26 January 2017

Fearmongering & Other Niceties

The residents of Anchorage are upset at the lack of plows on the city streets. The Mayor told them they have a choice: snowplows or police officers. 
 
Have you noticed that every single time there's a budget shortfall, every public entity cries that "ZOMG!!11!!Eleventy!! we're gonna lay off cops, firefighters, and paramedics!"  It's never trash collectors, teachers, or the flower-pot waterers from the Parks Dept.
 
Why is that, do you suppose?  (I already know the answer, and it includes "fearmongering", "knee-jerk reactionary" and "pandering". But do tell.)
 
* * * * *
 
I note with a great deal of amusement that the rioters at last week's Presidential inauguration will be charged with felony rioting, a District of Columbia charge which includes up to $25,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.
 
Isn't it just too rich? I can't stop grinning.

12 comments:

Vicki said...

North Dakota is tired of protesters blocking roads and has a bill before their legislature that absolves a driver of any guilt should said driver run over a protester who is attempting to stop traffic. I'm pretty sure the parents here in Minnesota last summer, who were rushing to the hospital emergency room with their sick child and were stopped by protestors who shut down the freeway, would applaud such a law here.

Rev. Paul said...

Vicki, I would applaud a similar law in any jurisdiction whatever. Bravo!

Old NFO said...

Yep, those protesters are gonna have fun being 'Bubba's' boy in the pen! :-)

Rev. Paul said...

Why do you think I'm grinning? Mine is an evil laugh!

Steve said...

Remember the last government "shutdown"? Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth. They actually put up web pages saying the sites were unavailable because of the shutdown. Shouldn't they have turned the servers off if it's really shut down? And they tried to close the open air parks in D.C.

It was all BS. They didn't have to do any of that, but they did it to say, "Screw you!" It's all about making people suffer because otherwise they might get the idea that they don't need the government doing things for them. If you lay off the flowerpot waterers no one will notice and no one will care. But they'll notice if you lay off cops and firefighters. Government's only job is to ensure its continued survival and growth.

/rant

Rev. Paul said...

Exactly, Steve. Exactly the rant I was looking for. :)

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Sadly, they seem behave exactly as children do. Ruled by emotion, they seek to injure as much as they feel they have been injured rather than clinically look at the situation and make hard choices. Interestingly, this seems to be only in the area government or publically funded activities; a business would never be successful if it made choices that way.

Rev. Paul said...

TB, you're spot on. The gov't types are perfectly willing to keep throwing money at whatever they perceive to be a problem, because it's not their money. Therefore they experience no problems with that procedure.

ProudHillbilly said...

As a 35 year veteran of gummit employment I whole-heartedly agree with that last sentence.

ProudHillbilly said...

It's not only "We're going to lay off x, y, and z - all of which they know ate close to the every day citizen's heart - but it's NEVER "We are going to cut off welfare to the folks who keep turning up in our jails zonked out of their minds or are here illegally."

LindaG said...

I'm glad the protesters will be paying for what they did. Well, some of them, anyway.

But have you ever noticed when there is a budget problem, it's cut the military, cut social security, cut education. Never once do they cut their own paycheck. (Though I do not know if the problem is similar to Alaska.

I understand that President Trump is only taking a dollar, and that is amazing.
I think Congress should refund any pay for any year they don't do anything.
And they should keep their hands OUT of the social security fund.
But that is very unlikely to happen.

Rev. Paul said...

Exactly right, PH. They've become expert at inspiring apprehension, if not fear, in the hearts of their constituents.

Linda, I note that the Governor's latest financial legislation package includes a 1/3 pay cut for him, which is fine. The Legislature, of course, NEVER reciprocates. It's EXTREMELY unlikely to happen, here or at the federal level.