There is one very important reason why the wars in the Middle East have been able to go on for so long: because of the economy. Troop levels have been able to support two wars because of the economic draft. Not to many complain when the poor/working class are the ones being blown up. Now more then ever the younger working class and the poor are running to the military to avoid life in the streets. Currently there is a long wait list to go to boot camp. The military are kicking soldiers/sailors/corpsmen/airmen out right and left. I worry many more families will become homeless because of the downsizing, more MOSes being contracted out, and families being forced into a jobless economy. Just like 99% it is becoming increasingly hard for military families to make their budgets work. Many are facing financial hardship just like the rest of the country.
President Obama signed into law the Veterans Job Bill which is GREAT but where are the jobs. The jobs are disappearing before our eyes and they are not coming back. Why isn't the government pushing to fund new Green jobs. Put veterans in those jobs. There is one phrase all military families know well; "adjust fire". The men and women in uniform have been able to turn this phrase into an art form. The future of the next economic power house is green jobs. What better group of people to employee to pioneer this new economic frontier. Veterans have been trained to think fast, think on their feet, and adjust fire. If something does not work they are more then capable of thinking outside the box and make it work. Think of how far green energy can go with veterans employed in this job market.
Why are our elected leaders not taking a serious look at the Peoples Budget? Why is the Stop Outsourcing Security Act introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jan Schakowsky still stuck in committee? The Peoples Budget would bring troops home, re-introduce the public option, raise taxes on the wealthy, and protect programs like Social Security and Medicare. The Stop Outsourcing Security Act would phase out private contracts and give those jobs back to the troops which would save an enormous amount of money.
Great information on this:
http://sanders.senate.gov/...
http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/...
Richard Clarke's book: Against All Enemies
Jeremy Scahill's book: Blackwater The Rise Of The World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
As part of the 99% I am not ashamed to say my family is part of this economic draft and I would like to share my family's story.
When my husband was eighteen and full of patriotic duty and a desire to get out of a small town he enlisted into the United States Marine Corp. While he was in the Corps I was going to school with the help/burden of student loans. My husband did his time and was honorable discharged when his four year contract was up. We started our little family and life was good until the economy tanked. My husband was laid off twice. It was hard but we knew we were going to be alright. We would eat more meals over at my parents house with the added bonus Grandma and Grandpa got more time with the grandchildren, we would shut off our cable, and tighten our belts anyway we could. My husband started working for a friend who was a contractor but as the construction business goes it was hit and miss and we could never depend on a set income.
No matter what we were still going to be alright because I still had my job and we had health insurance with my job. Then it happened. More and more talk from management; they wanted to trim costs as the president of the company took home a thirteen million dollar bonus. Part of the cost trimming was my job. They wanted to either automate my job or outsource it; whichever one was cheaper. I knew the rumors were true when I was pulled into my supervisors office and she gave me the task of putting together a step by step manual of my job function for management and the computer programmers to evaluate my job function.
Perfect timing; my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our third child. It is a little hard to have a baby in this country without health insurance. My husband said he would go down to the recruiting office Monday to see if he could re-enlist. I called the abortion clinic to make an appointment incase he could not re-enlist. We were very lucky. my husband found out he was eligible for re-enlistment with the Army. We took the money we were going to use to end the pregnancy and went to lunch to talk. We ran into one of my uncles while eating and we must have acted so weird but it was nice to take our minds off of our future for a few minutes to say hi. As we were eating lunch we knew we were going to welcome another child into this world but we also new my husband was putting his life on the line for our child. We knew there would be deployments and risk but we also knew we were one paycheck away from losing our home, healthcare, and being able to provide for our children. We knew if I ended up a widow I would be raising three children alone but we would have health insurance and life insurance to provide a home and college for our kids. Today we have healthcare, a roof over our heads, cloths for are children, a nice Christmas, food on the table, and are starting to get ready for our second deployment.
Today many military families are feeling the pain of the economy. With some sacrifice, some adjust fire, and a lot of Lady Luck my family is still alright even with the cost of living rising. To cut cost I make our own cleaning supplies, make our own laundry soap, we are a one television home, one car household, and my husband can work magic with leftovers. To cut cost even more when my husband deploys I will shut the cable off (not going to take away his cooking shows before deployment). My children are getting older and I want to go back to work but we still have Lady Luck on our side. The job market where we are stationed is bad. There was one job I would have loved to apply for only bad part it was a second shift job. My family is lucky enough I was able to opt out of applying for that job and not giving up family time before deployment. I babysit for a friend when needed and I am able to put all that money into an emergency fund for the just in case. My family has a better life then many in terms of economics but I also know that is shear luck. I know if we had major car repairs, if the Commissary is contracted out and starts charging full price, if my husband has to process out of the military we will be in a lot of trouble. We will once again be looking in the face of economic despair just like so many other families are forced to do each day.
