All we need to do is keep those firefighters out of the grocery stores!

[proud2BlibKansan]

I found this hilarious. It's an online comment at the KC Star.

Also a great example of wingnut hatred of public employees.

I live in Kansas City and cannot wait to vote against the Earnings Tax on Tuesday. It is NOTHING but graft, and supporters like our dubious new Mayor Sly (Really??) James and our incompetent City Council know it. Oh, they will try to scare you into thinking that we will lose numbers in the number of inept KCPD officers, the KC Fire Department, and Ambulance services. But it's all a ruse. I grew up in Northeast KC and crime is rampant there and the graffiti that blankets my once beautiful neighborhood goes unchecked. The Police keep hearing complaints from the neighborhood leaders and then continue to ignore them. As always, if there is ANY sense of danger in an area, the KCPD won't go near it. But if something goes down on the Plaza, they are there like, well, cops in a doughnut shop. For THIS, we are paying additional taxes? Hell, the Keystone Cops did a better job than these guys ever have. KC has one of the highest crime rates in the country or hadn't you noticed?

As for the Fire Department, have you ever seen these guys make their daily pillaging of KC area grocery stores?? They eat like kings and fill many grocery carts daily on our dime. Our tax dollars pay for these guys meals. How many times has the City bought YOUR lunch? Just go to any grocery store in the morning (Price Chopper caters to these guys) and you'll see a few trucks and about a dozen or more firefighters inside buying a cartload of steaks, chops, and even beer. I've seen it! As for Ambulance service?? Pure graft....I had to use Ambulance service last year and with Insurance, I was still charged almost $800.00 for a twenty minute ride in which the guy attending to me was rude and dismissive....and they need MORE money? Screw 'em all....Vote NO on this dinosaur tax which lines the pockets of the greedy and send a message to blind supporters like Sly James that we are sick of seeing our money squandered. Most larger cities get along just fine without this nonsensical 'tax.' Perhaps KC just needs better leadership. That is all............

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/31/2766967/letters-friday-april-1.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1IKQv6bBF

[underpants]

1. So Bob Boudelang is living in KC now.....good to know

[Mojeoux]

5. Is that guy slobbering?

Or is it just his teeth?

[roguevalley]

22. wait til he needs them. then he'll sing a differnt tune. out his ass

probably but a different tune.

[DJ13]

2. Wingnuts are sad creatures

Their pay sucks, they no longer have any benefits or retirement plans, and instead of getting pissed at the tight assed companies they work for (who likely are doing really well now) they lash out at the few people who still have what they lost.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Firefighters drinking BEER?

Why that's UNHEARD OF!

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. While on duty?

[bluestate10]

17. While on duty is wrong. Command officers are responsible for

enforcing no drinking rules. The letter writer could have made up seeing beer. What I saw in the letter was a mixture of legitimate complaints and fantasies. BTW, firefighters in my part of the city shop where I shop and pay out of their pockets. I don't recall seeing beer or full grocery carts.

[Roselma]

4. Odd...my father was a professional firefighter (35 years)

and taxpayer money did not purchase the groceries at the firehouse. Since the guys all got along and a couple were decent cooks, they would pool their money at a specific shift if they agreed to a menu idea. My dad wasn't much of a cook, so before the guys went shopping, he threw in his money. If he would like to abstain, he didn't contribute to a meal. He wasn't a fan of chicken livers which many of the guys liked, so he would have my mom stop by and leave off something from home for him to eat when the guys wanted chicken livers. He had many other items he wouldn't pay to eat. I really wonder if the taxpayers in Kansas City actually DO pay for the groceries.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. I have no idea if taxpayers buy their food here

But thanks for that input. I guess I never considered who paid for firefighters' groceries. I know I certainly wouldn't mind having my tax dollars buy their food. Firefighters deserve more than we can afford to give them, that's for sure.

[Gormy Cuss]

10. I think many people assume that those firefighters in the grocery store aren't paying out of pocket

but even if the wingnut understands that they are, I'm sure the retort would be that "we" pay them too much if they can afford all of those steaks, etc.

[we can do it]

13. Same As Here In Ohio

i doubt the prick knows what he is talking about

[adigal]

6. My husband was a NYC firefighter

and they had to pay for their meals out of their own pockets, even though they are there for 24 hour shifts. So what is this uninformed, ignorant Tea Bagger talking about????

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. lol. It's funny how firefighers make their snack run to the grocery store as a group

[QED]

11. They take the truck, too.

But I think it's because they need to be ready to fly if an alarm is called in.

I just enjoy the view - they all wear shorts here!

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. They bring the truck in Los Angeles also. They stand together in line wearing the uniform

lol n/t

[WCIL]

12. The firefighters in my town only go two at a time

and they do take the truck, in case a call comes in. I have no idea who pays for the groceries, but I don't care if it is tax money. They always have lots of those plastic badges and stickers to hand out to kids and give little tours of the truck, too while talking about fire safety. Who could really complain about that?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

14. LOL the complaining about the ambulance ride!..........

"in which the guy attending to me was rude and dismissive....and they need MORE money?" Sounds like they're talking about a waitperson. Hey jerkwad, maybe the fact that you're still breathing and able to type this shit speaks to the issue of these folks needing more money. Fuck! These assholes would begrudge you the sunlight if they thought it was costing them something.

[Obamanaut]

15. Miz O had a short ambulance ride to an open field where a helicopter could land

to transport her to the hospital.

The attendants I encountered were great people. They are on my hero list.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

18. I hope Miz O is well..........

I'm really sensitive about this because I'm going to nursing school so that I can help people. It sort of takes the joy out of it to hear folks say that I don't deserve to be paid adequately for the job I'll do, which is helping to save/preserve lives (seems pretty important to me), or that I may be a human and show frustration once in a while. Or maybe, just maybe, the letter writer was being a jerk to the EMT as they are being in this letter.

[Obamanaut]

20. She's quite well. It was a motor scooter accident. She went over the handlebars

and hit head first on the road.

Subdural hematoma bleeding in three places, one broken collar bone, the other displaced. Five ribs broken in nine places. One broken cheekbone, one broken arm. Speed was under 25 mph.

In ICU neurosurgeon said without the helmet there would not have been a prognosis to give. We discussed DNR, extreme measures, etc. Miz O and I had discussed this several times over the years, but even so it was a very hard thing to actually say out loud.

This was about 5 years ago.

ER, ICU, neurological wing of hospital, then rehab hospital - all great people. Most of them seemed as concerned about me as they were about Miz O.

You deserve however much pay you can get.

[bluestate10]

16. The letter that you posted highlights a problem that progressives and

moderates must short circuit. When I saw you introduction to the letter, I expected to read an ignorant litany of half truth after half truth. Yet, the letter is more complex. The writer plans to vote against the proposed tax because he sees himself gaining little from the services that are paid for. Note the reference to graffiti and high crime parts of KC that get no police presence. How many of us that live in big cities see police go to poor parts of town in force when a exceptionally violent crime takes place, but few crime preventing patrols happen in those same poor parts of cities? Why should an injured person pay $800 for an ambulance ride to a hospital? By failing to address or ridiculing the legitimate complaints of voters like the person that wrote the letter, we provide fertile ground for the insane complaints, aka, firefighter meals. I am one that has been and still is an advocate placing police, fire and ambulance substations in poor parts of cities. Police from the substations would be required to carry out patrols and interact with citizens of the parts served. Having a non-threatening presence dampens crime and makes life easier for citizens that want to provide tips of criminal activity, or ask questions. Everyone but a few that respond to the OP will look at the letter as typical teabagger BS, what I see are some alarm bells.

[EFerrari]

19. How do you know this letter is more accurate about police presence

than it is about steaks and beer?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. I agree with you on the police and fire in poor areas.........

but some of the states are cutting the life out of these services. Look at Ohio and what Kaisch is doing. I was watching Rachel Maddow last night and she reported how bad off the City of Cleveland is right now with their restricted law enforcement budget. She gave the example of how there is no money to maintain a boat to patrol the 22 mi of Lake Erie shoreline that Cleveland holds, mostly because of the cuts made to LE. I also see major alarm bells in this letter: I see a subset of people who don't feel the need to pony up a bit of their change to benefit everybody. Makes no diff if they're a teabagger or not.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#42386171 The part I mention starts at 3:49.

And why should someone pay $800 for an ambulance ride? Well, I imagine its because emergency services are probably some of the most expensive services to maintain. It becomes more expensive if the ambulance service isn't getting the aid from state and municipal sources. It could also be that alot emergency care is given to folks with no health care coverage and the cost can't be recouped, thusly pushing the price up for everybody.

Just my $0.02.

[icnorth]

23. I can see why he was charged

an extra $800.00 for the ride. That would almost cover the cost of the supplies the attendant needed to tape his trap shut.

[JoeyT]

25. I wasn't even aware there were places where ambulance services was part of the city.

They're all completely privatized here, and if that guy wants to see some seriously screwy stuff, he should give those a shot. $800 is a bargain. Showing up faster than approximately "Whenever the hell they feel like it." is a bargain too.

Hell, our firefighters aren't public or private, they're volunteer. The city paid for nothing but one of the trucks...and the wingnuts STILL gripe about how terrible the cost is.

Conservatives want 100% free services with zero taxes. Anything else is unacceptable.