The Democrat Poison-Pill Plan for the Military

Let's say you're a young person working for a large, well respected corporation with a very pronounced global presence and an acute need for an increased workforce. Your job is difficult, but also very personally fulfilling. Despite the fact that you love your job, you find yourself thinking about moving on. Sensing this, your boss comes to you and says:

"I hear you're thinking about quitting. We really value your work and we need you to stay. It's hard to find qualified employees like yourself so we'd definitely like it if you stayed on. But, just so you're aware, if you do decide to quit and pursue another career, we will gladly continue to pay you at close to your current salary for the next three years. We'll only pay you this money if you quit, though."

Hmmm... Tough decision, right? Not really. You'd take the money and run, laughing all the way to the bank.

The casual observer might note that this corporation is not very well run. Some might even suggest that in giving their employees a lucrative motivation for leaving, this corporation will inevitably make their personnel shortage dramatically worse. If you're blunt like me, you might say "that's bat-shit crazy!"

Well, my friends, I give you the Democrat plan for running the Department of Defense.

Senate Democrats, led by Hothead Senator Jim Webb, have proposed a plan whereby Montgomery GI Bill benefits will increase from a $1,100 per month stipend to $1,700. They also want to add a housing allowance (which, if it's like the housing allowance for active duty servicemembers, would average about $700 a month). Yes, math majors, that's more than doubling the benefit!

This is being referred to as the Thank-You-For-Serving-Now-Please-Stop-Serving Bill of 2008 (full disclosure: only I am referring to it as that). Senators McCain, Graham and Burr have proposed a more sensible bill that increases benefits, while also making sure the plan maintains an incentive to stay ARMY STRONG (or whatever those other services say in their ads).

One is left wondering what the Democrats' true motivations are. It could be a guilt trip thing (we hate everything you do, but here you go, we'll make it up to you). I also think it's symptomatic of the general attitude on the left that servicemembers are victims, needing to be coddled and protected by our loving federal government. But what I really fear is that the inevitable result of this bill, dramatic losses in retention, is something the left secretly embraces.

Now far be it from me to suggest that the Democrats might have ulterior malevolent motivations--well, no, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. Under the Democrat plan, every servicemember gets a golden parachute out of the military while the institution they leave will atrophy, rendered impotent by a left-wing movement that really always wanted it dead. It took them a while to find the right poison pill, but now they have it. And they're ramming it down our throats.