Byrne grants. Named after New York City police officer Edward Byrne, who
was killed by drug dealers, the grants have provided annually about $500
million to local law-enforcement efforts since the program was signed into
law by the first President Bush. Critics on the left and the right consider
the program to be ill-conceived and ineffective, and they've urged
Washington to eliminate the grants. But Congress keeps pouring millions into
the program.
David Mulhausen, a policy analyst with the conservative Heritage
Foundation, considers the Byrne grants to be mostly "pork projects." He sees
"a big accountability problem."
Mulhausen is not alone. The White House Office of Management and
Budget studied the Byrne grants and gave the program a 13 percent rating for
results and accountability. That's an F-.
Last year, the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against
Government Waste signed a letter urging congressional appropriators to
eliminate the Byrne grants.
No such luck. President George W. Bush, to his credit, has
departed from his big-spending ways in seeking to reduce — and now to
eliminate — Byrne grants, as part of the administration's ongoing post-9/11
effort to streamline U.S. Department of Justice funding in order to maximize
the money spent on homeland security. According to the OMB, the Bush
administration and Congress have reduced Byrne-grant funding by two-thirds
since 2001.
Alex Conant of the OMB explained that "federal law-enforcement
funds need to be spent where they are most effective, and Byrne grants have
failed to demonstrate significant effectiveness."
Tom Finnigan of Citizens Against Government Waste noted how the
administration has tried to figure out which programs don't work and de-fund
them — "and yet Congress earmarks these funds every year, year after year."
And, "If (members of Congress) can't cut programs that are
ineffective and wasteful, then it just shows they are incapable of spending
restraint." Too true.
That's the problem. Columnists and fiscal watchdogs all agree
that federal spending is out of control. Democrats are having a grand time
slamming Bush for his big spending, but as soon as Bush tries to cut an
actual program, it becomes a vital endeavor, the loss of which will be
harmful to hardworking taxpayers.
Pork-happy lawmakers rush to defend the program. Sens. Tom
Harkin, D-Iowa, Mark Dayton, D-Minn., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., all have
boasted that they want to keep bankrolling Byrne grants. If you come from
farm country, you talk like Leahy — and hail the grants as important for "a
rural state." Or you say that the funding is essential to fight
methamphetamine abuse — as Harkin and Dayton argued — even though local
officials are charged with enforcing those laws.
You would never guess that Byrne grants also funded bad law
enforcement — most notably the Tulia scandal, which began when Bush was the
governor of Texas. A white investigator of a Byrne-funded task force
testified against dozens of black residents in Tulia, Texas, for dealing
cocaine. They were convicted, even though no drugs were presented as
evidence at trial. Later, Gov. Rick Perry pardoned most of the Tulia
convicts, and onetime defendants reached a $5 million settlement with local
officials.
Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance, which opposes the war
on drugs, believes that abuses such as the Tulia travesty occur when "the
federal government is handing money out like candy" and there is no real
accountability.
Piper also argues that "the war on drugs is an area that you
could cut without political consequences." Alas, there also are no real
consequences, because Congress keeps sneaking the money back into the
budget. I would agree, except that the press releases sent out by
Byrne-loving senators suggest that there is little upside in cutting
drug-war spending.
As the National Taxpayers Union's Paul Gessing noted, "The
people who have the most at stake lobby very hard, whereas it's hard for the
average citizen to keep track of this stuff."
I fault Bush for not vetoing his first farm bill, which enabled
Congress' big spending. Now that he is trying to do the right thing, he
stands alone. If the president can't push Congress to kill a program that is
13 percent effective, then he can't cut anything, because there is no will
to spend responsibly in Washington.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.
Debra J. Saunders Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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