It seems that Homeland Security has become just another political porkbarrel:

Political formula Congress set up the federal grant program to distribute 40 percent of the grant money equally among states, without regard to risk. Lawmakers used a formula that had proved politically salable for paving highways and favored rural states.

Wyoming, with a 2000 population of 493,782, got $35.31 per person in 2003 alone, while California got just $4.68 to protect each of its 33.9 million residents, according to one report.

“The biggest pot of money goes out without any thought to risk or threat. For a typical federal program, that would be sad. For a program dealing with (something) as important as homeland security, it’s dangerous,” said Tim Ransdell, who studied the funding formula for the Public Policy Institute of California.

Some disparity is understandable, as California has been well ahead of the rest of the nation in emergency response preparedness. But this is a bit ridiculous.