With all of the stomach-turning revelations this week, a bit of good news from our nation's capital is most welcome.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 342-78 to revive the Clinton-era COPS (Community Oriented Policing System) program. (Da story here.)
While a 2005 audit found that some of the program's money had been misspent (around $227 million of $10 billion), few argued that COPS hadn't been necessary or effective in helping reduce violent crime rates in the U.S.
The program, in fact, was one of the few issues where conservatives and liberals found agreement on the value of federal spending and the Bush Administration's decision to gut the program was a source of puzzlement for law enforcement professionals nationwide.
(The most obvious, and terribly cynical explanation: It was a Clinton program and it worked. Can't have that now.)
Congress decision to re-fund the program is welcome news for communities struggling to check rising crime rates in a period of declining revenues. As a resident of one such community, I offer my thanks to House members.
Well, some of them at least. Predictably, some representatives couldn't resist the temptation to make the vote another soapbox for partisan grandstanding.
Republicans countered that it was largely a Democratic Party public-relations success that had little do with falling crime rates in the '90s. All 78 "no" votes Thursday came from the Republican Party .
"This is a not a good return on investment," argued Rep. Steve King , R- Iowa
Yo, Rep. King, next time you're in trouble, call a hippie.