Democrats Ask, Do You Feel Safer?

But a party web video strains some facts about homeland security.

A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ad that appeared on the Internet this week attacks the record of “Bush and the GOP” on homeland security, but makes some factual stumbles.

It claims terror attacks have increased four-fold under Bush, which isn’t true. The official count jumped due to a much broader definition of what constitutes a terrorist attack.

The ad says “law enforcement” spending has been cut $2 billion, but that refers only to cuts in aid to states and localities and ignores a big increase in spending on federal anti-terrorism activities.

It says that only 6 percent of cargo containers are being inspected.  That’s about right, but its also a big improvement from three years earlier when the figure was only 2 percent. Also spending has increased seven-fold.

The ad’s biggest stumble was political, not factual. It correctly noted that millions of illegal aliens have entered the US in recent years. But the ad’s images of bazooka-toting terrorists and Osama bin Laden, associated with men furtively crossing the border, drew objections from Hispanics and the DSCC quickly took the ad off their website.

(from FactCheck.org)