COVID First Responders are Not Heroes

Here we go again. After 9/11 we called people (most typically paid to do exactly what they did) heroes. The majority of them were not. Some were injured, 343 died but that is the risk they knowlingly accepted upon entering a highly paid profession. Even volunteer firefighters (I am no longer a volunteer but had been for fifteen years) follow the same OSHA requirements and are equipped with the same personal protective equipment mandated by IFSTA and OSHA. And, some volunteer operations pay volunteers a small amount and provide other benefits. I have offered often as an example, the comparison of the over-paid firefighter, wearing $15,000 in protective equipment, pulling a guy out of a burning car on the freeway saying he is not a hero. The guy or gal driving along, seeing the burning car, pulls the guy out while he (the "hero") is wearing a t-shirt and Bermuda shorts is a hero.

Any individual who is currently in a profession, either as a paid individual or as a volunteer, that is tending to COVID patients has the freedom in our society to quit that profession and I bet any individual who was, say, "guaranteed" to catch COVID probably would quit. We call that "self-preservation. There are some genuinely caring, selfless people involved in the transport and care of COVID patience but there is no doubt in my mind that most stick with the work believing they will NOT catch the virus. The pay and benefits are worth the gamble. After 9/11 in Spokane, Washington I recall the union stickers on the fire engines (that in itself is a travesty) were shown over the U.S. flag. Boy if nothing else made them heroes that sure did, eh? Unions and other interested parties rode 9/11 to the bank. Cities, counties, states and then the Feds were not willing to risk being "mean" to our heroes by denying usurious labor contracts and benefits.

What does this all mean? It means we can see future congressional give-aways. Did you know that the last legislation of giveaways resulting from 9/11 does not expire until 2050? If a New York City firefighter was injured in 9/11, we can assume he was at least 18 years old. This legislation means that the individual or his family will be collecting benefits until he is 65, long after he has retired and would be on disability or pension anyway. I can't prove it but suspect some are collecting salaries and disability checks currently.

Call the first responders "heroes" if you want but don't give them any money unless the are indisputably injured on the job.

CORONAVIRUS: A TRAGEDY BUT AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONDUCT GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS INNOVATIVELY

Like most Americans, I confess, I am confused about COVID and how we will recover, both the people and the economy. I am angry at the buffoonery and greed of government. And the only statement I will make about first responders is I do not want them to be given a free trip to the bank like they were after 9-11.

If I were dictator I would probably continue the quarantines in the short run...maybe May 15; the possibility that opening up the entire economy causing many “extra” thousands of deaths is not a price I think we should pay.  But, my position is not firm and I feel for people who want to open the economy.  The governors, like Whitmer in Michigan are little tyrants...and the left continues to label Trump as Hitler. Go figure.  Congress should legislate that businesses are not liable for damages if an employee who returns to work catches the virus.  You know damn well the victim class and New York Attorneys would love to get rich from a natural disaster.  Employees should be allowed to refuse the request to return to work, at least for the time being but should not be entitled to pay and unless they test positive, should not be allowed to use sick time. Even if positive, but not sick if an employee has a job that isolates him/her; he/she should be required to return to work.

The coronavirus pandemic is certainly a new “experience” for the world and our country (BTW, I agree with Trump. Stop funding WHO since world health is its mission, not protecting communist China from its own mistakes.  If it can be proven that China did this deliberately, China has committed an act of war...not that anyone will do anything about it).

The blame game is a disgrace.  It is so easy for both elected officials and “doctors” to second-guess Trump but getting us back to normal is a mine field and there may be people to blame but it is not Trump directly.  If he appointed failures to government agencies, like the CDC, THAT is Trump’s fault; the buck...after it is clearly defined...does stop at the top.

There is another insidious issue.  State and local jurisdictions have been in bed with public sector unions for so long that some cities (Stockton, CA, Vallejo, CA and Big Bear, CA) have filed bankruptcy.  For years these entities as employers have steered their governments to bankruptcies by inflating salaries and establishing huge pension obligations. These practices keep the elected elite in power.  Now they are pleading for Federal bailouts, i.e. my taxes.  My primary residence is Saint James, NY on Long Island (My heart is in Washburn, Maine) and Suffolk County is criminally irresponsible in managing costs.  DURING Coronavirus the county gave employees cost of living raises.  That these raises may be mandated by union contracts is not an excuse.  When any operation files for bankruptcy it can void ALL contracts including collective bargaining. Political suicide, possibly but it is also “doing the right thing for the right reasons.” 

So, the political subdivisions can try a combination of two approaches.  First, they can raise taxes.  This is abhorrent to elected officials and is exactly why they want Federal Funds.  If Suffolk County “legislators” can balance the budget on the backs of Idaho, Nebraska, Florida, they risk no taxpayer wrath.  If they must raise taxes, many of the elected officials (appropriately so) will be elected out of office.  The other side of the equation is to reduce costs.  This can be done via a combination of voiding contracts and then unilaterally reducing salaries and benefits and reducing the number of employees. The elected officials and unions will be quick to “reassure” us that babies will die in the next house fire and that robberies of 7-11 will increase (meanwhile Suffolk County makes it almost impossible to defend oneself with a gun) 

I am early in the process of running a public records request (“FOIL”) for the Suffolk County PD labor contract.  It has long been a strong irritation of mine that this island is lawless.  In nine years living here I have NOT ONE TIME watched law enforcement cite a bad driver and trust me when I say there is appalling driving on this island.  My hunch is that cops who test positive for COVID but are not sick are being allowed to stay home, without using sick leave.  I already wrote the good old “boys” police commissioner (who actually is a girl, not a boy) asking if this is happening and of course I did not receive a reply.  The unions run this island so what I discover won’t matter but at least I can tilt at the windmills.

I sum this up by saying that we are experiencing difficult times; the difficulties do not warrant stripping citizens of individual liberty, as Whitmer-On-Michigan is doing.  All levels of government are going to have to learn to do with less and businesses are going to have to be allowed to reopen with prescribed protocols, which, if they follow, immunize them from litigation. 

“Don’t come to me with a problem” declares one management belief, “come to me with a solution.”  This is exactly the time to innovate and advocate for the taxpayers, not the unions.