Friday, March 19, 2004
An "Act of Betrayal" Against Our Troops
I saw President Bush on TV this morning crowing about giving pay increases to military personnel...
It's funny he didn't mention his attempts to cut combat pay while soldiers were in the field in Afghanistan.
It's funny that he didn't mention his attempts to cut veteran's benefits by roughly $10 billion.
What's funniest is that he didn't mention this article from the Army Times entitled "An Act of Betrayal" from November of last year:
Commissaries and the Defense Department’s stateside schools are in the crosshairs of Pentagon budget cutters, and military advocates, families and even base commanders are up in arms.
Defense officials notified the services in mid-October that they intend to close 19 commissaries and may close 19 more, mostly in remote areas.
At the same time, the Pentagon is finishing a study to determine whether to close or transfer control of the 58 schools it operates on 14 military installations in the continental United States.
The two initiatives are the latest in a string of actions by the Bush administration to cut or hold down growth in pay and benefits, including basic pay, combat pay, health-care benefits and the death gratuity paid to survivors of troops who die on active duty.
It's a safe bet that when Bush says one thing, he's has been or will be in the process of doing the complete opposite.
Great wartime president, indeed...
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