Holy Cow Have You Seen This

[Winnie G]

The National Priorities Projet

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?op...&Itemid=182

Your thoughts?

[Outshined]

What is freedom worth?

[Guest MrsS]

What is freedom worth?

Priceless - Whatever it takes

[Traveler]

The National Priorities Projet

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?op...&Itemid=182

Your thoughts?

Wow!! If this keep up it will soon rival the cost of campaigns during a presidential election.

The Traveler

[john doe]

Does anybody have any figures of how much of the US GDP WWII cost? How does that compare with what we are spending now? Numbers are meaningless when not put in proper perspective.

What is the value of freedom? How many people need to die to ensure that the protesters have a safe place to harass them from? What is it about Iraqis and Afghans that they don't deserve to be free?

[Winnie G]

I know this is a little off the point but today in a coffee shop I picked up the paper and there was a article about a republican senator calling for President Bushes impeachment because he was not following what the citizens of the US really wanted (out of Iraq) (The Budget) and it quoted a remark from Bush saying he did not care what the citizens wanted he know better, now you would think if that was truly said people would be up in arms.

Have any of you heard about this? it was news to me.

[Nate]

For how much is being put into this conflict it sure would be nice to see a bigger raise for us soldiers. After filing my taxes I only made in the high 20's. I'm a Noncommissioned Officer with a family. That doesn't include housing and the free medical which is a perk beyond measure. Not to seem negitive cause I still serve and did not join cause of the tons of cash the military provides.

In a better note I deal with budget cuts every day and fight tooth and nail to get the right equipment I need to do my job effectively. The Army is trying to be smart and its better now then the beginning. At first soldiers didn't even have the right body armer if they even had any. Now soldiers are pretty well equipted and have better protection then they have ever had.

Most in garrison jobs are being replaced with civilians so the more soldiers are in the field and ready to fight. Its saving the Army lots of money. I don't know how the other armed forces do it though.

[Dr T]

Staggering numbers!

Sobering comment, Outshined.

[Blessed]

To be perfectly honest, my husband does not need a raise. After taxes, he made $120k. Now I know there are some enlisted in the AF that desperately need a raise. WHy is it that officers are paid so much more? Their life is not any more worthy than an enlisted, imo.

I don't get it.

[Winnie G]

For how much is being put into this conflict it sure would be nice to see a bigger raise for us soldiers. After filing my taxes I only made in the high 20's. I'm a Noncommissioned Officer with a family. That doesn't include housing and the free medical which is a perk beyond measure. Not to seem negitive cause I still serve and did not join cause of the tons of cash the military provides.

In a better note I deal with budget cuts every day and fight tooth and nail to get the right equipment I need to do my job effectively. The Army is trying to be smart and its better now then the beginning. At first soldiers didn't even have the right body armer if they even had any. Now soldiers are pretty well equipted and have better protection then they have ever had.

Most in garrison jobs are being replaced with civilians so the more soldiers are in the field and ready to fight. Its saving the Army lots of money. I don't know how the other armed forces do it though.

Nate you pay taxes????? When your are serving over seas????

Holy cow hockey my husband got (retired now) his regular pay no taxes pluse danger pay and separation allowance to help with child care cost for the spouse.

Our heath care still is paid for as well.

A Canadian soldier third rank up from a privet (Canada has few ranks) as a master corporal makes $1800 clear after taxes once our rent of $450 was taken off.

It close to doubles that with out taxes then you add on the danger pay and separation allowance.

As far as right equipment that just makes me sick, when I helped gather all my husbands kit together when he retired, there were three kinds of flack jackets and body armor. Ten pars of boots from jungle boots to desert boots and every thing in-between. We loaded up the trunk and the car and he still came home with a trunk full. He had six different helmets for heaven sake. Any thing that his body touched like uniforms boots towels t-shirt etc. came home. It all had to be accounted for. Some he is saving for his grandson, he planes on giving them his army boots, and most of them saw little use.

The rest will find its way on e-bay.

I think it is a crime that men like you should go in to a fight with out all the best equipment.

How can the government pound their chest and say we are the best when they treat the best their country can provide with second rate equipment.

I’m going to shut up know before I start government bashing.

[Nate]

<div class='quotemain'>

For how much is being put into this conflict it sure would be nice to see a bigger raise for us soldiers. After filing my taxes I only made in the high 20's. I'm a Noncommissioned Officer with a family. That doesn't include housing and the free medical which is a perk beyond measure. Not to seem negitive cause I still serve and did not join cause of the tons of cash the military provides.

In a better note I deal with budget cuts every day and fight tooth and nail to get the right equipment I need to do my job effectively. The Army is trying to be smart and its better now then the beginning. At first soldiers didn't even have the right body armer if they even had any. Now soldiers are pretty well equipted and have better protection then they have ever had.

Most in garrison jobs are being replaced with civilians so the more soldiers are in the field and ready to fight. Its saving the Army lots of money. I don't know how the other armed forces do it though.

Nate you pay taxes????? When your are serving over seas????

Holy cow hockey my husband got (retired now) his regular pay no taxes pluse danger pay and separation allowance to help with child care cost for the spouse.

Our heath care still is paid for as well.

A Canadian soldier third rank up from a privet (Canada has few ranks) as a master corporal makes $1800 clear after taxes once our rent of $450 was taken off.

It close to doubles that with out taxes then you add on the danger pay and separation allowance.

As far as right equipment that just makes me sick, when I helped gather all my husbands kit together when he retired, there were three kinds of flack jackets and body armor. Ten pars of boots from jungle boots to desert boots and every thing in-between. We loaded up the trunk and the car and he still came home with a trunk full. He had six different helmets for heaven sake. Any thing that his body touched like uniforms boots towels t-shirt etc. came home. It all had to be accounted for. Some he is saving for his grandson, he planes on giving them his army boots, and most of them saw little use.

The rest will find its way on e-bay.

I think it is a crime that men like you should go in to a fight with out all the best equipment.

How can the government pound their chest and say we are the best when they treat the best their country can provide with second rate equipment.

I’m going to shut up know before I start government bashing.

I am in garission and am not overseas right now. So no extras for us. But I still feel bad for the ones that are over seas.

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

military pay (an off-shoot topic here):

when I was serving nearly 10 years ago as a Staff Sergeant in the USAF, our family qualified for the WIC program as well as free meals for the kids at school because our income was so low, even though I did get some bonus pay for my specialty.

US servicemembers are paid very little compared to their civilian counterparts in most career fields (but they do get their education/training paid for). In my field, people were jumping left and right to switch to civilian DoD jobs - doing the same job, but with a permanent duty station instead of moving every 3 years, and the pay started about 3 times what we were making. And when I say exact same job, I mean where I was serving, I sat in a 4-man cubicle and I was the only servicemember - the others were civilians (two prior military) and we did exactly the same job . . . except I had to get up and drill on Saturday mornings once in a while and make a timed run and do sit-ups, and submit to urine tests and and and. I knew a girl who didn't even change desks when she transitioned - just left Friday wearing a uniform and came back in on Monday in a skirt and blouse.

[theManager]

military pay (an off-shoot topic here):

when I was serving nearly 10 years ago as a Staff Sergeant in the USAF, our family qualified for the WIC program as well as free meals for the kids at school because our income was so low, even though I did get some bonus pay for my specialty.

US servicemembers are paid very little compared to their civilian counterparts in most career fields (but they do get their education/training paid for). In my field, people were jumping left and right to switch to civilian DoD jobs - doing the same job, but with a permanent duty station instead of moving every 3 years, and the pay started about 3 times what we were making. And when I say exact same job, I mean where I was serving, I sat in a 4-man cubicle and I was the only servicemember - the others were civilians (two prior military) and we did exactly the same job . . . except I had to get up and drill on Saturday mornings once in a while and make a timed run and do sit-ups, and submit to urine tests and and and. I knew a girl who didn't even change desks when she transitioned - just left Friday wearing a uniform and came back in on Monday in a skirt and blouse.

I second this. I work in the as a civilian in the military and I work the same job as military but get paid more. Now, that being said, with all the benefits military get (housing, free medical, super cheap supermarket) the pay is still less but only by 15-20%.

Check out my website www.ldsvilla.com

[Gwen]

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

Sir Winston Churchill

[kjf512]

The National Priorities Projet

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?op...&Itemid=182

Your thoughts?

i must say, this war is the most disgusting occupation ever.

you have 700,000 iraqis dead.

2 million displaced

and 91% of iraqi's supporting killing U.S. troops.

bush first claimed they had WMD. he was wrong. so then he claimed that if we weren't in iraq, they would be fighting here.. what a LIE!! SADDAM HATED OSAMA! osama hated saddam!! osama even BEGGED the saudi crowned prince to KILL HIM!! not for nothing, but iraq prolly supported us more in afghanistan then most other nations in the region did!!

you have almost 1 million americans homeless. yet instead of helping them, they go and spend billions on some baseless, unjustified war. and the iraqi's don't even want us there!!!

i can't wait until 2008.. by the grace of God, hopefully a democrat will be elected! :)

[Outshined]

Spoken like someone who has never been to Iraq...

And he did have WMD. You just have to ask the right people.

[to_tall]

i must say, this war is the most disgusting occupation ever.

you have 700,000 iraqis dead.

2 million displaced

and 91% of iraqi's supporting killing U.S. troops.

bush first claimed they had WMD. he was wrong. so then he claimed that if we weren't in iraq, they would be fighting here.. what a LIE!! SADDAM HATED OSAMA! osama hated saddam!! osama even BEGGED the saudi crowned prince to KILL HIM!! not for nothing, but iraq prolly supported us more in afghanistan then most other nations in the region did!!

you have almost 1 million americans homeless. yet instead of helping them, they go and spend billions on some baseless, unjustified war. and the iraqi's don't even want us there!!!

i can't wait until 2008.. by the grace of God, hopefully a democrat will be elected! :)

i must say, this war is the most disgusting occupation ever.

war is and always will be an ugly nasty thing.

you have 700,000 iraqis dead.

2 million displaced

how many millions of his own people did sadam kill??

no one threw a stink when clinton took milosevic out of power, for doin almsot the same garbage sadam was doin.

bush first claimed they had WMD. he was wrong. so then he claimed that if we weren't in iraq, they would be fighting here.. what a LIE!! SADDAM HATED OSAMA! osama hated saddam!! osama even BEGGED the saudi crowned prince to KILL HIM!! not for nothing, but iraq prolly supported us more in afghanistan then most other nations in the region did!!

first off they found more then enough proff that he had wmd, jsut cause the main stream media wont report it dont me it hasnt been found, theres also been some recent information that has come out that he moved the majority of his stock pile to syria before the war started.

PRE-SCHOOL

KIDS' HEALTH

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

PUBLIC HOUSING

PUBLIC EDUCATION

all importaint things but dont mean a lick if the terrorests are over here destroying stuff, and quite frankly maintaining the military and protecting this country is really all teh federal government is stuppost to be doin.... all that other stuff is a state side matter

[Palerider]

He did have WMD and I hope like crazy none of the current crop of Dems win the white house......before they took over the house and senate if my memory serves correct was.....they were going to lower gas prices......etc....etc......so far.....nothing they said has been accomplished......

[CrimsonKairos]

Democrats today are really socialists. Let government take care of you. You're too stupid to take care of yourself. Let the world destroy itself, we don't need to waste money on national defense, we need to pour your taxes into bigger government, more entitlements, more freebies, more needless agencies, more bureaucracy, blah, blah, blah.

Thank God for conservativism with its emphasis on a strong economy, strong family and all that entails (pro-life, anti-gay-marriage, etc...), and a strong military.

America is really the only super-power left in the world. If the Democrats have their way, we'll be the biggest loser-power in the world.

It kills me everytime the media whines about Bush's poor management of the war, and how the troops are stretched too thin and there aren't enough of them. Guess who's responsible for emasculating our military? Pres. Clinton! God have mercy on America if Hillary gets the title "Commander-in-Chief." She'll melt America's metaphorical sabers into silver spoons to give to the "needy."

[JcDean78]

<div class='quotemain'>

What is freedom worth?

Priceless - Whatever it takes

Exactly. If the media and some politicians were not trying to fight against the war at every turn, then it would be over. But the Terrorist know that the liberals and media are on their side. As long as these traitors continue to undermine the war, our troops, and our country, the terrorist will continue to fight. They can NOT defeat us on the battlefield but they know the libs and media CAN defeat us at home.

If the libs and media would stop rooting for the other team, then this war would be over.