California is such a shithole

Creaphis said:

Charging for 911 services is incredibly stupid.

I would say it is deliberate, for the very reasons your post suggests. One axiom which drove the sub-prime mortgage era was that 'poor' people by and large try to pay off debts honestly, as opposed to looking at it as a mere business transaction and declaring bankruptcy/or even having the wherewithal to consider it.

So you're suggesting that those who can't afford the yearly fee are more likely to be an honorable lot, and thus will also be more likely to do the moral thing and call 911 when 911 needs to be called, and will thus find themselves afflicted with these $300 fees, but, being honorable folk, they will scrimp and save so that they may ultimately pay them, thus supplying the Californian government with a little bit of extra cash in hard times; and that this was the government's plan all along?

That's interesting.

living in cali, that is definitely not a state law, but most likely some dickfuck politician in a local town/county did that.

Creaphis said:

So you're suggesting that those who can't afford the yearly fee are more likely to be an honorable lot, and thus will also be more likely to do the moral thing and call 911 when 911 needs to be called, and will thus find themselves afflicted with these $300 fees, but, being honorable folk, they will scrimp and save so that they may ultimately pay them, thus supplying the Californian government with a little bit of extra cash in hard times; and that this was the government's plan all along?

That's interesting.

Not necessarily that people who cant afford it will be more likely to use 911, but yeah, more likely to pay as you go at $300 a pop, since the $48 or whatever fee would be an extraneous expense, until it was needed. Come to think of it, this $300 fee would probably dissuade some people from using 911.

I mentioned the sub-prime mortgage connection, because I remember reading an article about a banker who said that 'poorer' people tend to try and pay debts, and that was a justification for making loans to them.
I've seen it with friends of mine having a hard time with their mortgages. One acquaintance attaches their love for their house (in a nice suburb) to their own self worth, and by extension they pay their mortgage on time diligently no matter how hard it is, and their house is now worth about $50K less than the mortgage. They cannot renegotiate the mortgage with the bank, since it's not in the banks business interest to change the terms, since they pay their mortgage :-)
I have another friend in pretty much the exact same position, but who has treated it like a business contract, and stopped paying and is declaring bankruptcy. In the meantime, the bank has given him a ton of renegotiation requests for better terms! He lost his job, so bankruptcy was his best option. Fortunately in the US, the government does not force you to pay your mortgage debts. His credit rating will take a dive for a little while, and the bank will eventually be able to resell the house at its market value.

come to think of it, there is a little contradiction here.

People are outraged at paying a fee for ER service (which I am too) but they don't complain about having to pay thousands for healthcare and even fight legislation that could ease that.

IMO healthcare and ER should be free services equal for all. Paid for through our taxes by the governement, just like every other civilized countries.

To go back to the ER fee, it would be smarter to fine prank callers and not justified calls.

Heh, my brother lives in Tracy with his wife and children.

"Are you f*#king kidding me?" Is the only possible thing that comes to mind.