I came across an article on the Chicago Breaking News Center this morning. The article was about a 34-year old Gary firefighter, Jason Pickering, who had been recently laid off. He had worked in that department for 10 years and has a family of 6. 33 other Gary firefighters have also lost their jobs due to recent layoffs.
Pickering told a local Chicago news station that " We took an oath to save people's lives...and the city just threw us to the curb." He is now panhandling on the streets and protesting the layoffs.
The city of Gary was in a cash crunch due to the decline in the economy.The city has applied for federal grants to bring the firefighters back, but the grant has not been approved thus far. Nationally, DC Republicans have been in the media talking about cutting domestic spending which will mean more firefighters like Pickering will lose their jobs.
America has come a long way when a 10 year firefighter can not find employment. But what is even more disheartening than the city of Gary laying off firefighters were the comments from the readers.
Here is a sample.
"If this man was just laid off 3 weeks ago and is already stone broke....he was not handling his money all too well. I have to believe he is just doing this to tick certain people off. If not, he was living like ALOT of Americans...WELL above their means."
"What the heck, why do cops, teachers, firemen, and union people think they are any different from me. They should be laid off if there is no money just like I have been as a architect for two freaking years. I bet this moron was one of the many millions that voted for CHANGE, how is that working for you? Next time vote for a person's ability not because the misguided people of America thought it would be cool to have the first black, white, non-American president. So stop crying, shut-up and realize you are no different from the other unemployed professionals in the U.S. approx 10%."
"A fire fighter laid off? and..... I had to close when nipsco started doing my job and I had no boot out there, lay off 75% of cops and go to an all volunteer FD lay off everyone in the mayors office but him and his sec. all dept heads can be 1 town manager, no take home squads, no more bilking the have nots with 150k jobs for family, no job pays over $40,000 for now, insurance 1/2 the year unless they want to pay the other 1/2 and non union hiring and save 10 million on a 2 million dollar bid!!"
"That's right libs. We cannot afford lavish pay and 100% lifetime pensions on these unionized employees. The UNIONS are bankrupting America....Duh!"
"Oh give me a break! This is clearly a stunt probably orchestrated by his stinking union. He's more than eligible for public aid and doesn't need to be pan handling. I'm a sole proprietor so haven't been eligible for any public aid despite long periods of time without income. It makes me sick that these government union morons are so stupid, selfish and dishonest."
Is there no knowledge to the average American of just how bad our economy is? Do they not know that for every 1 job there are 4 or 5 applicants? Can they not do simple addition to figure out there is a major job shortage in America when you look at the jobs to applicants ratio?
To add to this mess, you have union haters, the majority of congressional Republicans, who are chomping at the bit to cut essential services. Is there no common sense understanding that the more Americans that a) have jobs, b) have jobs that pay living wages and benefits, the less people you will have on welfare, food stamps, section 8, and other social programs? You would have more citizens paying income taxes which then in turn are used to pay for essential services like police, fire departments, and teachers.
You cannot do everything you can to destroy the majority of unions and union jobs which pay living wages and benefits and think you can still have an environment where businesses can flourish. No business can flourish without customers. There are no customers unless there are many well paying jobs in every community across the nation so that citizens can earn enough money that is necessary to buy the products and services that businesses provide.
