Unbelieveable

[rayjay]

and people wonder why I am leaving the communist state of New York? Read this:

BRUNSWICK, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate New York man who lost his home to a fire has something else to deal with: A $1,400 bill for the water firefighters used to battle the blaze.

Monday's fire destroyed Michael Pietro's home in the rural Rensselaer County town of Brunswick. Firefighters had to use water hauled in by tanker trucks to combat the flames, and the nearest hydrant was located in the neighboring town of Poestenkill.

After the fire, town officials in Poestenskill sent Pietro a water bill for $1,400. Pietro was shocked at the amount and fire chiefs in both towns are upset, too.

Poestenkill officials say they have to pass along the expense because the town has to buy its water from Brunswick and the nearby city of Troy.

Talk about insult to injury....:mad2:

[MyO4Rawdur]

Thats ridiculous.

[Spectragod]

Not even a reach around? That's like the police charging you for bullets they had to use to shoot someone that was breaking the law. I'd move too.......

[DOOM]

I would pay them back in piss!!!

[Comin' in Hot]

It's sad to say that this does not surprise me at all, I have dealt with fire departments all over the country and its a shame how most are treated by the communities around them

The dumbest one I have heard is a town that has fire hydrants but isn't allowed to used them because the water system is privately owned. They have to pull their water out of ponds and streams then truck it into town.

[Spectragod]

To top it off, all they probably saved was the basement, I'm surprised no one wants reimbursed for salaries or fuel for the trucks.

[Comin' in Hot]

To top it off, all they probably saved was the basement, I'm surprised no one wants reimbursed for salaries or fuel for the trucks.

I've heard of it happening

[wickedmerc]

Idiots!
Possible response: "I need to wait for the ashes of my home to cool before I can dig for my checkbook....a-holes!!"

How about all those people in Breezy Point, NY getting notices from NYC a week after the hurricane that they're not keeping their propery neat? Some people only had a debris-covered concrete slab where their house used to be!

[Hadamustang1]

I'm confused.. If it were a communist state there would be no water bills at all?
If the fire department were a private inter prize would they not charger for their service?

[Bigdogjim]

It is a real shame! Now in NJ our Governor put a stop to crap like this!

[Comin' in Hot]

the sad thing is that if you live somewhere that has a volunteer fire department, rescue squad, or ambulance service, that organization has about a 60% chance of being totally privately funded. Meaning, they get nothing from the community they protect. These departments get minimal respect or funding from the communities they serve. If they are funded through some sort of fire tax, many residents complain that taxes are too high..... its amazing how different people act when these services are needed.

[whitey]

That's the reason people turn into murderers, arsonists, and cold hearted criminals.

[guspech750]

I'd refuse to pay and move. What are they going to do. Put a lean on the house. FK them.


Sent from my iPhone 4S

DTR + 4.10's + Eaton swap = Wreeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom

[guspech750]

Send them a bill for the house, for doing a *****y job of saving it.






Sent from my iPhone 4S

DTR + 4.10's + Eaton swap = Wreeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom

[sailsmen]

Total Gov't spending is 42% of GDP. At current growth rates Fed spending will exceed GDP in 20 years.
With 50% of the population getting a check from the Fed Gov't and 33.33% on means tested Welfare representing the single biggest Budget expenditure, bigger than SS, Medicare and Defense Gov't needs all the money it can possibly get. Even the Fed Reserve printing 75% of the money that the Fed Gov't borrowed last year since no one in the World would loan it to us is NOT ENOUGH for the insatiable GREED of Gov't.

[rayjay]

the sad thing is that if you live somewhere that has a volunteer fire department, rescue squad, or ambulance service, that organization has about a 60% chance of being totally privately funded. Meaning, they get nothing from the community they protect. These departments get minimal respect or funding from the communities they serve. If they are funded through some sort of fire tax, many residents complain that taxes are too high..... its amazing how different people act when these services are needed.

Actually where I live it is very rural and the fire departments are supported both by donations, tax dollars (fire districts) and pork barrel spending at the state level. IE: my town FD has like 100' of another town's paved, private airport that is jet aircraft capable in their district. My FD bought a foam truck. Say what??? :shake:

[Bluerauder]

BRUNSWICK, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate New York man who lost his home to a fire has something else to deal with: A $1,400 bill for the water firefighters used to battle the blaze.

Something doesn't smell right.

I would contest the bill .... $1,400.00 does not seem reasonable at all unless they used bottled water for the fire. :rolleyes:

Municipal water typically costs less than a penny per gallon. Prices in the New York area should be about $0.005 per gallon. That's 1/2 cent.

At $1,400.00 for water alone, that means the Fire Department used 280,000 gallons of water to put out the fire. I don't think so. That is equivalent to fifty-six (56) 5,000 gallon water tankers. Again, I don't think so.

280,000 gallons of water is the equivalent of 37,431 cubic feet of water or enough to fill a swimming pool 40 feet long X 36 feet wide X 26 feet deep. It is quite likely that the entire house could be put in that pool. Or said another way, the firemen could have filled the entire house with water from basement to attic to put out the fire. Again, I don't think so.

Also consider that it would take 3 firetrucks each pumping at its rated maximum of 1,500 gpm for 62 minutes to put that much water on a house fire. Again, I don't think so.

There are no free lunches even with fire services. But that bill seems way out of line. They probably didn't use 1/10 of that amount of water.

[Blackmobile]

New York....A wonderful place to move from.

[Shaijack]

I think we all shoud send a bottle of water to you. Pay them in that.
Lets see NY, I was taken to a county hospital by a wonderful group of firemen and they charged me $1000.00 for the 10 minute ride.
Also got bills from: doctors that I never seen, emergency room, staff doctors, heart doctor, peepee doctor, food, room and a few others. There heart doctor could not get my personal doctor on the phone. I picked up the phone and called my doctor and handed the phone to their doctor. I was a smart azz and told him all he had to do is dial the Fxxxing number. They wanted to keep me four days and I told them you only have one day and I will be gone. NY a great place to NOT VISIT.

[CBT]

Isn't that covered by state and local taxes? I'd just say I don't speak english, get that **** for free.

[guspech750]

Isn't that covered by state and local taxes? I'd just say I don't speak english, get that **** for free.

Pay with Obamabucks. That covers everything. Even Kool-Aid.


Sent from my iPhone 4S

DTR + 4.10's + Eaton swap = Wreeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom

[Blk04MM]

That is Insane

[jerrym3]

Total Gov't spending is 42% of GDP. At current growth rates Fed spending will exceed GDP in 20 years.
With 50% of the population getting a check from the Fed Gov't and 33.33% on means tested Welfare representing the single biggest Budget expenditure, bigger than SS, Medicare and Defense Gov't needs all the money it can possibly get. Even the Fed Reserve printing 75% of the money that the Fed Gov't borrowed last year since no one in the World would loan it to us is NOT ENOUGH for the insatiable GREED of Gov't.

I get SS and Medicare, so where do I figure in your thought process?

Am I "approved" or not, according to your logic? Am I on the OK list?

Geez, I hope so.

But, I guess we had the extra bucks for a few more submarines that nobody needed?

[CWright]

I guess when someone get pissed off enough over the stupid ***** our government does somebody's head is going to roll. The question is how stupid are we going to let our government get before that happens. My thought is we are sitting on a RAZORS edge!

[jerrym3]

I guess when someone get pissed off enough over the stupid ***** our government does somebody's head is going to roll. The question is how stupid are we going to let our government get before that happens. My thought is we are sitting on a RAZORS edge!

Government has been doing stupid s++t for decades, but now that we have a 24/7 newscycle, a bad economy, and an internet to provide all the "truthful" details, everybody is bombarded with the stupidity.

Over the past four years, have we lowered the bar for people to get free "stuff", or are there just more people applying for "free stuff" because of the lousy economy?

When a rich person gets all kinds of breaks from the tax code, isn't that a form of "free stuff"?

How on earth is an uneducated laborer going to compete with an hourly wage of 21 cents per hour in China?

It's not a level playing field.

I can't dunk like LeBron James, or catch a groundball like Jeter or have an idea like Steve Jobs. Ain't going to happen.

But, 30 years ago, I could still make a liveable wage.

Now, my liveable wage has been outsourced.

To who's benefit?

[Chayton]

my mom was riding her bike and crashed into a pizza guys car because her brakes were not put back on properly after she changed a flat. Her helmet saved her life and she was taken to the hospital in a ambulance. Our local police station showed their condolences by giving her two tickets one of which was "failure to maintain bicycle brakes" :shake:

[CWright]

Government has been doing stupid s++t for decades, but now that we have a 24/7 newscycle, a bad economy, and an internet to provide all the "truthful" details, everybody is bombarded with the stupidity.

Over the past four years, have we lowered the bar for people to get free "stuff", or are there just more people applying for "free stuff" because of the lousy economy?

When a rich person gets all kinds of breaks from the tax code, isn't that a form of "free stuff"?

How on earth is an uneducated laborer going to compete with an hourly wage of 21 cents per hour in China?

It's not a level playing field.

I can't dunk like LeBron James, or catch a groundball like Jeter or have an idea like Steve Jobs. Ain't going to happen.

But, 30 years ago, I could still make a liveable wage.

Now, my liveable wage has been outsourced.

To who's benefit?


This is why I said what I said. The American will only be backed into a corner for so long before he/she comes out swinging. Time will tell with the decision has been made. The "atmosphere" that has been created in the last few years will not stand and will fail. The question becomes how long before it snaps.

[PonyUP]

History is a circle, it comes around again and again and again. We have been down this road before and will survive it once again.

I've asked this question before, how can we expect politicians to work together and respect each other, when the everyday citizen can't.

The answer has been in the same place it always is, it lies within ourselves.

Instead of demeaning Democrats for their beliefs or demeaning Republicans for theirs, maybe it starts with everyday people respecting each other


The Ice Bucket Approves of this message

[CWright]

History is a circle, it comes around again and again and again. We have been down this road before and will survive it once again.

I've asked this question before, how can we expect politicians to work together and respect each other, when the everyday citizen can't.

The answer has been in the same place it always is, it lies within ourselves.

Instead of demeaning Democrats for their beliefs or demeaning Republicans for theirs, maybe it starts with everyday people respecting each other


The Ice Bucket Approves of this message

I agree with this totally. I hope it happens soon!

[sailsmen]

Government has been doing stupid s++t for decades, but now that we have a 24/7 newscycle, a bad economy, and an internet to provide all the "truthful" details, everybody is bombarded with the stupidity.

Over the past four years, have we lowered the bar for people to get free "stuff", or are there just more people applying for "free stuff" because of the lousy economy?

When a rich person gets all kinds of breaks from the tax code, isn't that a form of "free stuff"?

How on earth is an uneducated laborer going to compete with an hourly wage of 21 cents per hour in China?

It's not a level playing field.

I can't dunk like LeBron James, or catch a groundball like Jeter or have an idea like Steve Jobs. Ain't going to happen.

But, 30 years ago, I could still make a liveable wage.

Now, my liveable wage has been outsourced.

To who's benefit?

Over the past 4 years the bar has been lowered to allow more people to get free stuff. Able Bodied with no dependents are now eligible for "Food Stamps" with no job seeking or job training requirements. This is why 33.33% of the Population is on means tested welfare and frequently the monthly number of people becoming eligible for SS Disability is greater than the number who are getting a job. In many States a family of 4 would need an income of $65,000 to equal what they get on welfare, so why WORK?

No despite the Communist Propaganda being allowed to keep what you earn is not free stuff or a subsidy. The Top 1% have 20% of the income and pay 39% of the income tax. The Top 10% pay 77% of the income tax.

Being second in the World in the per student education expenditure there is no reason to be "uneducated" for anyone who is not mentally disabled.

Per the WSJ 75% of the money the Fed Gov't borrowed last year was printed by the Fed Reserve because no one would loan us the money. at current growth rates Fed spending will exceed GDP in 20 years, tax all you want it will not stop the financial collapse that has started.

Millionaire taxes hurt the masses, from Newark to Paris
July 17, 2012: 5:00 AM ET

Leaders around the world want the rich to keep giving. But when the wealthy get tired of getting tapped, guess who gets stuck with the tab?

By Nina Easton, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- When New Jersey governor Chris Christie heard British Prime Minister David Cameron invite France's wealthy to decamp to England to escape a proposed 75% tax rate, he felt something akin to déjà vu. Every day top executives of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), and other companies commute from their homes in Pennsylvania to offices in Christie's state, saving roughly two-thirds on their state income tax bill -- and costing New Jersey's treasury $50 million, by one estimate.

Astute U.S. governors have long understood that capital is fickle, and millionaires are mobile. High top tax rates are the equivalent of a DO NOT ENTER sign for many of the wealthy and would-be wealthy -- those entrepreneurs building companies and bringing jobs. "That's irrefutable," Christie tells Fortune, "and common sense." In twice vetoing his own legislature's millionaire surtax plans, Christie cited a Boston College study showing that New Jersey lost $70 billion in wealth between 2004 and 2008 under a similar tax.

Britain's Cameron likewise gets the game. While liberals say this is a matter of fairness, Cameron sees uncompetitive tax rates driving out enterprising citizens -- and with them, their cash. "If the French go ahead with a 75% top rate of tax," he proclaimed at the G-20 Summit, "we will roll out the red carpet and welcome more French businesses to Britain, and they will pay taxes in Britain and that will pay for our health service and our schools and everything else."

The liberal Guardian newspaper reacted to Cameron's invitation by accusing him of turning the U.K. into a haven for tax dodgers. More likely, the Prime Minister had in mind human nature -- and a recent study showing that after the previous Labour government ratcheted the top rate from 40% to 45% to 50%, there was an exodus of high-income Britons to countries like Switzerland. Revenue gains were minimal. Cameron's conservative government has since reduced the top rate to 45%.

[Bluerauder]

Isn't that covered by state and local taxes?

Most counties and cities in Virginia have a Fire Levy (Tax) that covers some of the cost of the Fire & Rescue Services. My county adds a $0.0748 per hundred of value on the real estate tax to cover this. It works out to about $200.00 per year for the average house in the county. Donations cover the rest since we have a Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) that is staff full time during the day by county paid employees. Volunteers take care of nights, weekends and holidays.

We now also get billed for ambulance services too. About $400.00 for Basic Life Support services and about $600.00 for Advance Life Support services. These costs get passed on to the insurance companies and of course get reflected in you health care premiums. The county's position is that these services are already included in your insurance premium.

As I recall, Maryland doesn't have a Real Estate property tax, so they just add a percentage on top of the MD State Tax. When you figure your MD State INcome tax you just add 50-60% as required for your particular county.

[sailsmen]

You naively assume they want the problem solved. The solution to inequality of Davis, Ayers, Bell, Wright and Obama is Social Justice via income redistribution until complete collapse so we all start out even at zero.
You are incorrect, this Nation has never seen this level of debt as a result of income redistribution. There is no event such as a war that will end resulting in a cessation of spending. Both Geithner and Bernanke say we are on new territory.

[MM2004]

I am quite confident Ray did not intend for his thread to go in the direction it has.

Personally, I am sick and tired of seeing the amount of threads that wind up in the political arena. And for what?

Not a damn thing.

They go nowhere.

They cannot be argued.

They cannot be won.

Period.

While my asking to curb the politics on this site has fallen to deaf ears, and you know who you are...

I will just start closing and/or deleting threads/posts as I see them come thru.

No one can say that I haven't been patient.

Mike.