My welfare 'tis of thee...

First off, I'd like to thank my friend Tara. She's excellent at stimulating my mind out of hibernation, and today she posted one of those "chain status updates" things on Facebook that did the trick...

President Obama has proposed a 1.4% pay increase for active duty military in 2011. This is THE LOWEST SINCE 1973! Nice to know that during a time of rampant inflation, while war is fought in 2 theatres, our men and women in uniform get A LOWER PAY INCREASE THAN WELFARE RECIPIENTS.

I only have one reply to the last sentence: my mother draws disabilty, and she received NO increase in her benefits. And you know why welfare recepients got a larger increase? THEY HAVE NO JOB! As shitty and unnecessary as it should be, members of the military get a steady, guaranteed paycheck. As low as some of those checks might seem, I guarantee you, differring increases and all, that military men/women receive more than people on welfare and disability. I have a friend in the Air Force who is BUYING a house... my mother rents, but only with assistance.

I agree that it's a shame that military benefits aren't as good as they should be. But it's unfair that a lot of people complain about the poor benefits increase using the argument that people on welfare and unemployment are apathetic bums... it just goes to show you that people who haven't "been there" don't have a perspective on the situation. Walk a day in some of these people's shoes and get back to me on what it felt like not knowing where your next meal is coming from, or your children's clothes, or how you're going to fix your twenty-year-old car because the place you worked at for fifteen years moved to Mexico to cut labor costs.

Don't get me wrong on any of this... I support the troops with every ounce of my being, but you have to remember that Obama can only work with what they'll give him. Which leads me to another point: people need to stop conveniently forgetting that Obama isn't a God ruling over the other 569 people that have power in Washington.

"People blamed Bush for all of the stuff that happened during his Presidency..." Well, people were quick to blame Bush because enough of his cronies (oh, excuse me, "associates") were in those other 569 seats of power to enact his ignorant policies. For example, when we invaded Iraq, the first oil contract was given to Halliburton, DICK CHENEY'S OIL COMPANY. That's just one of at least fifty other examples of how, yes, Bush was either directly or indirectly responsible for the state of our union.

I said it in one of my newest blog posts: the biggest problem with this country isn't the fact that Barack Obama isn't Albus Dumbledore, it's the lack of bipartisanship. Partisanship is what's going to bring this country down. Words, marked.