International Association of Fire Fighters to congressional Democrats: no more money.
“We’re feeling taken for granted,” the union’s president, Harold Schaitberger, told The New York Times, which seems reasonable—after all, they don’t just donate money and support Democratic candidates; they also fight fires, in peoples’ homes. IAFF’s dough will now go to state and local-level candidates, especially in states where unions are being threatened by Tea Party jerkoffs.
More specifically:
The firefighters’ union was disappointed that the Democratic-led Senate and House failed to pass legislation last year that would have given firefighters and police officers nationwide the right to bargain collectively. The union also voiced frustration that Congressional Democrats did not fight harder to prevent cuts in funding for emergency response equipment and training, a move that would have helped prevent the layoffs of firefighters.
via Irked at Democrats, Firefighters Suspend Federal Contributions – NYTimes.com.
Meanwhile, 9/11 First responders must explicitly prove that they are not terrorists before receiving First Responder benefits thanks to a McCarthyite amendment…
The provision was tacked on by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) during the contentious fight over the bill in December, which was blocked by Republicans at the time. Stearns’ amendment adds a paragraph stipulating the “disqualification of individuals on the terrorist watch list,” and requiring each potential beneficiary to be run through the list.
McAuliff reports participants “will soon be told that their names, places of birth, addresses, government ID numbers and other personal data will be provided to the FBI to ensure they are not terrorists.”
Nine years and an FBI background check to receive health care for responding to the largest terrorist attack on our soil. Look at Henry Waxman’s response to the amendment in the Daily Show clip embedded below.