Wrong-placed blame
To the editor:
I’m a veteran with 13-plus years active duty with the USAF as a navigator/bombardier in B-47s and B-52s and flying the backseat of the world’s fastest airplane – the SR-71. I have more than a rudimentary knowledge of the role and function of the military.
That is why I take exception to David Kruse’s Jan. 7 column “Solve Problems long term” in which he blames “George W” and the war in Iraq as the reason the extended “Bush” tax cut were not made permanent.
Does Kruse delve into why? Of course not. On the horse that he enthusiastically rode in the 2008 election, Obama made no bones that he was opposed to the “Bush tax cuts for the rich” and had pledged during the campaign to eliminate them.
The thumping he received in last year’s election and the political reality of the situation gave him no choice but to agree with the tax extension.
Instead of blaming Obama, Kruse rambled off on another disjointed attack on George W and the Iraq war saying we the taxpayer should have a yearly surcharge equal to the cost of waging war attached to our tax bill. Would he include the payments we farmers get the subsidies to ethanol? How about the bailouts of General Motors, Chrysler and the union pension funds?
I agree our government should be held responsible for every penny of tax money it spends.
Military expenses are perhaps the only legitimate costs on a constitutional basis for the federal government. The military is required to guard and protect us from all enemies – foreign and domestic – and should not be subject to politics from any side.
I’m not questioning the patriotism of David Kruse. It is not uncommon, however, for one who has never served to have little sense of military history or duty. Of even less experience is the current occupant of the White House who, unfortunately, is in charge of our military. His hand-picked generals for the Joint Chiefs of Staff refused to criticize the repeal of “don’t ask-don’t tell” and the passage of a new START treaty. Both will damage the U.S. military.
Have they done anything than act like bobble-head dolls nodding their approvals at every Obama decree?
Kruse’s failure to blame the president does not change the fact that Barrack Hussein Obama ranks 44th best on the list of U.S. presidents. In his role of commander in chief, Obama ranks even lower.