Neosho, Mo. --- City officials say budget problems will force them to lay off up to 22 police officers and firefighters.
East St. Louis, Ill. --- The East St. Louis City Council has voted to lay off nearly 40 workers, including 30 police officers and firefighters.
San Jose, Calif. --- City lays off 50 firefighters and the department is being forced to mothball one fire station, three engines and one truck and sack the personnel attached to each.
Cleveland, Oh. --- More than 100 Cleveland firefighters, police officers and EMS workers are on the unemployment line after layoffs took effect in August.
The list above is just a very small sampling of what is happening all across America, policemen and firemen being laid off in droves so municipalities can balance their budgets. This while states are laying off teachers and health department workers and cutting back on things like Medicaid and family services. All for the same reason: the revenue streams each municipality was banking on have likely fallen below expense management levels, a sorry consequence of severe recessions.
Within these municipalities the electorate may have voted down any and all proposed increases on income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes or fees that would have kept those people on the payroll protecting their citizens. Sure they could issue municipal bonds, but those have to be repaid at some point which means the problem is only being kicked down the road. And if the problem is truly a structural one, some municipalities may have difficulty selling new bonds or paying the interest on their maturing bonds. Municipalities do go bankrupt.
But, it’s all good. Personal safety wise that is. There’s nothing to worry about because we can all pack heat. We don’t need those cops anymore because we can snuff the bad guys ourselves. But we had better bone up on fire snuffing, that isn’t something you can carry around in a holster or under a newspaper on the front seat of your car. Unless looting is involved, a person snuffer in your nightstand won’t help when your house is on fire.
So remember, the next time you are in Wal-Mart and you see a kid with a six-gun strapped to his waist, don’t make any sudden moves, it may be the real thing. And the next time your local government holds out its hand you may want to ask some serious questions before you vote. We do live in interesting times.
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