The Bush administration and Democrats finally agree on something: Both say the $397.4 billion spending plan that the Republican-led Congress completed last week shortchanged anti-terrorism funds for state and local emergency workers. Though Democrats have been making that charge for weeks, the White House joined in publicly only in the past several days. Both say that while President Bush proposed $3.5 billion in new aid to help state and local officials prepare for terrorist attacks, the new bill provided less. The administration says the new money amounts to $1.3 billion. “There’s a lot in there that could have and should have been done differently, particularly in the area of homeland defense,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Wednesday as he criticized the reduction in Bush’s proposal. The bill — which Bush was expected to sign anyway on Thursday — does contain $3.5 billion for local police, fire fighters and other emergency workers. But about $2.2 billion of that is for existing programs that cover broad law enforcement and emergency purposes, like buying police cars or responding to floods. Full Story
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