Picking up the security tab

The (Baltimore) Sun:The federal government has pledged $50 million to cover security costs for this week's Democratic National Convention. That's pretty close to what authorities in Boston believe will be spent to protect FleetCenter and the thousands of visitors to the city. This is notable for at least one reason -- as an unusual example of homeland security costs not being foisted on local government by the Bush administration and its allies in Congress.
Remember when Congress declared war on unfunded federal mandates? That was a decade ago, and clearly, homeland security is a major exception to this charming old principle (but hardly unique, since No Child Left Behind and Medicaid share similar status).
Burden on locals
President Bush and the Republican Congress have spent billions on preparedness but not nearly as much as the combined spending of local governments (despite their own budgetary woes). Worse, what is spent by the federal government is often not apportioned wisely.
A recent survey found more than half of cities have yet to get a first dollar from the federal government's state-block grants, the nation's largest homeland security program.
Considering how the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were aimed at two cities, it's a shocking state of affairs.