Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"Thou Shalt Get Sidetracked by Bullshit, Every Goddamned Time." -- The Ghoul

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck,
"FOFF" = Felonious Old Fat Fuck,
"COFF" = Convicted Old Felonious Fool,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset,
A/K/A P01135809, A/K/A Dementia Donnie, A/K/A Felon^34,
A/K/A Dolt-45, A/K/A Don Snoreleone

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Crash Tax

In some places, if you are in an accident, the first responders will send you a bill. Even if you didn't call for them and even if they didn't do a damned thing other than show up, look around and go home.

These "fees" are nothing more than extortion, and, in the case of police, border on armed robbery. Fire and police departments are public services. The last thing that should be in the mind of anyone calling 911 in an emergency should be "how much is this going to cost me."

Note that the self-styled International Association of Fire Chiefs is firmly in bed with at least one company that bills people for fire departments. In this case they "partner" with Fire Recovery USA, one of the loathsome bottom-feeders promoting this evil practice. They should change their name to one that is a more honest description of what they do. I offer the suggestion of "Gouge the Victim, Inc."

4 comments:

Nangleator said...

Fuck it, can't this goddamned country get anything right? I suppose I couldn't sue this branch of the local government for every last penny I ever paid in taxes, could I?

How clear does it have to be that this is a crime? Will we reach the point of off-duty police officers and firemen causing the 911 calls in the first place, then bragging publicly about it so they can get a bonus out of the protection money?

And the victim goes to jail after paying, because they had a security camera operating on their property when the first responders showed up...

Eck! said...

How about a different tack. Since they are acting like commercial services they can be sued for malpractice for poor performance.

For example they show 15minutes after the file has gutted the place..

Or 20 minutes after th house is robbed?

Eck!

tom said...

Just wondering how much of this is due to folks who refuse to authorize taxes to PAY for essential services?
You know the folk who think it's ok to borrow from CHINA till the next coming but not pay for anything except for tickest to Beck-a-palooza events..
NOTE: these same people will be very unhappy when their MEdicare and Medicaid and Social Security go under when the next election gives the house back to the confederates....

Nangleator said...

The appropriate response to lack of government funding is to do your best until the disasters happen, then explain that the disasters happened because there wasn't enough pay to maintain the service... at which point the citizens are supposed to allow higher taxes. How did that system get broken?

And tom, I can see our best social services being devastated, too. Out of a sexual lust for bipartisanship, our president wouldn't veto anything from the Republicans even if they wanted to nuke all our own cities.