July 23, 2002

Don't Get Burned Twice

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

BUZZFLASH MESSAGE TO MILITARY VETERANS AND MILITARY PERSONNEL: DON'T GET BURNED TWICE

According to the Sunday, July 21, 2002, print edition of "Parade Magazine":

"Some military retirees are hopping mad at the Bush Administration....Their beef? The Bush Administration supports the policy that now deducts a retiree's disability benefits from his retirement pay.... Many combat vets think the deduction is unfair and penalizes them....Some veterans are so angry that their letters include threats to vote against Bush in 2004."

The online edition of "Parade" notes that Bush will veto any attempt by Congress to give the vets their due for serving their nation:

"In this week's [Parade] Intelligence Report, Lyric Wallwork Winik reports on how the Bush Administration is losing face with war veterans because it supports the policy of deducting disability benefits from military retirees' pay. Here's more on the bills Congress has passed to reverse the Bush policy:

There are two versions of the bill: one proposed by the House of Representatives and one proposed by the Senate. In the House version of the bill, veterans who are 60 percent or more disabled would receive their full retirement pay by 2007. The Senate version is quite similar; the major difference being that it would include all veterans, not just those who are disabled.

President Bush is threatening to veto the bill if Congress passes either version."

So if you are a veteran who served America or are currently active in the service, here are some points to remember about your Commander in Chief and his draft-dodging V.P.:

• Veterans and members of the Armed Forces are not Bush's top priority. He and Dick Cheney, however, care very much about awarding lucrative contracts to defense industry members of the Bush family cartel and to major contributors. These companies include the Carlyle Group, of which Poppy Bush is a member and from which he financially benefits, and Halliburton Corporation, the company that Dick Cheney made millions off of and is now being investigated for its accounting practices.
• If Bush really cared about the army, he wouldn't have appointed Thomas "Enron" White as Secretary of the Army. White headed one of the key Enron divisions accused of financial corruption immediately prior to assuming his position as Secretary of the Army. Last year, he made more than 80 calls to Enron officials, prior to unloading his Enron stock for about $12 million. (See http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
  tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020719/ap_on_go_co/army_secretary_enron_24) When it comes to running the army, Bush knows that White's Enron business came first. Second on White's priority list is running the Army just as he ran the key Enron division. Are you getting the picture now?
• Bush is proposing a reduction in our military manpower. That's right, with all the propaganda about the so-called "war on terrorism," Bush is proposing reducing the size of our military force. This is necessary in order to pay for the fat contracts to the defense industry and campaign contributors. A reduced military force will also help offset the ballooning deficit caused by Bush's tax cut for the wealthy. (See http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.pentagon10jul10.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines)
  
• Neither Bush nor Cheney served in Vietnam, yet they supported the war. Clinton didn't serve because he opposed the war, and thought young men were needlessly dying. Bush and Cheney, cowards that they are, supported the war, but let other young men go to fight and die in their places. How can you in good conscience vote for such men?
• Bush is using the military and the "war on terrorism" as a political strategy, according to his Machiavellian image-maker, Karl Rove. Do you trust this man to make the best decision for the nation and the members of the armed forces -- or for himself?

There's the old expression, "Burn yourself once on a stove, shame on the stove. Burn yourself twice on a stove, shame on you."

We value our veterans and our brave members of the Armed Forces. When the 2002 and 2004 elections come around, we hope you don't burn yourself again.

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL