Daily News from New York, New York • 27

opinion the best of the political blogs I search, or not to search? New MTA boss is making safety a priority, with an eye on more patrols bag searches That's the security question the new head of the MTA is asking himself and his staff. Should police do patrols and random bag checks on commuter trains as they do on subways? Lee Sander says his answer is yes, and he wants to make it happen. Chalk that up to a very good start Sander has his hands full. From fares, budgets and labor relations, not to mention the Second Ave. subway and extending the No.

7 line, he faces many critical issues. Yet for my money, and our lives, nothing tops security. The hardening of airline security after 911 partially explains why subways and commuter rails have I A css: he sees the subway patrols and bag searches as a model for the entire system. "I have been extremely impressed by the work the NYPD and Commissioner Ray Kelly have done and I think similar tactics and patrols are appropriate for the rail lines," Sander said. He added that he has told MTA police officials to draw up just such a plan and include suburban police units.

Sander, who rides the subway and commuter lines, said he is "sensitive" to the issue of police presence. I take that as a diplomatic way of saying he doesnt see enough of them. While Grand Central Terminal often seems overstocked with police and even National Guard units, you can ride Metro-North and the LIRR for days and never see a cop. Of course, uniformed officers are only part of the answer. The system needs a security plan that integrates city, state and federal law enforcement It needs to move faster on acquiring and installing hardware, like station cameras.

It needs a close relationship with the NYPD's intelligence and patrol units. Most important it needs someone running it who believes in terror prevention and who is determined to make riders as safe as possible. Lee Sander sounds like that man. mgoodwinnydailynews.com MTA Executive Director Lee Sander thinks his agency should beef up security. Thomas MonasterDaily News borne the brunt of bombings in recent years.

In London, Madrid and Mumbai, Islamic terrorists have killed hundreds by carrying bombs or hiding thera in backpacks, then detonating them in crowded cars. Despite the fact that New York remains the No. 1 terror target, the MTA's reaction has been maddeningly slow and incoherent We sponding to terror attacks. Many transit-crats stubbornly believe proven measures, like cameras and searches, are too expensive. The latter was implied by a statement from a Sander aide Monday.

Respond sit networks is a lack of federal funding," the statement said. And, in a tone more fitting for a lobbyist, it complained about federal security spending of $7.50 per passenger on airlines and less than 2 cents on mass transit. Yes, we need more federal money, but that can't be an excuse for not acting to protect riders. Thankfully, Sander agrees, calling the letter "not artfully worded" when I asked about it yesterday. Speaking to the Daily News Editorial Board and in a later phone call, he was refreshingly candid about the need for his agency to beef up security.

Most important. Michael Goodwin are in the sixth year since 911 and it remains hard to see consistent improvement. From locked cars on many subway lines to fortress-like exit gates, the system remains focused on routine crime instead of preventing and re- ing to a report that the federal Transportation Security Administration offered to send security teams for joint operations on Metro-North trains, the MTA said no thanks. The biggest obstacle to increasing security on tran- Ezra Klein on Giuliani So there's no doubt that Rudy derives a certain degree of his star power from the fact that he honed his personality and publicity skills in one of the media capitals of the world. But I'm struck by the sheer level of skepticism reporters I chat with evince towards his chances, even as he leads in the polls and wows the crowds.

And, eventually, I figured it out Whereas a Californian, knew the post-911 Rudy, a simply huge portion of the media lives or has lived in New York, and they actually remember Old Rudy. And they keep wanting to cover Old Rudy, or at least tell people about him. prospectorgwebog Kevin Drum on Scooter Libby Nobody else lied to the FBI and the grand jury. Only Libby. And that makes it pretty, obvious that he was trying to hide the one thing he knew that no one else did: the fact that he learned Valerie Plame Wilson's identity from Dick Cheney.

Libby deserves his convictions. The only unfair thing about the whole trial is that his boss, the guy who was behind the whole thing, wasnt in the dock with him. washingtonmonthly.com Gabriel Schoenfeld on Libby When one compares what he was indicted for lying to the FBI and to a grand jury with what the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate the leak of the name of a CIA officer whose covert status has yet to be established and the disclosure of which may therefore not even have been a crime one cannot help being appalled that this case ever came to trial. commentarymagazine.comcontentions Cliff Kincaid on Ann Coulter The political equivalent of Britney Spears shaving the hair off her head, Ann Coulter made headlines at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference by calling Democrat John Edwards a faggot Wearing a leather dress and a Christian cross around her neck. Coulter must be a liberal infiltrator whose purpose is to give conservatism a bad name.

aim.org Fresh Intelligence on McCain John McCain's Obama-esque remarks about our "wasted" resources in Iraq weren't the only comments that landed him in hot water after a recent appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman." Many of his staff were blindsided by his campaign announcement And several aides were so outraged that they've quit say Republican insiders. radaronline.com Wonkette on the US. Humanity has many religions, languages and forms of funny clothing, but there is one thing all earthlings share: a deep loathing for the United States, Iran and Israel. Sadly, the U.S.A. isnt even at the top of that sad list Israel and Iran are the countries seen as having the most "negative effect" on the world, with America at No.

3. BBC World Service conducted the global survey. wonkerte.com BE OUR GUEST Reject gov's dangerous hospital surgery Spitzer foes say planned cuts will damage quality of care nder the guise of "putting patients first" Gov. Spitzer's budget calls for deep and damaging health care cuts. When coupled with President Bush's slash-and-burn proposals, health very opposite of what the governor says he wants to do.

The governor has said that he needs to enact cuts in order to invest in "patients, not institutions," primarily by shifting funding to cover New York's 400,000 uninsured children. But his care in New York is at severe risk. By cutting next year's planned state spend math doesn't add up. He cuts If lU Tt I billion while investing less fter.nein IfaStCe than 1 of that amount D6nRIS tiVGra into expanding health insurance for uninsured children. Furthermore, he has is ing on health care by $1.3 billion, Spitzer is ensuring that patients will receive fewer and lower-quality services.

That hardly putting of New York. It does not do enough to reform the sectors of the health care system HMOs, which amass some $5 million in profits per day, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies that are garnering exorbitant dollars. It does not follow the lead of governors in other states who have committed to providing coverage for all of their uninsured residents and have persuaded the federal government to contribute to the effort. Spitzer's Medicaid cuts mean that New Yorkers will actually send $1.2 billion in health care funding back to Washington at a time when Bush proposes $1.2 billion of his own cuts to New York's hospitals. The Bush administration's health care proposals would cut our public hospitals alone by $350 million per year.

We want and support reforming the way New York State provides health care. We have suggested ways to take on the HMOs and the drug companies. We have proposals to cover all of New York's uninsured. Unfortunately, the governor's proposals simply put patients at risk. Raske is president of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

Rivera is president of 1199-SEIU United Healthcare Workers East TOMORROW: A reform advocate lauds tfie gov's plan patients first particularly when state coffers are flush with an estimated $2 billion-plus surplus. New York's hospitals receive 15 million primary care visits a year, more than any other type of provider. Along with the state's excellent freestanding clinics, hospitals are an essential part of our primary care network. Yet hospitals lose $1.8 billion per year caring for the uninsured and an additional $2.2 billion carirfg for Medicaid patients. Spitzer's cuts will only make this serious situation worse and force hospitals to close clinics, sued no plan to cover all 2.6 million uninsured New Yorkers only a vague, four-year proposal to reach half that number.

We strongly support his health insurance proposal, but not only has he refused to release a plan should one exist it is simply wrong to imply that covering our kids requires cutting the hospitals. And though Spitzer talks about reform, his budget actually contains very little. It provides no new funding for primary care. It does nothing to deal with the high cost of malpractice in- to -1 thus Cutting off access to primary care the surancewhich is driving many physicians out.