Budget cuts hurt everyone

Bad economy hurts us all the way around. We all know the kinds of problems California has but budget cuts left a fire engine shut and in another story, rape kits have not been placed where they are needed to catch a rapist.

3-year-old's drowning underscores L.A. Fire Department budget cuts
By Robert J. Lopez
A 3-year-old boy died in a swimming pool accident last week in Bel-Air on a day when one of the neighborhood's fire engines had been shut down

LA County to attack rape kit backlog
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The sheriff in California's Los Angeles County says he's committing $3 million in next year's budget to help with the backlog in rape kit DNA testing.

Human Rights Watch, the civil rights advocacy group, said the announcement came in a letter it received from County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The rights group has been researching the backlog of untested evidence in rape cases.

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LA County to attack rape kit backlog

These two stories just came out today as firefighters are trying to put out another wildfire raging and two firefighters died.

What is the answer? What can be done in such a bad economy? Not an easy answer but the most obvious one is to raise taxes on the people to help pay for what businesses no longer contribute. They are doing that in Florida by raising fees. Things are starting to turn around according to the experts but how long will it be before police and fire departments are back up to full funding? These cuts don't just hurt the police officers and firefighters, they hurt the citizens these men and women risk their lives for everyday.