Ah yes that’s the one. And dated, if I remember correctly, BEFORE the 13 service members were killed. Oops.
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Excuse me, I thought this was a thread about an Army officer refusing one (and only one) vaccine and flouncing on his way out.
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I don’t get how they overlook that the phrase “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” begins with “Life,” not “Lifestyle”
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This is a case where you can look at a picture and see either a duck, or a rabbit. Yes, we can look at the budget and taxes that way, but it only works at the Federal level, and only in a vacuum – i.e. without foreign borrowing and foreign investment as considerations. Cities and states can’t print their own money (legally*), and so do directly tax individuals and companies to pay for government services.
What is left out of the equation (maybe not, I haven’t read the book) is that taxes aren’t actually intended to take money out of the system. Central banks do that by quite literally taking money out of the system, both physically and through policies that encourage people to park their cash instead of spend it. At the most fundamental level, taxes are a redistribution of wealth. In an “enlighted” society, that wealth flows down from the advantaged to disadvantaged through roads, education, healthcare, services and regulations that improve life, and yes, welfare. At its core, this is the conservative objection to taxation: they don’t want to redistribute their wealth to those people.
In generally I agree that deficit hawks are full of sh*t, since we can either print our way out of a deficit, or raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations, whose tax brackets are historically and ridiculously low.
(* when I lived in Kazakhstan, the city I lived in experimented with printing their own “vouchers” that pensioners could use to buy things. This eventually got the governor and mayor into hot water for various reasons).
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I really appreciate that he chose to remove himself from the armed forces. We need smart, principled people defending the country. He’s neither.
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So he submitted his resignation, claiming over 19 years of service. He also counts on accruing an additional 15 days of leave so in reality he plans on staying in for an additional 6 months.
This is not a retirement. This is theater.
If he ends up serving his 20 years, which it looks like he will despite his posturing, he will receive his 20-year letter and be eligible for full benefits, including retirement. He is already eligible for VA benefits…
For icing on the cake, as a 20-year retiree he will get a letter signed by President Biden. I’m sure he’ll love that.
By the way, if he is subject to UCMJ action for running his yap on TV his retirement can be delayed but I suspect the Army doesn’t need that drama.
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I’d say “Good Riddance”, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of this showboating ignorant turd pretty soon.
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Unless Covid incapacitates or kills him first, of course.
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WTF???
On Aug. 26, 2021, 13 American service members were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan.
His letter is dated the 23rd??
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In a sense, he’s not wrong.
The problem is that nobody’s personal freedom is absolute.
It’s restricted every day in scores of different kinds of ways for reasons that are mainly practical, sometimes aesthetic (the “no shirt” part of the no shoes mantra).
The Supreme Court chimed in over a century ago as to whether public health demands came in at a higher priority than individual freedom in extreme situations.
They do.
Here’s the thing: without public health, it’s damned hard to have a real public–cities–in the post-Industrial age. All of the old 19th century urban diseases are right around the corner waiting to make a comeback.
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And/or doing a book tour/speaking tour.
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Anti-vaxers show huge gaps in their logic. This latest go-round of the Delta variant seems to particularly hit people who believe they have a “right” to reject the shot. They’ll be dead soon, and the world will be a better place.
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The Army doesn’t need idiots in its officer class.
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So, really . . . “army officer is quite willing to damage the combat readiness of the United States army, if it means he gets some attention from right-wing assholes.”
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Fox has a vaccine mandate, so if he ends up there, pants on fire!
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Thank you for posting that. I’d posted something similar, but looks like it was collateral damage/ got gobbled.
But in case it’s not clear to any of the other happy mutants, he’s not “giving up his pension.” His pension will be calculated based on rank, years of service, and the zip code of his permanent duty station. The calculators are online, just like for social security.
He might not be able to “draw on” his pension until he hits the 20 yr mark, but it’s not like he sacrificed the whole thing to take this “stand.”
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“Give me liberty AND give me death!”
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What a beautifully succinct way of putting it.
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Seems I was late to the party. Guessing I’ll see the offenders on the naughty list later.
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Isn’t there some famous movie quote to the effect of “you are now the property of the US government” or something like that?
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