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I Know what some will say but...
phobicsquirrel
Posts: 7,347 ✭✭✭
So a county in Tennessee is making people pay fire protection fees and if you don't pay it you're out of luck. A family's house caught fire then the fire department wouldn't come out. Only when a neighbor's yard caught fire who did pay the fee they came out and the house continued to burn. I guess taxes don't matter now you need to pay even more. What's next? Keep the commons down, money rules.
http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html
http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html
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That being said, I think it's also shameful of people like Keith Olbermann to turn this man's tragedy into some sort of Republican vs Democrat scenario..... his interview with the man in front of his property was just as sick as the fact that this happened.
I don't see how on earth a city/county/state can stand for this. I mean sure budgets are tight but why is education, police, fire, and even state agencies always the first to go? I mean how about fixing how prisons are ran, maybe pay less for private institutions to do something when the state govt can do it cheaper? I dunno, but I don't think this will be the last of the "pay" for services which should be done through taxes. I can see police and other services going the same way in certain areas.
And lilwing88, it's sort of public record on the fact that republicans (not necessarily voters) feel that way. They are less about the common wealth than democrats. Health care is a prime example. Eduction is next as so many republicans in office and running are so against public education.
Using the same logic, next time I wreck my car I'll call the insurance company and insist they cover me starting right then.
This is a really messed up situation that has nothing to do with party politics. You don't think something like this couldn't happen in, geee I don't know, saaaaaay Cook County, IL?..... the biggest liberal democratic corrupt cesspool in the nation? They're always lookin out for the little guy, right?
Squirel, I don't know what left wing propagandist has your ear, but you seem to be gulping the kool-aid by the gallon.....
If you just let everyone pay the 75 bucks when the FD shows up, why would anyone else pay the subscription fee? They could make some changes that would improve the situation; let them pay the fee, plus a substantial penalty ($1000 or so).
As long as you pay your tax bill by 9:00AM, everything should be okay.
This whole thing isn't a left/right political issue at all. I don't see why people insist that it is. This is an issue of a fee that is NOT covered by taxes not being payed, and services not being rendered. Most municipalities run at least one utility, if not more. What's the difference in this and your water being turned off? I see none.
Now, I think there should be another way this fee is collected. Roll it in with your waste tax, tack it on to the water bill, something. For a good deal of people, $75 is hard to come up with at one time when it's something that isn't deemed immediately necessary. If they could split it into 12 payments, that would likely make things easier. Heck, put the fire out and bill the guy for actual costs instead of the $75 fee. Running vehicles out there, the man hours involved, the water used, bill the guy for all of it. Don't stand around and watch it burn.
I think this guy is being used to make a point. I'm willing to bet that a great deal of people aren't paying that fee and this was an opportunity for them to show them what happens if they don't pay. I've said this on other forums, and it's what I truly feel is going on. Again, *** move, but that's what happens when you don't pay. It's like paying the mafia for "protection," ya know?
First, I consider myself a conservative, so after having gotten that outta the way ...Why is this a "Podunk Town" , because of what they did or didn't do or just because its in Tennessee ???
Maybe I was a little over-sensitive as a lot of times people think of this part of the USA as a back-woods hill billy club gypsy. I'm sure thats not what you intended and you were just expressing a legitimate opinon. I do think this is one area the govt should be obligated in as well.
Yeahhh Seeeeee ... I shouldn't be on here when drinkin' seeeee ... look what you mugs caused seeeee ....
I, like most of my neighbors, shell out the $75.00 a year to support our local volunteer fire dept., whose area borders the one we're discussing, I think, there may be another in between. Protection could be had by paying taxes, $5 per year per landowner would probably cover it, but, nobody wants to vote for higher taxes, AND, they wouldn't just raise it by enough to cover the fire dept, there would have to be more, AND, if we did it that way, there would be too many regulations to meet.
All this considered, $75.00 a year starts to sound like a money saving idea. The department that covers my area usually responds whether the folks have paid or not, but, that leads to more people not paying. The guys do it for free, but equipment costs money, a LOT of money. So, we pay out of pocket, knowing that our entire $75.00 is going to the fire department, and not being siphoned off for other things. I don't know how it is everywhere else, but, if every time the politicians raised our taxes "to pay for education for our kids", that money had gone toward education, we'd have a student/teacher ratio of about 1:4. Sorry state of affairs, but at least this way the money's well spent.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Sounds good to me bro ...
"Long ashes my friends."