Noted "independent" PTC Guy shows just how "Fair 'n Balanced" he is by telling us how much better the military has it under a Republican regime.

Under Republicans as well as Democrats, married soldiers in pay grades E-1 through E-3 (essentially private through private first class) qualify for food stamps IF they have large families. This affects less than 1/2 of 1% of all soldiers. In other words, this is a non-issue for 99.5% of the military.

The Bush administration sought in 2004 to cut $75 a month from the “imminent danger” pay added to soldiers’ paychecks when in battle zones. The administration wanted to cut by $150 a month the family separation allowance offered to those same soldiers who serve overseas away from their families. Congress blocked those cuts this year, largely because of Democratic votes.

And let's not forget the Bush Administration policy of docking a wounded soldier's pay eight dollars a day for meals while they are in a military hospital. That policy was eventually overturned after public outcry.

Finally, which president cut $3 billion dollars from the VA hospital budget? Why, George W. Bush, of course!

I never said it was so great under Republicans. Can't you quote anyone correctly?

Hmmm. You don't want to because that would take away from your supposed point.

The post I responded to was lopsidded. It did not mention the Democratic problems.

Under who was the military reduced in size, could not obtain repair parts and new equipment? Clinton.

Under who did the military have it so rough I was actually on a base where the Presidents picture had been removed? Clinton.

Balance. I am angry at a number of things that happened under Republicans as well. Will not defend it.

By the way, when I was in, when an E-4, you could not live on the pay, even with married and hardship kick ins. E-8 and 9 had to work second jobs, with their wives working, to raise families.

As for now on hospitals, do not forget to factor in Tri-Care and Tri-Care for Life. That radically cut the need for going to military hospitals. Better insurance than you can get privately, in most cases.

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Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.

For both Kennedy and Reagan, in example.

But the Congress spent more than 100% of the increases.

Spend, spend, spend is all they know.

Maybe we need a bridge into the middle of Lake Michigan.

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Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.

Army Maj retired, this is Air Force Maj still working. I believe you read my letter with preconceptions that it was a "liberal" attack on conservatives, and thusly had a pre-formed opinion. Let me attempt to type more clearly. I am not throwing partisan spears at Republicans. I am saying this: When you are the party, entity, person in power, you have the RESPONSIBILITY to hold YOURSELF, your party, your entity responsible for successes and failures. I can't blame my bad driving on the person in the back seat holding on for dear life. You are a military man. You know how brutal our critiques of one another are. If it's a hit, it's a hit. If it's a miss, we DON'T MAKE EXCUSES. We figure out where our policies, techniques, or procedures went wrong and then fix them. There is an interesting letter to the editor about "Ronald Reagan" Republicans that "don't speak ill of other Republicans". In the Air Force we call this Group Think, and it leads good men to ignore bad decisions.
You and I can change this, or you can email another "liberals do it to" letter. Your choice. Either way, you're still my brother in arms.

Cheers,

Hack King

Hack,

Glad to have a professional discussion with a serving officer.

I do belive you threw quite a few partisan spears. It takes two to tango and unfortunately for all Americans the Democrats seem to be more concerned with regaining power than cooperating.

As far as your driving analogy, I think it would be fairer to say that the your "person in the back seat" as you put it is actually reaching around grabbing the wheel and covering your eyes.

I will be the first to admit that I disagree with the President on Immigration and spending.

I choose not to consider throwing money at 200,000 homeless American war veterans a solution. You should know that the majority of homeless are due to substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. You can not force Americans to enter programs if the freely choose the wrong path.

I choose not to have close to 50% (28% federal plus state plus SS, FICA, Property taxes, sales tax etc.) of my salary taken to support 50% of the Americans that do not pay any tax, or get an "earned income tax credit". I can better use the money to put my sons through college or invest and save because the Social Security system that the Democrats refuse to reform will be bankrupt when I truly do retire in 15 years.

If states would spend more wisely, maybe they would have sufficient case workers. You and I live on a budget, why can't they, or are you going to state that there is no waste, fraud and abuse in the system?

I will attack labor unions for ruining the major auto companies and airlines by overspending for wages, benefits and retirees, not forcing jobs overseas, or allowing foreign automakers to set up non-union facilites here at more competetive rates.

OSHA is in place to advocate for the workplace safety of ALL Americans, the 12.46% union and the 86.54% non union.

The 1997-era minimum wage is a ridiculous concept, where in the Constitution is there given to the government the power to set wages? At my company our entry level jobs start at $10.00 an hour, at last count 3 percent of all hourly-paid workers earn minimunm wage, it is a red meat issue for the Democrats. If they want to earn more get a better job.

Socialized health care, see Canada where they skip across the border to get CAT scans or procedures that take 6months to a year to get up North eh.

Let's agree to disagree on certain points, but we do agree that politicians of both parties should be looking out for us. Stop fighting each other, win the war, secure the borders, reform social security and taxes. Let's also agree that when a hand is extended and it is slapped away who is at fault no matter the party.

Unusual. But they are officers! If Bush messed up spending and immigration and Iraq, what of importance has he done, except maybe "family values,?" He certainly hasn't sent his girls to Iraq, has he? He didn't go either when he could have.
If I were being paid now by tax money and had been all the way to retirement, I wouldn't be harping about unfortunates getting a little of that gravy. It is a known fact that EVERYONE can not be as successful as you have been and not need any help (except the pension, of course, and the SS you will collect as a triple dipper)therefore what are we to do with the 30% who are weeded out as unsuccessful? Shoot them, I suppose, or issue bread and water only.
Before you berate me for criticizing retirees of the military, you should know I served my 3 and 1/2 years and went to work. Very few people should waste 20-30 years in the military for the pension. 90% never fight anyway after the first 8-10 years. Desk jockeys, etc.

It is not unusual to disagree, quite the opposite there are many ways to attack a hill.

You are right there have been many successful armies without officers, can you name one?

The President has kept us safe from attacks on homeland since 9/11, added prescrition drug benefit to Medicare, Confirmed 2 constructionalist Justices to the Supreme Court, Lowered taxes for working Americans, The President Signed Class Action Reform To Curb Lawsuit Abuse, Banned Partial Birth Abortion, Liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq.

He hasn't sent anyone to Iraq, it is an all volunteer force. I guess teaching isn't important, just what is Chelsea doing? Is attacking the president's family a family value?

Not everyone in uniform went to Vietnam, it would have been way too crowded and someone had to fly against Soviet Bomber incursions.

If you are pissed off that I earned a retirement check, here's a quote I got from a Silver star veteran from Hamburger Hill "The Army doesn't give you anything, you EARN it.

Tell me how I am a tripple dipper? Is that illegal?

No one wastes 20-30 years in the military, it is one of the highest rated professions, above politician, Lawyers, car dealers etc. and no one does it for the retirement check ace.

I guess when I was clearing trenches and bunkers with 11 years of service I was a desk jocky huh?

You slay me, I was going to ignore your juvinle jab, but I got bored.

Agreed, Highgreen. This conversation seems like peering into the military officer mindset. Representing the ultra-rational "superego" is Major King. His counterpart, the instant-gratification "id" is armyMajRetd.

One can envision them doing a somewhat distorted version of "Frankenstein":

ArmyMAJretd: Fire bad!
MajorKing: Well, I think you need to consider that fire has some beneficial uses..
ArmyMAJretd: FIRE BAD!
MajorKing: Yes, yes, I agree that a fire left unattended has unfortunate consequences, yet man harnesses fire for positive uses…
ArmyMAJretd: RAWMOHRAR!
MajorKing: See here, now, that’s not even a coherent statement, Major! I…
ArmyMAJretd: FIRE CLINTON’S FAULT!

I bet MAJ King is the ultra-rational "superego" because he agrees with you.

Here is Basmati brain

Basmati: Fly guy MAJ think like me, he smart.
Ground pound MAJ evil Conservative, him stupid Id.

Speaking of instant gratification what does your ID reflect, anything you are proud of?

Hope you enjoy your {{{{{EDITED}}}}} with Highgreen ladies.

It is French for Basswipe. And I don't even know what that means.

Actually, basmati is Hindu and refers to a type of rice. The only correlation I can deduce would be that is the preferred filler material for the void between the ears.

Also, it refers to an open source (free) software for teachers. That could also explain why his/hers topic lean to the left.

Basmati (Hindi: बासमती) is a variety of long grain rice, famous for its fragrance and delicate flavour. Its name means "Queen of Fragrance" in Hindi.

Basmati rice has been cultivated in India and Pakistan for hundreds of years. The Himalayan foothills are said to produce the best basmati. The Super Basmati, a premium variety from Pakistan and Dehra Dun from India, are the most prized of the basmati varieties. Patna rice is a close cousin of basmati rice grown around Patna in Bihar. The best types of basmati rice are aged for several years before they are milled and sold. The idea behind aging the rice lies in the fact that rice cooks better with lesser amount of moisture content.

The grains of basmati rice are much longer than they are wide, and they grow even longer as they cook. They stay firm and separate, not sticky, after cooking. Basmati rice is available both as a white rice and a brown rice. Both of these cook in about 20 minutes. Due to the high amount of starch clinging to the rice grains, many cooks wash this rice before cooking it. Soaking it for half an hour to two hours before cooking makes the grains less likely to break in cooking.

In 2000, the US corporation RiceTec (a subsidiary of RiceTec AG of Liechtenstein) attempted to patent three lines created as hybrids of basmati rice and semi-dwarf long-grain rice. At the same time, they tried to trademark the name "basmati". The Indian government intervened and the attempt was thwarted. Meanwhile, the European Commission has agreed to protect basmati rice under its regulations pertaining to geographical indications.

A number of varieties of Basmati rice exist. Traditional ones include Basmati-370, Basmati-385 and Basmati-Ranabirpura, while hybrid basmati varieties include Pusa Basamti 1 (also called 'Todal', because the flower has awns). Fragrant rices that are derived from basmati stock but are not considered true basmati varieties include PB2 (also called sugandh-2), PB3 and RH-10.

Traditional basmati plants are tall and slender and are prone to lodging in high winds. They have a relatively low yield, but produce high-quality grains and command high prices in both Indian and international markets.

The Rice Research Institute at Kala Shah Kaku (Pakistan) has been instrumental in developing various varieites of Basmati rice, including the popular variety of Super Basmati. Dr. Majeed is the sceintist who developed this variety of Basmati rice in 1996.

Scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi took the traditional basmati and genetically modified it to produce a hybrid which had most of the good features of traditional basmati (grain elongation, fragrance, alkali content) and the plant was a semi-dwarf type. This basmati was called Pusa Basmati-1. PB1 crop yield is higher than the traditional varieties (up to twice as much).

I liked my version better even though it was made up. Basmati is rice for sure. Not sure why he chose that handle although it doesn't matter.

Greetings and a big HUUA! to you. I'll keep this brief because my wife is sick of this laptop being in front of me. Again, this is not about dems attacking repubs. It was about, mainly, PTC repubs attacking PTC repubs using liberal analogies. This serves to detract from the fact that in PTC as in our nation, democrats did not and do not set municipal policy here and national policy in America. Do me this favor. Tell me one facet of Fayette County active policy, PTC policy, and US policy sponsored and administered by democrats. When you do, we'll talk.
By the way, Where have you been in combat? The reason I ask is I've done the Iraq thing twice in the AF (A-10 guy). This is your qoute:

I choose not to consider throwing money at 200,000 homeless American war veterans a solution. You should know that the majority of homeless are due to substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. You can not force Americans to enter programs if the freely choose the wrong path.

You must know that MANY of those 200,000 combat veterans have "psychiatric disorders" due to IEDs, booby traps, direct fire injuries, post traumatic stress, etc. These are often the DIRECT RESULT of combat. For you to turn your back on our BROTHERS and SISTERS who have paid more than you and I put together is quite unfortunate. My heart is with them as it is with vietnam vets, Iraqi freedom vets now and to come. I would beg you to reconsider your stance here, as you and I were blessed enough to never have been pushed to our breaking points.

Cheers!

Hack King