Just shake your head...and wondervia the ever-delightful Tiger Lily and her blog Brief Intelligence, here's a little something that will warm your heart: Not only do the Bushits hate economically less-fortunate civilians, they really don't like junior military (well, any military) folks too much. Acording to an editorial in the June 30th Army Times the 1600 Crew wants to do the following:
"...the White House griped that various pay-and-benefits incentives added to the 2004 defense budget by Congress are wasteful and unnecessary — including a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. This comes at a time when Americans continue to die in Iraq at a rate of about one a day.
Similarly, the administration announced that on Oct. 1 it wants to roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones."Didja get that, Troopers? ... wasteful and unnecessary. All my friends out there who are in love with President Can't-stay-and-finish-my-obligation take note: You too can see your FSA cut back to mid-1980's levels and your combat pay rolled back, you know you might spend it on something frivilous like, hmmmm, groceries for your family. And the death gratuity thing, what's that all about? SGLI* will pay your survivors, but the point of the Death Gratuity has always been to make up for the impact of your death, i.e. ease immediate financial concerns with instant cash flow, 'cause the Eagle will not be dropping off any more checks. Then comes the SGLI payment. Fini. The Bushies, so in touch with the needs of military families.
Remember to vote next year, it's important for your survival. Obviously.
*SGLI - Serviceman's Group Life Insurance
Of course, we all know that if you're a Democrat, you must secretly wish our troops ill. The only real patriots are Republicans like Bush! Right?