Obama main worry is NYC getting nuked – so slashed DHS security funding

Yesiree,  Obama’s really worried about Manhattan. So what has he done other than to paint a target on NYC? Why he slashed the Coast Guard units that protect it among other things.

“Russia’s actions are a problem. They don’t pose the No. 1 national security threat to the United States. I continue to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan,” the president said.

Meanwhile, let’s us take a look back at Obama’s past actions to insure the lack of security for our ports, and NYC in particular. Sources at bottom of the post:

October 5, 2010

The Obama administration will announce today it has slashed anti-terror funds for New York City, despite the attempted Times Square bombing less than two weeks ago that underscored the enormous threat to the city.

The Department of Homeland Security informed New York officials yesterday that grants to the city were cut 27 percent for mass transit security and 25 percent for port security.

The mass transit funds dropped $42 million, from $153 million last year to $111 this year.

Port security funds suffered a $11.2 million cut, from $45 million to $33.8 million, officials said.

The timing of the announcement drew howls from New York lawmakers on Capitol Hill, whose recent pleas for increased anti-terror spending in the Big Apple – along with the same plea from Mayor Bloomberg – fell flat.

They said the Times Square bomb attempt shows that New York remains the top target for terrorists and that the city deserves the lion’s share of federal spending on security.

“For the administration to announce these cuts two weeks after the attempted Times Square bombing shows they just don’t get it and are not doing right by New York City on anti-terrorism funding,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.

Read more: More at New York Post

Cutting the Coast Guards elite team that patrols our ports.

At a recent hearing, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), ranking member on the committee, said she was shocked that the Obama administration’s budget for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2011 cuts funding for the U.S. Coast Guard while asking for $200 million for security for the Sheikh Mohammed trial.

When asked by ranking minority leader Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) why the DHS budget spends money on securing the trials of terrorists in the U.S. while cutting funding for U.S. Coast Guard, Napolitano defended the Obama administration’s stance on the matter.

Collins said “Decommissioning part of the Coast Guard’s 13^th elite maritime security safety teams that protect waterfront cities makes absolutely no sense given the threats to our ports,” adding that she believed the Senate would not fund security for terror trials in the U.S.

Coast Guard commandant Papp, the new head honcho also calls for cuts to the Coast Guard’s largest homeland security operation, which patrols critical infrastructure and other sensitive security structures on or near waterways. And he would decrease the number of specialized units stationed in key coastal areas where an attack could be devastating.

“In view of the fiscal horizon, we must make bold and systematic strategic decisions,” New Coast Guard Head Papp wrote in the memo, dated Nov. 10, 2009.

In the memo, Coast Guard Commandant Papp said he wants to eliminate teams that are trained to respond to and prevent terror attacks. These teams also train other Coast Guard forces on counterterrorism operations.

The memo, marked “sensitive — for internal Coast Guard use only,” was obtained by The Associated Press.

Obama has already proposed closing five of the 12 specialized units in 2011.

Papp’s outline is significant because it could mean major changes for the more than 200-year-old agency that took on substantial homeland security duties after Sept. 11, 2001. Obama’s 2011 proposed budget cuts for the Coast Guard have already caused outrage from some lawmakers.

 Coast Guard Papp wants to slash Homeland misson

Obama guts homeland security-mainly NYC

Janet Napolitano not consulted on terror trials