PAX Centurion - March / April 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2013 • Page 13 Points to ponder, random thoughts • Got a lot of positive comments on my article “Why we’re broke” from the last Pax issue in January. Seems that a lot of cops and our families are in the same boat. And I just got a couple of more reminders of “Why we’re broke, part 2.” I went out injured on a torn rotator cuff on March 3 rd . Within two short weeks , I had received medical bills - one for $958.00 for a one-mile ambulance trip fromAreaA to New England Medical Center, and the other from NEMC for $368.00 for the emergency room visit itself. Now, yeah, eventually, insurance or workman’s comp will settle the bills, but it occurred to me: Do bums get these bills at the Pine St. Inn or St. Francis House for all the trips to the hospital they create? Do the holders of “free” MassHealth” cards get billed? Do any of them ever get asked for co-payments as soon as they walk in the E.R. door, or get billed for prescriptions at the CVS or Walgreens? The answer, as we all know, is NO. My son needed some X-rays after a sports-related accident last year; got a $100.00 co-payment bill for the “luxury” of going to the E.R. at NEMC. Prescription co-payments have doubled, and insurance rates keep going up and up, even though the “Affordable Health CareAct” was passed last year, that great panacea for theAmerican taxpayer; affordable for who???? Like Nancy Pelosi, that fraud from California said, “Well, we’ll just have to pass the bill (2,507 pages) so we can find out what’s in it.”And boy, was she right; the stupidAmerican public is about to find out exactly “what’s in it” over the next year or two. When health care is “free,” the taxpayers will soon find out how expensive it is… • “Mini-me,”AKA Governor Deval Patrick, the democratic “friend of labor” who cut the pay of police officers many thousands of dol- lars by simply failing to fund the 40-year-old “Quinn bill” educa- tional incentive, is at it again. How many times how we heard of hack jobs being doled out to unqualified, political sycophants of the Governor? It seems that every week, there’s a new story about a po- litical rumpswab getting a job that pays well more than $100,000. This guy’s administration says it “can’t find” over 50,000 welfare recipients who are laughing all the way to the bank with their EBT cards, but happily takes money from the pockets of working police officers. He wants to raise our taxes so he can build useless rail- lines to (Arm) Pittsfield and Fall River – do you know anyone who actually wants to go there?And yet, we still have some of our own members (I’ve heard them in my own station) who actually support this guy! Could any of Deval’s supporters please tell me of ONE reason why they would possibly support this man who has done so much damage to police officers? Please – let me know, I’ll be happy to print it in the next Pax… • Speaking of EBT cards, I knowMini-me will say it’s “anecdotal,” but once again, I found myself at the Quincy Stop+Shop behind a “gimme-girl” with finely-manicured nails and her well-muscled, healthy boyfriend. They purchased pre-made chef salads, expensive Porterhouse steaks, and other top-of-the-line meats and groceries before whipping out their… you guessed it… EBT cards! The boyfriend was about 22 years old and didn’t look to be oppressed or unable to dig a ditch, but BOTH of them had EBT cards. Mean- while, I’m doing a slow burn wondering if there’s enough cash left on the debit card before payday. How many times have you By James Carnell, Pax Editor seen this “anecdotal” evidence in front of you at the grocery store? Yeah, right…. • Hey, did you hear that Wegman’s foodstore is going to locate a new superstore at Park Drive and BrooklineAve. in the Fenway? I’ve been toWegman’s in upstate NewYork; they are indeed a fantastic food store with a dizzying array of choices. But… Park Drive and BrooklineAve.? There’s no parking to be had there…. right now ! And imagine what traffic will be like during a Red Sox game! God bless any cop who takes that traffic detail… the line from Dante’s Inferno comes to mind… “ Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”. How about the abandoned Stop+Shop warehouse out in Readville? Lots of room, lots of parking, inner-city neighborhood… but what do I know… the money-changers are already in the temple, the back-room deals and handshakes have already occurred… • Kudos to Alan Shapiro and his fellow attorneys who spent ten years working on the hair-test case, and won six out of ten cases (the City appealing, no doubt funded by the hair-testing company Psychemedics). The BPPA probably spent more than $500,000 over ten years in legal expenses, but I haven’t heard the platitudes from some of those who should be applauding the loudest. HELLO? HELLO? Silence speaks volumes… • One of the best sayings I’ve ever heard…attributed to Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron lady” of Britain during the Reagan presidency… “The problemwith socialism is… sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money….” • The next time you hear one of our detractors criticiz- ing police/EMS/firefighter’s or teacher’s pensions or pay for being part of any fiscal problem, direct them down to 157 Freeport St., Dorchester at about 8:55AM, just before the local offices of the Social Security administration open for the day. Now, Social Security (circa 1935) was originally meant to take care of retired U.S. citizens and taxpayers who had worked their whole lives, paid into the system, and now needed a little something to live on during their golden years. Take a look at Freeport St. at 8:55 AM every weekday morning: you will be hard-pressed to find a senior citizen, period. What you will see is a whole bunch of 20 to 30-year-old layabouts claiming fake injuries and filing for SSI and SSDI benefits (“depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, etc., etc. – illness du jour ”) They’re high-fiving each other, laughing, having a good-ole time and waiting for their “entitlement” check. Wanna see why we’re heading the way of Greece, Spain, and Italy? Take a look yourself. And this is just one Social Security office in one community in one city in one state. Multiply times thousands. See the problem now??? • I recently heard a study that said that somebody who makes $65,000 per year working will actually receive only about $35,000 after deducting for taxes, health insurance, housing, utilities, insur- ance, gas, and other basic expenses. Meanwhile, somebody who doesn’t work for a living can cobble together up to $67,000 per year in Section 8 housing benefits, free utilities, free cellphone, free medical care, free schooling, EBT cards, general relief payments, WIC vouchers, “Koo-Koo checks” for the kids diagnosed with ADHD or some other fake malady ($752.00 per month per kid!), free food from charities, etc., etc. So why work?And you wanna know “Why we’re broke?” The answer is right in front of you, officers, every day of the week….