My, how some people can’t take a joke.
A few people have gleaned from my previous post that, somehow, I was suggesting that the entire military plans on voting for President Bush. (Isn’t taking the word of two to four people among a group of millions considered a small opinion sample? Yes, I thought so. I’m sure glad that I didn’t say that the opinion of a few marines represented that of the entire Armed Forces.) Since my own absent co-blogger--a veteran-- has harshly criticized the Administration right here on this very blog—with my obvious encouragement—I can only conclude that my alleged opinion on this subject is being misrepresented for a specific purpose. (No, I’m not talking about you, S-Train, my love.)
For this record, most polls have military personnel—present and past—planning in the majority to vote for President Bush, but the majority isn’t as large as some might suspect:
If the election were held tomorrow, those active-duty, reserve and veteran votes would go to Mr. Bush by a margin of 52 percent to 44 percent, according to the June 20 to 23 bipartisan Battleground Poll of likely voters that Ms. Lake conducted with Mr. Goeas.Happy now?
Additionally, in criticizing and mischaracterizing my post featuring Senator Kerry interrupting the chow of a few hungry marines, David Anderson also brings up an old chestnut: military personnel qualifying for food stamps.
The hue and cry about military personnel qualifying for food stamp betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how GIs are paid. First of all, only their basic pay is taxable and subject to scrutiny when it is decided whether they qualify for food stamps or not. However, a GI with a family doesn’t get merely his/her base pay. She/he gets BAS (food payments for the military member), BAH (housing allowance if the member lives off base, calculated by the area in which the GI is assigned and family lives) and various other extras. (When I was married—to a civilian—I got paid more than I did when I was single. It would have been even more had we had children).
There are a myriad of other non-taxable allowances that a GI may receive, depending on his/her job/position/duty location: combat pay, foreign language proficiency pay (FLPP), flight pay (not just for pilots and navigators), dislocation allowance, etc.
Additionally, all Active Duty members and their dependents are allowed to shop at any base commissary. (Recently, the privilege was extended to Guard personnel and Reservists.) At an average commissary, $200 will buy a two person household a month’s worth of food and that’s without stamps or coupons. Can you imagine how much a GI would save were he/she to qualify for and use food stamps?
Are some GIs taking advantage of this very legal little loophole? You bet. I’m not sure if it's an ethical practice, however. What I am sure of is that the mainstream media’s (and other's) surface knowledge of the military is rampant, purposeful and demonstrable regarding this and many other matters. It only took a little Google-action to refresh my memory on how military pay worked. As I said earlier, if you don’t know, you don’t want to know.
UPDATE: David Anderson apologizes. I accept.
CORRECTION: Iron Mike, who is an Air Force officer and has a wife and a lot of kids, says that one receives more money with one dependent, but not for subsequent ones.
