Obama to slash slain Police officer benefits program by 50%

[Weatherman]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration wants to cut almost in half a benefits program for the families of slain police and safety officers.

The president's proposed budget calls for cutting the Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Program from $110 million to $60 million.

Justice Department budget documents say the reduction is being made because "claims are anticipated to decrease" because the number of officers killed in the line of duty has been decreasing.

The proposal is being made just days before Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to attend ceremonies in Washington honoring slain officers.

"It makes us kind of nervous. While we aren't panicking, it certainly has increased our concern, coming a week before National Police Week," said Suzie Sawyer, executive director of Concerns of Police Survivors, a group taking part in next week's events.

Sawyer said as long as the number of police and safety officers killed doesn't increase too much, the amount of money offered in the budget could be enough. And she noted that in the past, the government has found more money for the program when it needed more, such as following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The program pays benefits of more than $300,000 to the survivors of a safety officer killed in the line of duty.

There were 133 police officers killed in the line of duty last year, the lowest amount since 1960, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The group said killings of police officers are up 21 percent so far in 2009, compared to the same period the year before. 

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D981KUN81&show_article=1&catnum=0

Hmm..

[jimmy olsen]

That has the potential to play very badly, risky move.

[Razgovory]

Hey I thought you guys were for lower spending.

[CountDeMoney]

Non-issue.  It's just supplemental fed money, individual departments take care of survivors.

[DontSayBanana]

That has the potential to play very badly, risky move.

Your crystal ball is telling you to pump more cash into a falling trend, when spokespersons in the field are saying that as long as the trend doesn't reverse, the budget should be enough?

[DGuller]

Is Obama decreasing the benefits to the families of slain police?  If not, then what exactly is the problem?

[stjaba]

This seems like a stupid political move more than anything else.

[Martinus]

Is Obama decreasing the benefits to the families of slain police?  If not, then what exactly is the problem?

People are idiots who can't read.

Maybe they should put them money into literacy training?

[DGuller]

Is Obama decreasing the benefits to the families of slain police?  If not, then what exactly is the problem?

People are idiots who can't read.

Maybe they should put them money into literacy training?

Not all people, just the vast majority of anti-Obama posters.

[jimmy olsen]

That has the potential to play very badly, risky move.

Your crystal ball is telling you to pump more cash into a falling trend, when spokespersons in the field are saying that as long as the trend doesn't reverse, the budget should be enough?

The actual facts are not necessarily important. It's how the opposition can spin them that I'm considering. If I were Obama I would be concerned that the opposition would swift boat the issue and make ads claiming that Obama cut benefits for the families of slain cops.

[Faeelin]

Word on the street is that President Barrack Hussein Obama will use this to sponsor an American Al-Sadr Brigade.

[DGuller]

I don't think Obama should let the worries about Swiftboating control his policy decisions.  Besides, he has a knack for making such attack backfire.

[DontSayBanana]

The actual facts are not necessarily important. It's how the opposition can spin them that I'm considering. If I were Obama I would be concerned that the opposition would swift boat the issue and make ads claiming that Obama cut benefits for the families of slain cops.

Yes, they are. It would be a moronic, desperate attempt by the opposition which could be instantly turned around and exposed with one sentence: "the precincts, not the government, are the ones who actually provide benefits to bereaved families of officers killed in the line of action; this measure will not interrupt the funding of benefits to those families."

Trying to use this as ammunition would be firing blanks, IMO.