When I heard, as a native New Yorker, that Romney would be taking a trip to downtown New York with fmr. Mayor Guiliani, bringing pizzas to firemen on watch, part of me was fascinated to see how this would go. If anyone wouldn't hesitate to tell the honest truth and not gloss-over anything, New York firemen can handle themselves. My father was a firemen, my grandfather, two of my great-grandfathers and two great-uncles were all firemen, several of them became Chief of their department. My (real) last name is pretty well known in several areas of New York (at least, on the walls of fire departments) so I was touched at the idea of Romney putting politics aside and going to offer the men who put everything on the line for their neighbors, a free lunch or dinner.
Instead, what happened was a political candidate took advantage of the honest nature of a bunch of New York heroes. Romney went on to tell supporters at his next rally that a fireman had told him that he lived in a one-bedroom apartment and his wife was pregnant and they couldn't afford a second bedroom. Yes, that sucks, but if you are a native New Yorker or, I don't know, a living human being with a pulse, you know how difficult it is to afford real estate in New York City on a wealthy budget, never mind those who deal with (lets face it) badly paying jobs. Then, he asked how many of the men have to work second jobs to make ends meet, and I can tell you that any man who wasn't in the assistant Chief or Chief role definitely raised his hand. These men cannot make ends meet and they put their marriages on the line, in my experience they have higher rates of addiction and could be maimed or killed on a fire any day or time.
So, as Romney began berating President Obama for this shameful state of our firemen, I had to take a moment to say; Romney, you could speak to them for hours and still have no idea what these men deal with. Being a paid fireman is a government job. You hate big government. Do you really think you would step up as needed and give these men more money as well as the social programs that they desperately need at their disposal? No. You wouldn't. Because what would pay for these things without the taxpayers as a whole feeling it, is if YOU as a millionaire, would pay YOUR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES as a citizen. Being an American means paying your taxes. I don't have a problem paying my taxes because guess what, I care about each one of my fellow countrymen, including you Mr. Romney. There is nothing wrong with taxes, you get one vote in this country and you have to pay your taxes. Sir, if you paid your taxes, which YOU WOULD NOT FEEL at all, as you live on far more than enough to be comfortable for the rest of your life. Your grandchildren will never know what it is to have a real job, you are so wealthy. Why don't you stop pretending like you're better than the rest of us and pay your fair share so that these men can afford a second bedroom to fit their growing family? Or so a fireman's pension can take care of his widow and his children (comfortably) for a time after he dies trying to save YOUR BUTT???
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