Tea Party less Gov.- Firefighters refuse to put out fire

[WickedKitchen]

Have you seriously thought about this? What do mean by rude awakening? Are you saying that people would not pay for the service? What would happen if enough people decided not to pay the fire protection bill, and the fire department folded up? How is that a good thing?

Everyone pays, and everyone benefits. We call these people emergency responders because the respond to emergencies without the thought of money. Well, except for the South Fulton FD...

I wasn't speaking of the fire or police department for the rude awakening. You'd have to be a moron not to want a fire department. It's other things and programs that would not get funded if the general public was allowed to choose if they feel the cost justifies that expenditure. If the fire department folded up it's obviously because enough people there didn't want it. How is THAT a bad thing? The fees would go up for the fewer that still wanted it until they got priced out. That would be terrible for them but there are plenty of places that would better suit them. For me, it's included in our property taxes but the fire department in my town started building a new firehouse when the times were real good a few years ago. They've since halted construction but it will be finished. It should be finished at this point, but to start it was unwise in the first place. Also, if there's a drop in population then the town's tax revenue drops and they are forced to make cuts. Eventually that burden will need to be born by the people that desire it. It already happened with rubbish collection here. I lived in a town where they wouldn't deliver mail to my house either. I had to go pick it up when I wanted it but at least they gave me a free box.

Do they really do it without the thought of money? Please. I don't think that you've thought about that one enough. Sure many of our first responders are better than average people as are you and myself, perhaps. I do think it's delusional to believe that all of them are motivated by the good of man. It's a job for many of them. In some cases it's a lucrative one and in others it's not but at any rate, to many it's a way to earn a living.

[WickedKitchen]

What if you refuse to pay gov mandated flood insurance?..oh yeah, no bank will mortgage you..if you choose to live out in the sticks, and choose to not pay for "city"esque services, no one comes from the "city" to help. Gas, grass,or ass..no one rides for free anymore.

I CANNOT buy flood insurance, even if I wanted it. I contacted several companies and I got the same response from all of them. It seems as if the whole neighborhood would have to get it because we don't live in a flood zone. Even at that, more than 70% of the people on the group policy would have to claim damages for the insurance company to consider a flood a flood. I might be off with that percentage, but it was staggeringly high. more than 50% anyways.

[Simplysnus]

This sums up my entire argument. They have an obligation to taxpayers first. And they fulfilled their obligations. Mcdonalds has an obligation to feed those who pay. It sucks to see people starve, but if they have the money and dot want to pay than that's their fault.

Wrong, they have said if lives were in danger they would go in, thus there's at least one obligation higher than taxpayers apparently. Why? It still wouldn't have been paid for.

[Simplysnus]

Can someone draw me a line connecting this event with right wing politics? I fail to see it.

Freedom to abstain from government taxes/services?

[Simplysnus]

To the contrary, they were available and non commited to an operation. They were also in a location where should the fire pose a risk to a tax paying structure, they would have a very impressive response time.

I'll extend that line of thinking, higher value properties should get priority to your department because your moral obligations are relative to the taxable income received from said properties. As such, property values should dictate where your stations are so that you can fulfill your tax revenue determined moral obligation to provide faster response times.

[Simplysnus]

I'd love to see their specific code of ethics.

Firefighter Code of Ethics

The International Association of Fire Fighters, in its Manual of Common Procedure and Related Subjects, contains this code which helps union firefighters uniformly remember their career mission and goals.




As a firefighter and member of the International Association of Fire Fighters, my fundamental duty is to serve humanity; to safeguard and preserve life and property against the elements of fire and disaster; and maintain a proficiency in the art and science of fire engineering.
I will uphold the standards of my profession, continually search for new and improved methods and share my knowledge and skills with my contemporaries and descendants.

I will never allow personal feelings, nor danger to self, deter me from my responsibilities as a firefighter.

I will at all times, respect the property and rights of all men and women, the laws of my community and my country, and the chosen way of life of my fellow citizens.

I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the fire service. I will constantly strive to achieve the objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession--saving of life, fire prevention and fire suppression.

As a member of the International Association of Fire Fighters, I accept this self-imposed and self-enforced obligation as my responsibility.

[Bigblue1]

seriously tho, you have all been had, when you understand this, you might understand the bigger issues. I love you all, but when justin is fighting on the "right" side that for anyone who's been here for any length of time , should be proof that we are being played..... f uck ing wake up people..

[Owens187]

Where the fu*k is this guy getting all this "tea party" and "new right" sh*t? Just blindly making sh*t up to get a rise out of everyone? What a douche...

[Joe234]

Joe, You do realize that little smiley emoticon you put on the end of everything you write is not only annoying but condescending? ****in ass

Whatever you want to read into it Alex. Perhaps we need a better selection of smileys.

[Joe234]

Where the fu*k is this guy getting all this "tea party" and "new right" sh*t? Just blindly making sh*t up to get a rise out of everyone? What a douche...

Thanks

-----
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...-party-firemen

Don't count on Tea Party for fire protection

October 07, 2010|
By Bill Press, Tribune Media Services

Did you ever wonder what it would be like if the anti-government tea party crowd actually took over? Well, now you know. Just consider what happened recently in rural Tennessee's Obion County.

Gene Cranick and his wife panicked when a trash fire spread to their house. Then, just as they were desperately trying to save their house and possessions, firefighters from the city of South Fulton, summoned by a neighbor, rolled up to the scene.

We're saved, the Cranicks believed. But their hopes were soon dashed when firemen informed them that since their records showed the Cranicks had not paid the annual $75 county fire protection fee, there was nothing firefighters could or would do for them. Cranick pleaded with firefighters, promising to pay whatever it cost to put out the fire. Too late, said the cold-hearted firemen. After which they merely stood around and watched the house burn to the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Cranick lost everything they owned in the fire, including three dogs and a cat.
Advertisement That's bad enough. What makes it even harder to swallow is that the firemen were subsequently defended by the city manager of South Fulton, a spokesperson for the National Association of Counties -- and even right-wing Fox talk show host Glenn Beck.

Forget "compassion, compassion, compassion, compassion," Beck told his radio audience. "Those who are just on raw feeling are not going to understand. … What is the $75 for? To keep the firemen available, to keep the fire trucks running, to pay for the fire department to have people employed to put the fire out … as soon as they put out the fire of somebody who didn't pay the $75, no one will pay the $75."

So there you have it: rules for life in the land of the tea party. Where government can do nothing right. Where it's every man for himself, no compassion, no community spirit. Where everybody must follow the rules, with no exceptions. Where you'd watch your neighbor's house burn down without even picking up a garden hose to help, and feel righteous about it. For tea partiers, it's not a big leap from there to repealing health care reform, getting rid of Social Security, canceling the minimum wage, and declaring unemployment benefits unconstitutional.

[justintempler]

seriously tho, you have all been had, when you understand this, you might understand the bigger issues. I love you all, but when justin is fighting on the "right" side that for anyone who's been here for any length of time , should be proof that we are being played..... f uck ing wake up people..

Keith Olbermann is as big a crybaby as Glenn Beck, they're both media whores who play to their base. I don't have a "side".

Humans make decisions primarily for emotional reasons. They will use logic and reason to justify their beliefs but the decision itself is done for emotional reasons. You can get people to do anything if you can control their emotions. that's what Keith does, that's what Glenn does, and that's what Osama Bin Laden does. If you know what buttons to push you can get people to do things that are against their self interest. Once you know what your emotional buttons are, it makes it easier to filter out doing things against your self interest.

Everybody is familiar with the Golden rule. ""Do unto others as you would have them do unto you""
My version is a little different "Do unto others as they do unto you"

I'm not interested in helping people that won't help themselves. If you keep helping people long enough, they become dependent on that help, and then there's no help for you when you need help from them.

That help has to be a two way street. There are way to many people that try to guilt you into helping them, they rely on your and other people's charity and have no intention of ever standing on their own two feet.

Cranick lived in an area that had zero fire protection years ago, then a nearby city comes along and offers him fire protection for a nominal fee, which he declines. Now when he needs help, out comes the guilt card.

People even want to add in animals that died? Wait a minute, the fire started out by the shed it didn't start in the mobile home. The fire took a long time to spread to the mobile home. The animals can't have been that important to Cranick and his grandson, they had plenty of time to save them. Cranick's grandson could have rescued the animals while Cranick used his garden hose. I guess personal possesions were more important than the animals lives? Was Cranick's grandson burning trash unsupervised?

Were there other people that could of helped? Was Cranick's wife there? Apparently his neighbor was home because he waited until it threatened his property to call the FD. How come he wasn't helping his neighbor?

Mrs. Cranick said it was an oversight that she and her husband did not pay their $75 rural fire subscription fee this year. They have paid in the past.
“We got the letter that it was due,” she said. “We were heading out to Lake Wappapello (in Missouri) that day and we stuck the mail in the camper and then forgot all about it. It was an oversight on our part. We did not refuse to pay.”
Mrs. Cranick said she also received a follow-up phone call from the City of South Fulton indicating they had not yet paid their rural fire subscription fee back during the enrollment period. She said she reminded her husband, who is retired from Goodyear and now works part-time for a farmer, but in the middle of other activities, it was put aside and, “I thought he’d get to it tomorrow.”

http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=47183

They're living in their 37 foot RV for the time being, so it's not like they are homeless. They had enough money to own their own land, have a home, an RV, and go on camping trips. They had insurance.
My job in life is not to go "fixing" other people's lives.

If people are really concerned about people that lost their homes through no fault of their own and want to express their outrage, you'll be happy to know there are still people homeless from Katrina.

[justintempler]

Thanks

-----
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...-party-firemen

Don't count on Tea Party for fire protection

October 07, 2010|
By Bill Press, Tribune Media Services

Did you ever wonder what it would be like if the anti-government tea party crowd actually took over? Well, now you know. Just consider what happened recently in rural Tennessee's Obion County.
.....

Thanks for the perfect example Joe.

Let's not worry about facts. Let's see how many emotional buttons we can push.

[sgreger1]

Wrong, they have said if lives were in danger they would go in, thus there's at least one obligation higher than taxpayers apparently. Why? It still wouldn't have been paid for.

Strawman. No one was in danger, everyone was out of the trailer. Therefore, no obligation. All you people's failed attempts at connecting this event with the tea party or right wing politics in general is laughable at best. This was a community decision, not influenced by politics.


This man WANTED this to happen, he was told REPEATEDLY what would happen and he TIME AND TIME AGAIN said he would take the risk. Why are you people mad at anyone but him? He wilfully denied fire services, and did not want fire services. So when he did not get fire services, everyone screams? The guy himself doesn't even sound upset by it. This is a fake leftwing attempt to politicize an otherwise run of the mill event.

[sgreger1]

I'll extend that line of thinking, higher value properties should get priority to your department because your moral obligations are relative to the taxable income received from said properties. As such, property values should dictate where your stations are so that you can fulfill your tax revenue determined moral obligation to provide faster response times.

And what if a community decided they wanted it that way, and everyone signed on to the idea? What if this guy literally had an option, and chose this style system. Could he then bitch about it afterwards? You act like some injustice has been thrown upon this man. He decided that in the event of fire he didn't want the fire trucks to put out his house. Respect his decision.

[sgreger1]

Keith Olbermann is as big a crybaby as Glenn Beck, they're both media whores who play to their base. I don't have a "side".

Humans make decisions primarily for emotional reasons. They will use logic and reason to justify their beliefs but the decision itself is done for emotional reasons. You can get people to do anything if you can control their emotions. that's what Keith does, that's what Glenn does, and that's what Osama Bin Laden does. If you know what buttons to push you can get people to do things that are against their self interest. Once you know what your emotional buttons are, it makes it easier to filter out doing things against your self interest.

Everybody is familiar with the Golden rule. ""Do unto others as you would have them do unto you""
My version is a little different "Do unto others as they do unto you"

I'm not interested in helping people that won't help themselves. If you keep helping people long enough, they become dependent on that help, and then there's no help for you when you need help from them.

That help has to be a two way street. There are way to many people that try to guilt you into helping them, they rely on your and other people's charity and have no intention of ever standing on their own two feet.

Cranick lived in an area that had zero fire protection years ago, then a nearby city comes along and offers him fire protection for a nominal fee, which he declines. Now when he needs help, out comes the guilt card.

People even want to add in animals that died? Wait a minute, the fire started out by the shed it didn't start in the mobile home. The fire took a long time to spread to the mobile home. The animals can't have been that important to Cranick and his grandson, they had plenty of time to save them. Cranick's grandson could have rescued the animals while Cranick used his garden hose. I guess personal possesions were more important than the animals lives? Was Cranick's grandson burning trash unsupervised?

Were there other people that could of helped? Was Cranick's wife there? Apparently his neighbor was home because he waited until it threatened his property to call the FD. How come he wasn't helping his neighbor?


http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=47183

They're living in their 37 foot RV for the time being, so it's not like they are homeless. They had enough money to own their own land, have a home, an RV, and go on camping trips. They had insurance.
My job in life is not to go "fixing" other people's lives.

If people are really concerned about people that lost their homes through no fault of their own and want to express their outrage, you'll be happy to know there are still people homeless from Katrina.

You should run for president Justin. This is exactly what the situation is. I fail to see why anyone is outraged over this, and I REALLY fail to see how this is somehow an example of what the tea party wants. What I see is a bunch of armchair politicians trying to use a tragic event for political expediency, and to demonize a group for an event that they had no control over.


Hopefully the nearby city has learned a lesson and will no longer try to help this community. They try to do something nice and get shot in the foot because of it. I hope all you people complaining will be happy when this town is denied fire services all together because the neighboring city sees it as too much of a liability.