The bulk of
this post was written before the assassination attempt on former President
Trump. However, the events of July 13th
have no bearing on the content of this post.
By now
you’ve heard about Project
2025, MAGA Republicans’ and the Heritage Foundation’s plans for a “reform”
of the Federal government if Donald Trump is elected in November.
Trump has
distanced himself from Project 2025, saying that he doesn’t know anyone
involved with it. In fact, his own Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is
working for P2025. One of the architects
of P2025 is John McEntee, Trump’s Director of White House Personnel when he was
in office. A board member, Russell
Vought, was named policy director of the Republican National Committee this
past May. Further, Trump’s own Agenda 47 bears a striking
resemblance to P2025.
You’ve no
doubt read some of the major items of P2025, but here’s a quick refresher:
Social
issues and Reproductive Rights:
- End
marriage equality
- Complete
abortion ban - without exceptions
- Restrictions
on contraceptives
- Use
taxpayer money for religious schools and include Christian beliefs in public
school curricula
- Pack
the Supreme Court with Justices who will ban all DEI initiatives and enable
the above
Medicare
and Social Security:
- Raise
the retirement age
- Cut
Social Security benefits
- Cut
Medicare
- Repeal
the Affordable Care Act
- End
price controls on medications, such as the Biden-era price cap on Insulin
Environment:
- Defund
the EPA
- Deregulate
Fossil Fuel production
- Increase
Artic drilling
National
Security:
- Defund
the FBI and Homeland Security
- Use
the military to break up domestic protests
- Retire
senior military personnel and stack the upper-ranks with Trump supporters.
Let’s talk
some more about the military items, which are not getting the publicity much of
the rest of P2025 is receiving.
Buried
among the nooks and crannies of P2025 are items detailing benefit cuts for
veterans and active-duty military personnel.
Part of that is to move part of the VA to the private sector. Part includes benefit cuts to disabled
veterans. What an outrageous slap in the
face to those who have been harmed defending our nation.
Do we
really want our active duty and retired military to have to jump through more
hoops? Particularly those who are
disabled or need mental health care?
Our
nation’s defenders are not especially well paid. You may have heard “they get free room, board,
and food on Uncle Sam’s dime.” That’s
not exactly true. Military personnel
receive a modest salary, from which certain things are deducted, along with
some supplements.
Live on
base or on a ship? That’s $380 per month deducted from your pay
since the food is provided. And if you
only serve part time on the ship, and get food elsewhere some days? Too bad, they take the whole $380
anyway. It doesn’t help matters that
most base galleys have limited hours which often do not fit well with the
realities of military scheduling. Low
ranking personnel, such as Army and Marine Privates, Navy Recruits, Sailors and
3rd Class Petty Officers (E1-E4), live in barracks. This is exactly what happened with a young
Sailor friend of mine when he was at his post-boot camp technical school and
after he had been assigned to his ship.
There are
also supplemental allowances added to base salary, such as a uniform
allowance. An enlisted Sailor’s wardrobe
includes Dress Blues, Dress Whites, Service uniforms, camo-style Type III Working uniforms, and, if on a ship, Coveralls.
Sailors are expected to have at least one of each Dress uniform, two Service
uniforms, three Type III uniforms, and three Coveralls. There are also accoutrements to the various
uniforms, from the proper footwear to straps to hold dress shirts in place to
rank and rating patches – all of which the Sailor must pay for. Being American made, uniforms are expensive;
and service members are expected to keep them well maintained – dry cleaning is
recommended for Service uniforms. Plus,
one must remember many of those entering the military are teenagers who are
still growing and will need replacement uniforms. If the Sailor keeps in good shape and
maintains his uniforms, they won’t have to be replaced as often and he can keep
the unspent allowance. This encourages
military personnel to be thrifty and healthy by taking good care of their
clothes and their bodies.
Once
promoted to E-5 (Sergeant or Petty Officer 2nd Class), they are
moved out of the barracks and provided with a housing allowance. That’s what happened with my dad when he was
promoted to PO2 in the 1950s, and that’s what happened to my young sailor
friend. The housing allowance varies
based on the cost of living where the sailor is stationed, and my young friend
happens to be stationed in one of the most expensive locations in the US. It’s certainly not his fault that the Navy
decided to build one of its largest bases there. Thus,
his housing allowance is relatively high.
The apartment building where he lives is on base and part of a
private/military cooperative effort. In
exchange for the convenience of living on base, they take his entire housing
allowance. He’s currently looking for a
less expensive apartment off base, which will allow him to pocket any leftover
housing allowance and use that money to get a used car. (My dad rented a room above a woman’s
garage.) If you think that means he’s
ripping off the taxpayers, then remember: once he moves off base, his on-base
dwelling becomes available to another newly promoted Sailor.
P2025
proposes to “reform” these types of allowances by making military personnel
return any unspent allowance. This is a
false economy because active-duty personnel will not be incentivized to
maintain their uniforms and find less expensive housing. They will simply neglect their uniforms and
find the nicest place their allowance will cover. P2025 also proposes to penalize married
military couples who live together by making them share the same housing
allowance, even though families require more space than single people.
I recently
spoke with my Sailor friend about some of these points. This person is politically moderate and not
partisan. But when I advised him of
these proposals, his reaction was what you’d expect of a Salty Sailor: “[Unprintable
quote redacted.]”
Here’s a
fact that Putin enablers among the GOP and lefty-loonies like Jill
Stein would like you to forget: America has enemies – two of which pose an
existential threat to our nation. The
first of these is Russia. Putin's stated
goal is to reestablish the de-facto empire that existed under the USSR. True, initially Putin played nice with us
after 9/11, but the government over which he seems to have an iron grip has
become increasingly hostile since George Bush took us to war with Iraq in
2003. Trump and his enablers seem
content to appease Putin on everything from his brutal invasion of Ukraine to
his open interference in our nation’s elections and politics. Joe Biden is the only President who has
strongly stood up to Putin – not Bush 43, not Obama, and certainly not
Trump - over whom Putin seems to hold some unspoken power. As for China, though they are not
exactly an enemy, they do not wish us well and mainly have exploited us for their
own economic benefit. Trump makes a big
noise about China, but his businesses have benefited from Chinese (and Russian)
investment. Under Joe Biden, China has dropped
from America’s number one importer to third place – behind Canada and Mexico.
We have enemies
aside from Russia and China, such as North Korea and Iran, but only Russia and
China have the military potential to engage in a war with us which would be
catastrophic for the planet. China’s
bullying of Taiwan is surpassed only by Russia’s bullying of Ukraine. History has taught us the dangers of
appeasing bullies. Prior to 1939, the
European powers declined to enforce the Versailles treaty and stood by while
Hitler’s Germany rearmed. Following Kristallnacht, not one
European leader spoke out about what happened – only U.S. President Franklin
Roosevelt issued a rather tame rebuke.
When Hitler invaded Austria, the world did nothing. He continued to build his military, ranted
about how ethnic Germans were being treated by the Czechoslovakian government
(just as Putin would use the supposed treatment of ethnic Russians by the
Ukrainian government 80 years later) and then was given tacit approval to invade
the Sudetenland by Neville Chamberlain.
Thus, we
must maintain the world’s strongest defense as a deterrent to Russian and Chinese
military aggression. Trump and his P2025 supporters are content to throw uncountable money at the military-industrial complex to fill defense contractors' pockets. But when it comes to the well-being of military personnel, they could not care less.
All
branches of the US military are already dealing with shortfalls in recruiting
and retention. With unemployment at
historic lows, fewer and fewer want to take on an arduous, potentially
hazardous job with low pay. As the nation
moves slowly toward cannabis legalization, few want to subject themselves to
periodic urinalysis tests which, if positive, could result in a dishonorable
discharge and a blot on their resume.
That’s exactly why President Biden has pushed so hard to raise military
pay and improve benefits.
When I read
of P2025’s plans for the military, knowing how they will affect recruitment and
retention once implemented, I can’t help but wonder: Who stands to benefit
if our military is less prepared; if the ranks are thinned from cratering
recruitment and retention; if service members’ morale is low?
America’s
enemies, that’s who. And it would be very interesting to know where
the backers of Project 2025, including the Heritage Foundation, are getting
their money. Is there a Russian
connection? Is there a Chinese
connection?