I live in an affluent area of SoCal and work at Whole Foods for $28/hr (great benefits non-union). I have only an AS degree.

My husband works for a Fire Dept and earns a base salary of $26/hr (ok benefits – union).

You can do the math – we make a nice living. I go to work in an air conditioned building, am not exposed to harmful toxins, have a predictable schedule, never deal with dead bodies or have blood, urine, or fecal matter as part of my day. I don’t get into cars that are destroyed in the middle of the freeway while people speed by, and I don’t have to run into burning buildings. My employer pays for my health ins (and my family ) I get all sorts of great perks too – o yeah I also work a 40hr work week and get OT for anything beyond that & if I work on a holiday I get more OT!

My husband works a 56hr work week before he is paid any overtime – and pays for 65% of his county health care plan. He’s been treated for TB (confirmed work exposure) been exposed to hepatitis, assaulted, broken bones, burns on feet that required hospitalization, stitches more times then I can count. His ears are feel like the soles of mens feet because they have been burned some many times over the last 15 years. During the summer here when the hillsides burn he will leave for days and sometimes weeks at a time (yes weeks). When it rains he swims into nasty drainage ditches for swift water rescues. When the people of La Conchita ignored the evacuations orders he climbed through debris and unstable landslide to extricate people. He has been on 32 child drownings. He provides medical attention to stabbing and shooting victims on scenes that are not secure. He and his co-workers go into your burning homes when they know there is no one inside to rescue to save your worldly possessions. And when things get really bad and there are not enough people to fill the ranks he takes your mandates (this is when I go to funerals by myself or have Christmas alone because he isn’t allowed to take his day off) and did I mention that he works holidays for straight pay?
I could go on – but why? These firefighters are the problem. They shouldn’t get a public retirement and when you take that wpaway from them they will in fact make less per hour then I do in my safe comfy grocery store. It’s not like you get what you pay for. O and by the way let’s just say, to keep it simple, you live in an average home in my area (costing $560k) that would make your property taxes about $5,600/yr. Have you ever looked at what percentage of that piece goes to the fire Dept (check it out you would be surprised) and while your checking on that look up how your homeowners policy is priced (distance from station, departments rating and the like). Now if your still pissed look up an area that has inferior services and call an insurance agent for a quote to see what your homeowners policy will cost per year in an area with inferior service. Now go ahead and assume that major losses are suffered by insurers when the firefighters don’t work tirelessly to keep the fire from taking your whole neighborhood out (cause we cut out that gross over compensation via retirements and people would rather work in a comfy private sector job that will then be abundant because we will end this waste and grow our economy). That won’t affect rates – and the state won’t have to step in and offer insurance to home buyers because lenders won’t care if the property isnt insured and that won’t affect property values in any way. Besides if the state did have to offer insurance to more people I’m sure it’s as good of coverage and very cost effective for the tax payers who fund it.

Conspiracy under every toadstool.

H. Ross Perot…yeah, he was a little kookie, but he had a plan and it was a plan that would work….

Anyone? Are you endeared?