Elections 2010: Vote Because You Have A Good Heart

Consider the case of Gene and Paulette Cranick. Until a few days ago their home stood in Obion County Tennessee, near the town of South Fulton, but their home stands there no longer. Because the Cranicks neglected to pay a $75 fee required of country residents who wanted to receive services from the South Fulton Fire Department, the house burned to the ground while the South Fulton Fire Department watched.

Many people blame the fire department for not having the “professionalism,” or “ethics,” or “common decency” to put out the fire regardless of the Cranicks’ lack of paying the fee. Others blame bureaucrats in South Fulton for ordering the fire department to not intervene. A few, like Glenn Beck, have blamed the Cranicks saying, “They didn’t pay the fee so they don’t get the service. It was essentially their choice.” And as Beck points out, using the fire services without paying the fee “would be sponging off of your neighbor’s $75.”

Really? Are you going to let your neighbor’s house burn down for $75?

I have to give Beck credit for one point. He noted that, “if they did put the fire out and make an exception for your house and you didn’t pay, would anyone pay their $75?” (appearing on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Cranick does mention an examples of exceptions made to this rule, but earlier had also mentioned several other cases of houses that were allowed to burn).

Beck’s point displays the essential conflict between compassionate and anti-tax approaches to our society. The compassionate approach would say, “Make this a tax which we all share to ensure that the service is available to all.” (In fact there was a county proposal to develop a county-wide fire service to be paid by a tax. The Obion County Budget Committee voted instead to adopt wider us of the fee system.)

The anti-tax approach would say, “If you didn’t pay the fee, why should I care what happens to you?”

I try not to use Countdown with Keith Olbermann as a source, because Keith can go off the rails to the left, but Chris Hayes commentary on this clearly delineates the more compassionate approach. That there are services which we should (and commonly do) all pay and “we all receive this universal benefit.”

Some, like Sharron Angle (running for Senate in Nevada against Democrat Harry Reid) would say if their house doesn’t burn down they are getting no benefit.

[This is extrapolating from Angle’s stance on Health Insurance (which she does not in fact pay for, she is covered by the Federal Employee Health Program as part of her husband’s civil service retirement). She has complained about paying “for things you don't even need. They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under “autism.” [She used air-quotes around autism] So that's a mandate that you have to pay for. How about maternity leave, [Health Insurance does not cover maternity leave. She probably meant maternity services.] I'm not going to have any more babies, but I sure get to pay for it on my insurance.]

Yes through taxes or health insurance we pay for things that we hope we will never use. I hope I never need the fire department; I hope I never have another burglary and need the police; I hope I never need cancer care—even though my health insurance would cover it—but I gladly pay taxes so I don’t have to watch my neighbor’s house burn down or his house be vandalized. I’m glad my insurance has paid for treatments for children in families facing one of life’s great tragedies. I am not ready to tell the less fortunate, “I got mine; to hell with you.”

How does this pertain to the elections? While you may be focused on local issues, the Senators and Representatives we elect will be voting on national issues. They will be deciding whether to cut services (putting more burden on individuals) to give tax cuts to the wealthiest 3% of our citizens, and the anti-tax furor is pushing us to turn our back on each other. The anti-tax furor is pushing us to a world more like that exemplified by Obion County Tennessee, where the Fire Department has to check to see if your neighbor has paid his fees before they provide services.

Think about the kind of world you really want to live in, and vote with a good heart. Pass it on.