Rap Songs and Scooters -- Your Homeland Security Dollars at Work

Firemen, police officers, paramedics. These are the first people on the scene on 9/11 -- and they'll be the first there for the next terrorist attack. But the money for equipment, training, and extra people is not getting to these first responders.

Washington talks a good game about first responders. They've voted to give $7 billion dollars to the cause. But only $1.2 billion has ever been delivered.

The rest of the money is caught on red tape: New layers of bureaucracy have to be created to handle the money, back orders for overworked suppliers.

Then, there's the questionable use of anti-terror money that did get through:

• Segway scooters for the Santa Clara, California bomb squad
• Commissioning a homeland security rap song in Washington, DC
• A paging system for the South Dakota State Fair

Feel safer yet? (Christian Science Monitor via USAToday)