For those of us old enough to remember “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, Tom convinces the local kids on the block that they need to help him whitewash the fence that his aunt gave him as a chore. In fact Tom was so convincing to the locals that they not only helped him, they paid him for the “privilege” to paint the fence.
Fast forward now to the 21st century and it seems that we adults have not learned. We have politicians who have convinced us that it is a “privilege” to pay them to go to Washington and use our taxpayer money to enrich themselves and their cronies. Front and center of this con game is the “RINOS” (Republican in Name Only) to further convince us that powerful men like Harry Reid are just what the State of Nevada needs to bring home those pork dollars. It did not take Mr. Reid long to announce that he is not powerful enough to bring any dollars back to Nevada.
Recently the Progress published an article about Station 73 and its new leadership (Logandale Station 73 Elects New Officers: January 26, 2011). The article went on to announce that the station would be holding fundraisers to help with expenses. Once again we the taxpayers are being short changed. We are being taxed to help support Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) but because we have “volunteers” instead of “paid professionals” apparently our tax dollars are going somewhere else.
Is it not a sad state when our volunteers work to help others and then have to spend time to obtain money from the community which also is paying taxes to support CCFD?
It is well known that many CCFD personnel resent the volunteers because they have taken local jobs away from them. Yet in a study done many years ago these volunteers are saving this community almost a million dollars a year. For instead of paying a full staff of union EMS and firefighters to wait around for the next call the volunteers support themselves with a job and in their spare time are on call and carry around a pager for that call.
So how are these two issues connected? It is how our taxpayer money is being used for things besides what they were designated for.
How have we come so far as to believe that government is the answer to all our problems? This same government that now wants to be in charge of our health care, raise the debt limit and is taking our local tax dollars for who knows what purposes and continues to ask us to “trust them” is the same one that told the Indians that if they would just “trust them” they would take care of them. How did that work out for the Indians?
If “Obamacare” is truly for our healthcare issues, how come the government is now in the process of hiring over 18,000 new IRS agents to enforce the new law? Why are we paying taxes for the benefit of the community and our local EMS volunteers and those volunteers having to do fundraisers for the privilege to be volunteers? I’m just asking!
Scott King
