Hey…
Hopefully you are getting all of your shopping done or are in the process. Things are tight this year-for everyone. For those who have jobs and are stable, most are leaning on being conservative due to the unsteadiness of the economic stuff. For those who don’t have a job or who are threatened with layoffs, our prayers and hopes for a better 2009…sooner than later.
Understanding that times are really tough right now, those who are in leadership positions need to THINK. Relax, we aren’t going to rant about Firefighter layoffs or staffing this time. But this is a rant. We are just BEGGING those in elected positions, city hall dwellers, department leaders, insurance companies etc to please…just THINK. Think about the consequences of your statements and actions. Now look, we have all done things we didn’t think about first and ended up regretting it-nuth’n new, and we have a few trophies to prove it. But this time of year-with the economy the way it is-pause and THINK before doing something stupid if you are in one of the above leadership positions.
Perhaps you have heard about Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and her Ssshhhh (Self Selected Secretly Hushed) raise. The mayor and other Bawlmer’ City leaders have been slammed by their own residents when Dixon and crew had authorized pay increases for one another and for City Council members …while at the same time cutting the city’s budget. The rich get richer…….
The sneaky raises went on their 100 page agenda the day before Thanksgiving under the title "Salary Adjustments." Now, being SMART politicians, instead of listing the positions by their names, each was secretly identified only by job numbers. There was no discussion of the items during the public meeting, and each elected official abstained on her salary increase. A breath of fresh air on what is the right thing to do….you vote for my raise, I’ll vote for yours. Uh oh–smells like the Blagojevich School of How to Govern. Of course, not everyone agreed at the city council meeting, it got ugly:
In remembering her training from the Blagojevich School of How to Govern, her Honor The Mayor Dixon, initially said she would keep the $3,700 increase, which shot her salary up to $151,700, ….noting her very long hours and high dollar college tuition due for her daughter’s education. Damn. Where did those long hours come from? That must have been a shock when she took office. Completely unexpected. Sort of like a Firefighter complaining about that really loud noise coming from those speakers at 0300 hours. We get woken up?!? Little sleep?! No one TOLD us.
How about this: You know what the job paid and you knew your kid had to go to college. Make it work. We know many, many Firefighters (reading this) who have to "make it work" with FAR less money than that.
Of course, after THE SECRET RAISES (disclaimer: no connection to THE SECRET LIST no matter what the Mayor may claim) were found out and made public, the mayor, in Homer Simpson "smack my head fashion", rapidly changed her mind and urged other city leaders to do the same. We loved her quote: "People think we should do this job for nothing," Dixon said..and added "I woke up this morning, I was back in my more rational mind. I’m human. That’s why I backed off." We love it when we get back in our more rational mind. It usually follows a trip to CVS.
Do a job for no pay? What’s that? NO PAY?? WTF!!?? Something as dangerous as being the Mayor of Baltimore? Heck yeah-you should get paid. Let’s leave the "do it for no pay work" to North America’s hundreds of thousands of volunteer Firefighters to work for free. Do it for just above nothing? We’ll leave that for the many North American career Firefighters who almost all have to work extra jobs just to make ends meet.
Mayoring? Risky business for sure. Haven’t you read the NIOSH, err, I mean the MY-GOSH* reports on Mayoral Line of Duty Disasters? It’s rough out there.
(*Mayors Yearning to Get Outstanding Salary Handouts)
Well, after all this (as they see it) silliness, all the above folks are giving their money to charitable groups. That’s a good thing…but it shouldn’t have taken the screaming public to make them think. All they had to do is look at the city budget and that should have been enough. Look at how the citizens and employees are living. All they had to do was do as they ask their employees: live within your means. Or maybe that really doesn’t matter.
It certainly didn’t to Governor Rod B…who, by the way, did NOT try to auction off President Elect Obama’s Senate seat. Certainly not. That wasn’t the case at all. Fortunately, we are very well connected and have access to the tapes that provide the facts-he was NOT auctioning off Pres Elect Obamas’s seat. Yeah-he was auctioning…but it is not CLEAR that it is specifically P.E. Obamas seat he was offering. Think: I didn’t inhale. I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman. Yeah-that’s the ticket. So no worries, the Illinois Gov should be cleared once this evidence is produced-well, sure, it is him-look at the hair-that proves it is him-but he did nothing wrong. Silly old Illinois politics. But here, take a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblxAoWKsmE
INCREDIBLE:
Do you remember the working fire and mayday in Houston on April, 2007 involving Captain Eric Abbt? here is the report, audio, video etc thanks to Dave Statter911:
That fire made headlines again last week. In what qualifies as nothing LESS than a WTF?!!….the insurance company is arguing in court that a policy it issued that excludes payments for pollution prevents the families of three people killed in that building fire from being compensated because the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation and not the actual flames. In other words, the FIRE caused POLLUTION in the building and the insurance company won’t cover DEATH BY POLLUTION. WTF?!!
The (not so) Great American Insurance Co ( http://www.greatamericaninsurance.com/ ) asked a U.S. District in Houston to rule that the deaths caused by the smoke, fumes and soot from the working building fire, will not be covered by the policy because there is a specific exclusion for pollution and it mentions smoke, fumes and soot. A court hearing in the case is set. DEATH BY POLLUTION AT A STRUCTURAL FIRE.
The working fire smoke, err, ummm, pollution from the fire killed 52-year-old Jeanette Hargrove, 46-year-old Marvin Wells Sr. and 38-year-old Shana Ellis. In October the arsonist admitted she set the fire. Great American’s potential liability in the case is $25 million…after all, since 1872, they are, according to their website, a trusted specialty insurance partner… as long as you have no claim. Which in contrary to the statement that Great American’s roots go back to the 1800’s…and Great American entered the twentieth century as one of the most respected and financially stable companies in America with an excellent reputation for paying claims.
This is the kind of sneaky, nasty, irresponsible clueless selfish thinking that has gotten the crooked rich richer and the honest poor poorer. Look at that clown Bernie Madoff’s in NY who admitted ripping off poor and rich folks with his $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Makes you wonder…if they whip a guy for throwing his shoes at our President, what would the punishment be for ripping off so many people….?
Where is Robin Hood when we need him? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQtCrnF3zx8
We are hardly without blame or ownership in making our share of un-thinking mistakes, it happens, its human…but as we get older and wiser we are driven to think a bit more. And the more we have ever done something wrong, the more we starting realizing it is wrong. No matter what it is. But when every alarm bell in your head goes off, you should pay attention-especially when someone else’s well being is in your hands. You should pay attention. We can only hope.
Take Care,
BillyG
The Secret List 12-22-08 / 1025 hours
