Quote Originally Posted by erikd View Post
Who is they? The money just isn't there to pay for it. There is no greedy evil bad guy here. It is simply a systemic issue due to the declining tax base in the city.

As far as appreciation for the guys putting their lives on the line for the community, what about the current officers and firefighters who are putting their lives on line right now, and have to deal with malfunctioning and/or shortages of equipment, no backup, and constant cuts to their pay and benefits?

Everybody likes to get outraged about the cuts to compensation and benefits, but very few are willing to pay the extra city taxes required to pay for it, and nobody supports shifting a portion of the burden to the county, region, or state.
"They" is Wall Street. What a short memory you have. they totally fuc**ed up the economy through their reckless greeed and they got made whole by the taxpayers - 100 cents on the doller, no haircut for them, just more bonuses! Now, they expect to get paid by fuck**g pensioners who risked thier lives every day for at least 20 years to protect their sorry asses. Tell you what - Lets tell Wall Street to get lost and we'll call it even.

Poor "thirty something" - Been paying into S.S. for all of what, ten years?
Where is that great self-reliance that all the right wing nuts preach until it comes to them? Then it's I want mine, f**k you!

Tell you what, next time your house is on fire or getting broken into, call Bank of America, I'm sure they'll be right out to help.