It was just over two years ago when Jon Corzine almost died in a near-fatal accident almost entirely of his own making - ordering his driver to speed (91 MPH in a 65 zone) while refusing to wear a seat belt ("Click it or Ticket", guv!), in order to attend a meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Does anyone even remember that kerfluffle any more? Certainly not Corzine, although he was a dim bulb before he took a shot to the head in the now infamous crash. It seems like Corzine forgot the whole incident - beacuse the governor, who thanked the first-responder EMTs for saving his life that night, is now cutting their budget by 90%. Bob Ingle of the Asbury Park-Press:
Surely Corzine can find a better way to balance the budget than cut $4 million from an account established in 1995 to fund volunteer EMT training through 50 cents taken from every moving violation in the state. The governor would leave $400,000 in the fund and that means 20,000 volunteers would have to pay for their own EMT training
Two years ago, Corzine praised the EMTs who helped save his life. They have to undergo training to keep their knowledge current and their licenses valid. EMTs can mean the difference between life and death — Corzine should know.
Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego:
“Other than the satisfaction of serving the community and helping others, being a volunteer EMT does not bring many perks. Making them pay for their training will worsen their already thinning ranks and push towns toward paid squads, which will increase property taxes.”
Rudder noted that it was volunteer responders who first arrived to Corzine’s aid when he sustained nearly fatal injuries in a 2007 automobile crash.“
Governor Corzine should know better than most the value EMTs provide to New Jersey, yet his budget proposal threatens to make these volunteers disappear from the state’s landscape – just like he is doing to the middle class and small businesses,” Rudder said. “The governor’s budget has many misguided priorities, but this example shows contempt for those who keep us safe without charging for their services.”
More:
John Mateus, president of the New Jersey Medical Services Educator's Association, said Corzine would be making a "tragic decision" if he uses the money to plug a hole in the state budget.
Mateus said he hopes a letter-writing campaign will convince the governor to change his mind.
The campaign includes a flyer, "Say Thanks to Corzine," showing the governor in a wheelchair the day he was released from a Camden hospital thanking those who treated him after he suffered broken ribs and a broken femur in a much-publicized April 2007 car crash.
What an ungrateful bastard - to raid and de-fund the very people who saved his life in order to continue to pay for the myriad of social welfare programs he has initiated that are bleeding the state bone dry.
What's next? Robbing his father while raping his mother? Hey, if it helps him stay "progressive..."
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