Meet a few more of America’s finest teachers, fire fighters and police officers. This time, we’re profiling extraordinary civil servants who deserve to be called heroes.
Police Officer Robert Salerno was shot three times responding to a domestic dispute in the Bronx. His leg was paralyzed, but he didn’t quit. Seven months later, after grueling rehabilitation, he’s back on duty and on his way to becoming a detective.
Newton, MA, firefighter Nick McGrath was off-duty when he rescued a family of three from a three-alarm house fire. Without any protective equipment, he rushed into the burning building not once, but twice, to get all the residents out safely.
When a troubled student opened fire in the cafeteria at Pine Middle School in Nevada, wounding several students, gym teacher Jencie Fagan took action. Unarmed, she walked up to the shooter, convinced him to put the gun down, and held him until police arrived. ”I think anybody else would have done it,” Fagan said. “I look at the students as if they’re my own, and I’m sure the teachers at my daughter’s high school look at my daughter as if she’s their own.”
We can never repay these public servants for their extraordinary courage and commitment to their work. But their bravery should remind us, once again, why we are proud to be taxpayers.
James Wright, a professor of history and president emeritus of Dartmouth College, has a fascinating article in Foreign Affairs, explaining the history of American taxation in wartime.
George Washington insisted that every citizen owed a “proportion of his property” and his personal services to the nation’s military in wartime. Today’s wars, by contrast, are fought by other citizens’ sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and they will be paid for by the children and grandchildren of today’s generation. This is out of line with tradition. Beginning with the War of 1812 and up through the Vietnam War, Congress levied special taxes to pay for its wars.
The whole article is a great read.
From a pro-tax patriot and I Heart Taxes reader:
I was reminded yesterday how absolutely phenomenal it is that the state provides “911” - instant on-demand emergency assistance. If you are in an emergency, instead of standing on the street hoping one of your neighbors is a doctor or just incredibly brave, you can call a phone number and someone (employed with your tax dollars) will immediately come and, if needed, risk their own life to save yours. Don’t take it for granted - taxes save lives.
Have you got some tax pride you want to share? Email taxesfightfires at gmail dot com!
For most people, large swathes of the Missouri River are off-limits right now because of record flooding. But the Coast Guard makes a special exception for the U.S. Geological Survey’s hydrologic technicians, like Matt Noon and Joe Gorman.
They are out on the river daily, so that they can
gather precise information about how much water is flowing past specific points and how fast it’s moving. They measure the depth of the channel and the width of the flooded waterway. Once ashore, they relay this and other information to the National Weather Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, where the data is fed into computers to help forecast flood heights and adjust reservoir releases.
The USGS is one of dozens of tax-funded federal, state and local agencies fighting the floods — assisting with evacuations, tracking rising waters, limiting the spread of water-borne disease, and helping people with their flood insurance claims. When Nebraska and Iowa need help, the American taxpayer is there.
Photo credit: Dave Hendee, Omaha World-Herald
How cool is this? Ran into the International Association of Fire Fighters, and they loved IHT! Here they are wearing our Taxes Fight Fires pin and posting it on Facebook!
Friend our firefighters here.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Officials say an elite Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue team has been activated and could be in Japan by Sunday.
Capt. Ed Lozano says 72 team members, six dogs and 74,000 tons of equipment and supplies are getting ready to head for the quake-devastated area.
Probably not something you think about every day, but before we had tornado warnings, people in the path of the storm had no chance to get themselves to safety in time. In some years, as many as 300 people would die in tornado storms.
Then, in the mid-1970s, the United States government commissioned a new Doppler radar project. Now we can predict tornadoes’ paths much more accurately, issue timely tornado warnings, and save lives. Thanks to your taxes and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Jacobsville, Indiana, is a Superfund site, the soil poisoned with lead and arsenic from a (now-closed) manufacturing plant nearby. “Let me tell you, about eight years ago, this was a nightmare,” says local Reverend Joseph Easley of Central United Methodist Church.
Now, thanks to a $5 million grant in the Recovery Act, 263 yards have been decontaminated — and the renovation of the neighborhood will be continuing for years to come. On October 21, ground was broken on a new apartment complex for homeless veterans.
Not only are we cleaning up our neighborhoods and helping veterans get back on their feet — we’re creating good jobs, too. The folks who were hired at this site have full-time jobs paying $30-$36 an hour.
Hooray, Recovery Act! Hooray, TAXES!
