Yesterday it was revealed that the Pentagon revisited old signing bonuses given to soldiers in an effort to boost enlistment numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon found that, while there is no evidence that the soldiers receiving these bonuses did anything wrong, they must produce much of the money because the National Guard may have mishandled the monies they gave out. Not only is the Pentagon demanding repayment on money given to soldiers up to 10 years ago, they are also threatening large financial punishments for those who are unable to produce that money. How does this happen? The LA Times reported late yesterday that our do-nothing Congress, the one made up of so many Republicans who enjoy wearing red and white and blue memorabilia, knew for at least two years about the Pentagon’s methods of retrieving this money.
The California National Guard told the state’s members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action, according to a senior National Guard official.
The official added that improper bonuses had been paid to National Guard members in every state, raising the possibility that many more soldiers may owe large debts to the Pentagon.
The majority of cases are based in California but the fact of the matter is that there are a number of states affected, and every single soldier we send out to protect us is the responsibility of every single congressman and congresswoman Democrat or Republican. Now House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and others will be asking this useless group of Republican lawmakers to pass a bill as soon as they come back into session—after the election. Republicans will hem and haw about how if Democrats weren’t hellbent on turning our country into a communist Muslim caliphate, the Republican Party may have been able to find a way to do their jobs.