Agreement with one of my heroes

"Some might disagree, and that is fine. My feeling is if the federal government does nothing else for us, it should be to protect us. And the federal government takes in plenty enough money to maintain a well paid and well equipped military."

I have said this in the past. Senator McCain, when he was a POW, was, and still is a hero of mine. When the NVA found out this downed pilot's father was CINCPAC (head Navy guy for all Pacific operations), they were going to make an example out of him. They wanted to break him and make him look weak. They really wanted him to betray his country. Some say he broke, others say he did not. If he did or did not, he suffered mightily while in the Hanoi Hilton. In short, they beat the hell out of him.

As a Senator, I have not been as keen on McCain. He strayed of the reservation a bit too much at times. Not all the time, but enough. However, he came out the other day and ripped the new budget for reasons other than the Democrats are using. The $53B in additional defense dollars are simply not enough. Hallelujah! He gets it! I have said this before - our DoD needs annual care and feeding. Under Obama, that did not happen. Now it is time to play "catch up".

I have not addressed this issue before as it is a tough one. While my wife and I were in Florida last month, we did some shopping in the Navy Commissary (on-base grocery store). To shop there, you must be in the service, a dependent of someone who is, retired, or authorized base civilian. We saw numerous tags on different food items which said either "WIC Approved" or "EBT Accepted". Those are programs for folks in or close to the poverty line. There should be NOBODY serving this country that qualifies for those programs. Period.

I don't know of anyone who went in the service to become rich. Never happen. By the same token, when you join the ARMED FORCES, where you sign a contract to put it all on the line 24 X 7 X 365 if need be, you should not have to live in poverty either. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines deserve much, much better. They deserve a big pay raise to ensure NOT ONE OF THEM needs to be on a poverty program in which to serve this great country.

By the way - to bring our forces up to date enough to counter the Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean threats, we need a big infusion of cash. And we need it now. So I agree with Senator McCain. $53B is not enough. Let's make it $100B and really get going to true up the pay scales and get better equipment in the field. 

Some might disagree, and that is fine. My feeling is if the federal government does nothing else for us, it should be there to protect us. And the federal government takes in plenty enough money to maintain a well paid and well equipped military. Time to get going.