Soldiers Say It's Hard to Eat a $45 Million Parade
How embarrassing. Our showbiz president's glorious $45 million military parade -- fssssst -- fizzled. The gods rained on it, the thing dragged on and President Donald Trump himself kept nodding off in his chair. Sad.
His show needed some of the reality-TV drama that defines this president. For example, he could've had a phalanx of food trucks rumbling down the street, chased by hundreds of hungry U.S. soldiers, waving empty plates and chanting, "Feed the Troops!"
Besides being entertaining, that spectacle would've brought long-overdue public attention to an outrage that really rankles rank-and-file soldiers -- namely, hunger. Yes, the trillion-dollar Pentagon budget that overflows with waste and boondoggles for corporate contractors actually leaves military families struggling to have enough to eat, much less being well-fed.
Indeed, about 25% of service members are so poorly paid and poorly served on U.S. Army bases that they are officially "food insecure," relying on food stamps and local food pantries for their bare bones nutritional needs. Last November, for example, it was reported that the base dining hall at Fort Carson, Colo., was serving a miserly "meal" consisting of one slice of toast and a spoonful of lima beans. Some bases are only offering gas-station-style grab-and-go snacks.
More scandalous, soldiers have a $460 "food tax" automatically deducted from their meager paychecks each month to pay for food. But the Army brass quietly diverts two-thirds of the soldiers' money to other purposes -- which they won't disclose.
Congress knows about this and does nothing. Trump doesn't even want to know. And Pentagon honcho Hegseth is lost in the fog of his own incompetence. To help raise awareness and Hell, go to FeedingAmericaAction.org.
WHY SANITATION WORKERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE THAN CABINET OFFICIALS
Surprisingly, top Republicans in Congress and the White House have recently been praising labor!
Oh, wait -- they're not hailing America's laborers, but touting the existential virtue of "laboring." "Work," exclaim these politicos, provides "dignity" to all who labor.
Dignity? They've obviously never been inside a meatpacking plant, done roofing jobs for a wage-thieving developer, been paid a pittance to clean office buildings at midnight ... or otherwise fully experienced the "dignity of labor."
Years ago, Sen. Fred Harris was accosted at a political event by a rich businessman who demanded that Democrats reduce taxes by cutting the wages of government workers. The guy sputtered in disbelief that "mere garbagemen" were being paid $6 an hour. Fred stopped him right there, curtly asking: "Is that too much? What would it take to get you to do that job?"
Unfortunately, the guy's crass classism is now official policy in Washington. In the name of "cutting waste" and lowering taxes on billionaires, a gaggle of narcissistic plutocrats -- including Trump, "Chainsaw" Musk, cabinet appointees, and congressional extremists -- have ganged up to fire valuable public service workers and slash essential assistance for poor families.
There is no sugar coating for the vulgarity and moral depravity of such elites whupping up on middle- and low-income families for their own gain. Moreover, their disdain for the value and creativity of those who do the daily work that makes America work is stupid ... and socially suicidal.
Plus, their self-esteem is ludicrous. Indeed, if you pitted the social value of a sanitation worker to any of Trump's budget-slashing cabinet czars -- guess which one the public would say is overpaid ... and dispensable?
To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.
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