Police, fire, and ambulance: Private and for-profit!

[theweaselking]

911: Now a pay-for-use service in California.

For $48 a year, you can call 911. Dial 911 without paying in advance? $300 charge per call. On YOUR phone bill, not the person you're calling about.

Comments

[the-trav.livejournal.com]

If someone else calls 911 on your behalf is that OK?

Something makes me think this is a pretty bad idea...

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

Wow, that jumps right to "evillest thing I've heard all day."

[http://users.livejournal.com/-coelacanth-/]

What the fuck?

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

GO CALIFORNIA! *facepalm* Oy, my home state...

ETA: Corrected for the right kind of oy

[thipe.livejournal.com]

Pleasebetheonionpleasebetheonionpleasebethe... damnit.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

So I guess the property owners failed to renew the emergency services levy?

That happened here a few years ago. Property owners voted down every single levy, including emergency services, which meant there was no money to operate. No levy, no funding, no service. Want service? It'll cost.

Six months later, the levy passed.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

I'm more concerned with turning this into a profit-making business. Someone who works from home could offer the service to their neighbours -- they'd pay $5 each, the designated caller would pony up the $48 annual fee, and start turning a profit with only 10 clients.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

All the libertarians out there want to explain to me why taxes are a bad idea again?

[fearmeforiampink]

Dude. That's fucked up.

[matgb]

This is a voluntary tax--either pay the annual fee, or pay the one-off if you use it.

You and I might think that it's a lot easier and simpler just to absorb the cost into general revenue, but, well, we don't have an ideological objection to sharing.

[lazdixi.livejournal.com]

Why is it that every time I hear about my home town on the news, it's something awful. It's never "Tracy Man Saves Baby From Burning Building". No, it's always "Tracy Emergency Services First Need Your Credit Card" or "Tracy Couple Kidnap And Torture Youth" or "Missing Child Found In Ditch Near Tracy Stuffed In Suitcase".
And people wonder why I'm so cynical...

[cleodhna.livejournal.com]

Because if you are in favour of taxes you're a STINKING NO GOOD PINKO COMMIE. You probably want to pay for other people's kids to go to school and for old people who aren't even your relatives to have medicine. Weirdo. Do yourself a favour: throw away your books and buy yourself a gun so you can defend your stuff when the infrastructure collapses and there aren't any emergency services because there's no... oh, wait.

[suroidic.livejournal.com]

While many people may disagree, if my state was bankrupt, I'd expect this coming too. May just be another bill, but if they take credit, it'll be worth it.

[camelai.livejournal.com]

*snrk* Well put.

[camelai.livejournal.com]

Forget anyone ever calling 911 for anyone other than themselves. Yeesh.

[graethorne.livejournal.com]

Tracey's just down the road from here. What the FUCK?!?

[cacahuate.livejournal.com]

Hey, hey! Just the one city! You make it sound like we're all that crazy!

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Must be Molesto rubbing off on you.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

Someone's (I'm not saying yours!) priority is wrong, then; it's just my opinion, but a munincipal/county/statewide emergency number is at this point a necessity of civilization, not an option, and someone shouldn't be worrying about that $300 charge if they call.

Kill ...LOTS...of something elses before you kill that.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

This looks like it was horribly, horribly reported, by the way. The fee is for paramedic fees, not for the call itself. This actually happens in Chicago as well if you don't have insurance. Otherwise, insurance will generally pick up the cost. Still, the onus is often on you to pay for the paramedics.

(I personally think THAT is bunk too, but it's at least a little more debatable)

[unknownpoltroon.livejournal.com]

So, if instead of calling 911, i just call the cops of fire department directly? They must still have a number at dispatch.

[snap-wilson.livejournal.com]

These cities have to pay $2-3 million annually for 911 service; none of it is free. Several cities in California considered implementing it as a straight tax, but legally, that requires voter approval and you can imagine how that will play out. This "option" is a way around that.

[jaundicedaye.livejournal.com]

You're right. It is a horribly bad idea. It will immediately be adopted by everyone who wants to "prove" that emergency services need to be privatized because the government is too incompetent to run them.

[fearmeforiampink]

It's his way.

[doom-diva.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking about that (I live in Chicago too!). When I broke my ankle, in two places plus dislocated it to where my foot was completely backwards, I did NOT want an ambulance to come. I waited tables for a living and couldn't pay for it. I knew the hospital was four blocks away, so I just wanted to hop it.

Seriously.

Fortunately, people ignored my pound foolishness and called the damned ambulance. My coworkers convinced me the trip would be covered by workman's comp, which is probably the only reason I got on board. :P

[chrisrw109.livejournal.com]

'a munincipal/county/statewide emergency number' ... is actually a social obstacle to the natural progression of darwinism, for the most part.

But I'm a little sociopathic.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

...I... what?

[fatpie42.livejournal.com]

YAY! Tax cuts! *facepalm*

[ice-hesitant.livejournal.com]

I personally believe in a prevalence of blameless accidents and in the worth of keeping absentminded people in the gene pool. Of course, we are all entitled to our opinions.

[brennaraven.livejournal.com]

PA cell phones are charged a monthly "tax" that is for the ability to call 911. It's like $2/month or something.