CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

(CNN) — Plagued by rising unemployment, falling tax revenue and increased demand for state services, the nation’s governors met with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday to press for federal money to ease their fiscal strain.

Obama and Biden told those at the National Governors Association meeting that the federal government needs to build a deeper relationship with the governors in order to put America on the path to long-term prosperity.

“Change is not going to come from Washington alone,” Obama said.

“It’s going to come from all of you. It will come from a White House and statehouses all across the country that are working together, and that’s the kind of partnership I that I intend to forge as president of the United States,” Obama said at the conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “I hope that this is the beginning of laying that foundation.” LINK

This is pretty disturbing to me on several levels, but I will try to simplify it. For starters, the President-elect and the rest of the governors are probably unaware that the building they are meeting in, as of January 5th, 2009 will have its basic fire protection eliminated under Mayor Nutter’s fiscal plan. That’s right – ELIMINATED!

The Constitution Center in Philadelphia, along with a host of other landmarks in our Historic District, will lose Engine 8 – the oldest paid fire company in the Nation. Engine 8, along with four other Engine companies and two ladder companies, will be put out of service. The loss to the Phila. Fire Department will be nothing short of devastating. It will be a blow to the protection of our Nation’s Historic Birthplace and the millions of tourists who visit the area every year. Tourists whom Philadelphia has come to rely on to pump millions of dollars into the local economy.

A significant portion of our our economic base and infrastructure is devoted to tourism. However, protecting it is now a low priority. As with every chain, whenever links are removed, the chain gets shorter and can’t reach as far. If you keep asking the chain to do the same job, sooner or later it breaks under the weight. It’s really that simple. Eliminating these companies – especially in Center City and the Historic District – means that perimeter companies (with their own workload) will now have to try and pick up their local.

But eliminating fire companies is a symptom of a bigger sickness. At it’s core is fiscal mismanagement, plain and simple. Years ago, Philly was placed under a fiscal watchdog (PICA Board) after nearly going broke. The city was mandated to adopt and abide by a never ending series of five year plans to be approved by the board. At the time, Union contracts were laced with givebacks and budgets were slashed. Salaries were reduced and benefit plans crushed. Yet here we are again.

This time it’s nuclear. Elimination of services. Take a look at this picture:

This is a pretty good representation of Engine 8’s local. They cover beyond the highway on the right, all the way to the beginning of the high rise buildings on the left. From the riverfront up to the area of the trees in the middle of the picture. That’s one of the most densely populated and historic areas in the nation. Some of the history found there: The Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley, The Constitution Center, Betsy Ross’ House, Independence Hall, Christ Church, The U.S. Mint and the Quaker Friends Meeting House. That’s off the top of my head. Add two major expressways, a riverfront, and a bridge in for good measure.

You can see as you go west the buildings get higher and higher. That area is covered by another Engine company. Guess what? They now get Engine 8’s local. Madness. Especially in this environment:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Terrorists are likely to use a weapon of mass destruction somewhere in the world in the next five years, a blue-ribbon panel assembled by Congress has concluded. Link

MUMBAI, India – The only gunman captured after a 60-hour terrorist siege of Mumbai said he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said Sunday.

The gunman was one of 10 who paralyzed the city in an attack that killed at least 174 people and revealed the weakness of India’s security apparatus. India’s top law enforcement official resigned, bowing to growing criticism that the attackers appeared better trained, better coordinated and better armed than police. LINK

Now as we face even more sophisticated terrorists (They get better like anyone else with practice) the U.S. is becoming less capable. The municipal authorities of our largest cities are incapable or unwilling to fund the basic necessary services like Police, Fire and EMS and instead favor feel-good domestic projects that are of limited or no value. The priorities are simply totally out of whack. But wait. Now they think the have found a way out. Big Brother:

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department’s role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military’s role in domestic law enforcement. LINK

State and local governments are increasingly looking to outsource their basic safety and security responsibilities to the Federal Government. This is absolutely chilling. Local government is the cornerstone of independent states. By handing over more and more responsibility to the Feds we become beholden to them.

If and when a disaster happens, it is the local jurisdiction’s responsibility to field a capable response, within reason. We saw that on 9-11. The FDNY was able to provide a massive response, even though they suffered a devastating blow. On the other hand, New Orleans disintegrated under the weight of a predictable event. (Katrina.) The Federal response was roundly criticized. Surely, the answer isn’t MORE reliance on the Feds riding to the rescue.

So there it is. One of the best and most frequent comments I hear is “Thanks! You guys got here so fast.” I’m afraid what the comments will be like in the future.