From the Navy Times:
A group of House Republicans have proposed a plan to offset the costs of relief and rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina that includes trimming military quality-of-life programs, including health care…
… Reduced health care benefits could save $2.4 billion over 10 years.
Yeah, that’s gonna take care of that darn old Kartina expense.
I’m here to tell you, our troops and their families are already screwed blue when it comes to health care.
Elsewhere, Dave Sirota points out that the richest 1 percent of Americans are scheduled to receive $336 billion in tax cuts over the next five years.
I reckon we won’t have to worry about their health care costs, huh?
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I thank my Maker I'm no longer in a position of having to look an enlisted man's wife in the eye and "explain" this to her.
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I’m going to start counting the number of cars I see in the Norfolk area with both a Bush-Cheney sticker and a Support the Troops ribbon stuck on the bumper.
I can see that great minds etc...
ReplyDeleteI can't fathom being an NC and having to explain to a guy who is thinking about shipping over why it's possibly a good deal. What used to be a pretty good thing has been systematically deconstructed by these a-holes until it's become virtually unrecognizable.
I'm with you, I am really am thankful I don't have to look my wife in the eye before a deployment and say: You'll Be Okay. Really. Then head up the brow, salute the colors and report my return onboard.
Damn.
I was lucky, having served during the bad ole days of Nam. Poor leadership, bad strategy, careerist-minded officers more concerned with their Form 20s, 201 files and OERs than with the troops - well most of 'em. LTC Lee, wherever you are today, you will always be tops in my thoughts, Sir.
ReplyDeleteBut we did have rights, and some semblance of address of grievance and a decent Medical Service. The doctors and medics at Camp Zama and Tripler were fantastic. And we had an active IG Department back then, to make sure there was no brown fecal matter sliding down inside our BDUs.
Everytime I see a uniformed trooper today I feel shame for what my country has done to them.
Lurch
I'm glad you don't have to do that too, Jo.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's kind of how I feel, Lurch. I appreciate your comment about the LTC good guy. Problem is, LTC good guys these days can't do a whole hell of a lot for anybody other than be a good guy.
Man.
I joined the Marine Corps in 1966 and was seriously planning to be a lifer. I was an enlisted grunt with some college behind me and after boot camp I'd taken some tests and was accepted into something called the MARCAD program, which meant I could get a commission and learn to fly helicopters or airplanes (they didn't say which). Since I was young and thought I was a tough guy, however, and since I was suffering from the effects of testosterone poisoning common to young Marines of any era, I felt that before I went into the MARCAD program I should go to Vietnam, fight in the war and earn the privilege of then becoming an aviator. The Tet Offensive ruined my plans when I was shot in the head on February 6, 1968 and, several months later, I was medically retired...but here's what happened next. The VA stepped in, a great counselor was assigned to me and he essentially took over my life, he signed me up for the "disabled veterans rehabilitation program," which paid every dime necessary for me to finish college and then I went on to law school, which the VA also paid for, plus they gave me a very generous pension and extra money on top of that as a subsistence allowance until after I took the bar exam. In other words, the government, through the VA and the USMC, was incredibly generous and supportive, both in a practical sense and financially, and they helped me to move from being a disabled, and thus "out of work" Marine Sgt, to a practicing lawyer. I don't think anything like that could happen these days, in light of these recent plans, and that's not only mean spirited, but it's also kind of a false economy because, what with the taxes I've paid over the past 33 years, the government not only put a disabled vet back on his feet, but it has gotten its investment back about a zillion times over. Not only that, and for what it's worth, my son--a military lawyer--is currently serving as a USMC Captain in Iraq, and he, and his fellow Marines, simply deseve better. This whole thing really pisses me off. Terry Kindlon
ReplyDeleteSupport our Troops is merely a campaign slogan. It has nothing to do with any actual troop supporting activity.
ReplyDeleteTerry, thanks for the great story. Pisses me off too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Gus, a campaign slogan.
Jeff