Pork barrel security
I guess it isn't surprising that Wyoming gets $61 a person from the federal government to help protect itself from and respond to terrorist attacks, or that Alaska gets $58, while New York -- which most of us would consider a somewhat more likely terrorist target than Alaska, and with far greater potential loss of life -- gets significantly less than half as much. Or that California, in the midst of a budget crisis, has been forced to spend $5 of its own money per resident for security since September 11, while Wyoming, whose treasury is flush because of high energy prices, has only put in $1, while the rest of the country picked up it tab. Why would anyone expect security matters to be immune from the rules of pork?
Still, this Time article is pretty depressing reading if you happen to live in one of the large vulnerable states that gets to pay to protect big empty stretches of land from terrorists while its own first responders get laid off.
http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2004/03/time_magazine_h.html
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101040329/nhomeland.html