Republican presidential candidate Rick W. Perry declined an invitation to participate in a South Carolina presidential forum hosted by Senator Jim DeMint yesterday so that he could return home to "deal with" the history-making wildfires ravaging Texas.
The problem for Texas is Rick Perry has a very funny way of dealing with wildfires -- he cut funding for volunteer fire departments by 75 percent.
Under Gov. Rick Perry (R) this year, Texas slashed state funding for the volunteer fire departments that protect most of the state from wildfires like the ones that have recently destroyed more than 700 homes.
Volunteer departments that were already facing financial strain were slated to have their funding cut from $30 million to $7 million, according to KVUE.
The majority of Texas is protected by volunteer fire departments. There are 879 volunteer fire departments in Texas and only 114 paid fire departments. Another 187 departments are a combination of volunteer and paid.
A 75 percent cut to funding for the only fire-fighting force protecting the overwhelming majority of your state! Brilliant! Way to save money!
Because a large portion of Texas has been left without protection, shouldn't The Market™ give rise to a wave of new, privately-owned fire departments generating profits?
No? My mistake.