Fire Subscription Service Deep Thought [UPDATED]
After seeing news reports of Gene Cranick's home burning to the ground while firefighters watched, I am guessing the number of Fire Department subscribers in Obion County, TN has rapidly increased in the last 24 hours, dontcha think? So, letting house burn = windfall for city government? Maybe next year, if residents start getting behind in payments, the city can just secretly start the fire themselves? Teach those delinquents a lesson? Put Tony Soprano in charge?

[UPDATE: Funny, I see that in comments to yesterday's post, Stevie T and Doug were a step ahead of me, suggesting both of these ideas in comments last night. Great minds!]

Conservative Government in Action
We wouldn't seriously think of letting essential services like police and fire protection be handled by the market would we? If government has any purpose we can all agree on, it's something like that, right? I mean, privatizing the Fire Department, would be some kind of stupid. And yet...

A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.

The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late. They wouldn’t do anything to stop his house from burning. Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay. The mayor said if homeowners don’t pay, they’re out of luck.

Come on, people. Have fee for service arrangements for your county recycling program, maybe. But fire? How about we just use taxes for that?