...from Senator Mark Kirk's office with a link to the above video. (Let me save you the trouble; Kirk "highlights the growing danger to our country of the national debt," and blah, blah, blah...)
How come I don't remember getting e-mails like this when Kirk was my Representative and President Bush was squandering the Clinton surpluses?
Senator Kirk brings up excellent points about the budget and the military, so why is this debate then only focused on trying to balance the budget off of 12% of federal expenses while not even considering DoD or Social Security. Last year, there was an estimated 207,000 Private Security Contractors (PSC) in Iraq and Afghanistan with only 175,000 active duty military. The average salary for an E-4 grunt on the ground is $28,000 with the PSCs making up to $700/day, meaning a salary of $250,000. Granted, we have half as many military causalities (same number of wounded Americans though) because we technically have half the number of troops, but at a 6x or 8x increase in cost. Republicans now are trying to play a shell game with American's and their hard earned money and I hope that we don't fall for their quick hands and deceptive tactics.
In case you want to add the numbers up yourself: http://goo.gl/UeYqg (PSC estimates) http://goo.gl/SyOOi (Army Pay) http://goo.gl/0lNpz (PSC Pay)
Senator Kirk brings up excellent points about the budget and the military, so why is this debate then only focused on trying to balance the budget off of 12% of federal expenses while not even considering DoD or Social Security. Last year, there was an estimated 207,000 Private Security Contractors (PSC) in Iraq and Afghanistan with only 175,000 active duty military. The average salary for an E-4 grunt on the ground is $28,000 with the PSCs making up to $700/day, meaning a salary of $250,000. Granted, we have half as many military causalities (same number of wounded Americans though) because we technically have half the number of troops, but at a 6x or 8x increase in cost. Republicans now are trying to play a shell game with American's and their hard earned money and I hope that we don't fall for their quick hands and deceptive tactics.
ReplyDeleteIn case you want to add the numbers up yourself:
http://goo.gl/UeYqg (PSC estimates)
http://goo.gl/SyOOi (Army Pay)
http://goo.gl/0lNpz (PSC Pay)
P.S. I like your blog.