A house burned down in Tennessee while firefighters watched and did nothing.
Why?
Because there was a $75 annual firefighting fee which had not been paid.
According to MSNBC, the residents of the house did not expect their house to burn down, so did not pay the fee.
This sounds like a good argument for the ObamaCare health insurance mandate.
What were the firefighters to do? They want to make sure people pay the fee, which is reasonable. Firefighting costs money. How can they make everyone pay if they give away firefighting for free? It seems heartless when they actually go through with withholding the firefighting and watch someone's house with everything they own burn to the ground.
What were the residents to do? $75 sounds like an unnecessary expenditure until your house is on fire. Then it is too late.
If only the government could force people to pay for firefighting services.
Oh wait, they do in most places. This area seemed to be outside of the city limits where the payment was not mandated. These people were free to make a choice to forgo the firefighting fee, and the firefighters were free to watch their house and possessions be destroyed needlessly.
This is the same issue people face when deciding whether to purchase health insurance, and the problem faced by health care professionals when encountering an uninsured patient.
Please, give me government mandates over this type of freedom.