I'm kind of torn on this, this involves tax dollars

[Union Label]

It seems a younger guy went out hiking and ate some shrooms then he thought his leg was broken and used his cell phone to call his mom.
His mom called 911 and now I think they're going to get stuck with a giant bill for using a public service, this is after all what we pay taxes for isn't it?
Here is the article from a small paper thats over the hill from me.

LOS GATOS - Matthew Rosenberg didn't trip and break his leg Monday night in the Santa Cruz Mountains, causing an expensive search-and-rescue that began with a desperate cell phone call to his mother and ended with a police dog tracking him down about an hour later.

Instead, Rosenberg, a Los Gatos High School senior, apparently ate some hallucinogenic mushrooms, possibly dropped some acid and just "thought" he broke his leg, Capt. Bill Finch with Cal Fire's Burrell Station said Tuesday.

"He was really gorked," Finch said of Rosenberg's condition when rescuers found him standing near a rock at the bottom of a ravine - more amused and bewildered than safe and sound. "He wasn't normal. He was like one of those guys who's been drinking a lot and starts saying, 'I love ya, man.'"

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9098688?source=most_viewed

[ellenfl]

1. he should pay it if he's a republican.

they are against gummint handouts, after all.

i wonder how all those republican parts of the country that are being hit by calamities of nature are going to reconcile accepting government help. aren't they supposed to take care of themselves?

ellen fl

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. At an awards luncheon I attended recently

There was this prominent Republican matron who was being recognized for her work on autistic children's issues. Much of it involved getting legislation passed and getting, get this, government funding and grants for autistic children. Seems she had an autistic child and this opened her eyes to the need for big bad ol' gummint to do things for people. Imagine that!

I was sooooooo tempted to walk up to her and tell her right to her face what a big fat stinking hypocrite I thought she was, as she is still very involved in local GOP politics.

[yardwork]

2. It sounds like he needed rescuing in any case. He might have died of exposure otherwise.

A tiny portion of our taxes goes for search and rescue operations. They don't question whether or not the victim "deserves" to be rescued. This is part of having a civilization. Do we question the need for a person to be rescued if they are having a heart attack? What if they are morbidly obese, haven't exercised in years, and live on junk food? Do they still deserve to be rescued?

The answer in any civilization is - yes.

[Union Label]

3. Oh I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been rescued

What I'm torn about is should he pay back either monetarily or with volunteer work or just call it good. If I went and put myself there and I caused this kind of scene I would probably feel guilty for use these resources and not giving back.

[yardwork]

5. If he or his family can afford to pay for it, that would be great.

The article says that the father is out of work, and the boy is a high school student.

Personally, I'm happy for my taxes to pay for search and rescue operations. I wish that I didn't have to pay for this obscene war, which is causing billions of dollars more.

[Union Label]

6. We already know that the war on Terra is illegal and obscene

I have a feeling that if * had to send his daughters it would be over tomorrow. But back to the subject, the father being out of work (because of an unelected asshole probably) is one of the reasons I have the option of volunteering in the community.