Comments on: Firefighters, lawmakers ramp up outrage over Pawlenty’s proposed cuts

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:07:10 +0000

Tim pawlenty first went after construction unions by not signing project labor agreements and the police and firefighters said nothing. Then he went after teachers and police and firefighters said nothing. next it was afscme and the transit workers and the police and firefighters said nothing. now they are the only ones left. WOOPS
to bad police and firefighters maybe he thinks he can replace you guys with illegal immigrants to

By: 3/27/09 Today in our Sites | Hindsight - From Minnesota 2020

3/27/09 Today in our Sites | Hindsight - From Minnesota 2020 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:04:51 +0000

[...] Minnesota Independent: Firefighters, lawmakers ramp up outrage over Pawlenty’s proposed cuts “Under Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposed budget, aid to counties and cities would be reduced by $245 million – a 14 percent reduction. Many local governments rely on this funding to help pay for core services such as police, fire and libraries.” [...]

By: crohnsguy

crohnsguy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:16:14 +0000

Hmmm… I’m torn on this one. Obviously, you want your community to be safe and have ADEQUATE police and fire services available. On the other hand, are any of these local governments looking to rates of crime, numbers of police, and determining if they plain have too many officers on the payroll? Are they looking to the types of laws that are receiving enforcement priority? Most police work is of course in REACTION TO crimes committed. They can’t be everywhere at once. I liken this to school districts always stating they do not have adequate funding, but then shut down schools due to inadequate enrollment numbers. People are losing jobs, but when it comes to taxpayer money, I don’t think that we should just blindly fund without adequate financial and community impact review to see just HOW MANY police and firefighters are needed to actually keep us safe. Just blindly saying communities will automatically go to hell in a handbasket without any sort of analysis if any cuts are made is totally disingenuous. It’s a game that they play out any time their funding could be cut. Fear mongering doesn’t make anyone feel safer.