I was beginning to wonder if you all were demons that I had exorcised! But, I know that's not true.
Thank you Skillet
I'm sending this to Washington like Joe asked me to, so pass it on.
Bail out the Military!
As the government considers a trillion dollars in bailouts for banks,
insurance companies and automakers whose own mismanagement helped cause
the current financial crisis, please don't forget multiple military groups
in grievous circumstances imposed on them by the government through no
fault of their own, including:
1. Caregivers for wounded warriors - mothers, fathers, spouses, and other
loved ones have had to quit their jobs, sell homes, and cash in retirement
funds to provide full-time care to severely wounded servicemembers. The
government owes training, respite, and compensation to those who never
dreamed that a loved one's wounding could put their own livelihood at such
risk.
2. Separated wounded warriors - Thousands of wounded or potential PTSD/TBI
victims were separated with low-balled disability determinations,
"personality disorder" or disciplinary discharges that limited or denied
benefits.
3. Military widows whose sponsors died of service-related causes -
thousands of whom must live on an annuity of $13,000 a year because their
VA survivor benefits are deducted from their Survivor Benefit Plan
annuities. Congress' "first-step" relief provided them only $50 per month.
4. Severely disabled retirees with less than 20 years of service - who
forfeit most or all of their military retired pay to fund their own VA
disability compensation. Congress passed legislation to assist the
combat-disabled, but a glitch in the law stymied that for many. And a 100%
non-combat disabled retiree has no relief.
5. Current military families - who've suffered terrible family separations
because of past government resistance to manpower increases, despite the
long war. Now, some propose cutting back on manpower increases, when the
only possibility for relief is to accelerate them.
6. Guard-Reserve members deployed since 9/11 - whom the government has
acknowledged deserve a reduced retirement age for active duty callups, but
denies credit for those called up (for multiple combat tours in hundreds
of thousands of cases) between 2001 and 2008.
7. Employers of Guard/Reserve personnel -- who deserve permanent tax
breaks to help ease the burden of hiring temporary replacements for
ever-more-frequently deployed staff members.
8. Currently serving uniformed services families (again) - the only large
group of employees denied use of Flexible Spending Accounts to deduct
out-of-pocket health and dependent costs from income and payroll taxes.
Who needs a child care tax break more than a family whose sponsor has been
deployed?
'Day of Infamy' Lives On In Memory - Timothy Warren, Washington Times
Funny though!
Red wine isn't bad for you! It's all about moderation!
