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Good god, have they no decency at all?

The Carpetbagger Report:

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments. To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

Jordan Fox's case is appalling:

In Jordan Fox’s case, he was seriously injured when a roadside bomb blew up his vehicle, causing back injuries and blindness in his right eye. He was sent home, unable to complete the final three months of his military commitment. Last week, the Pentagon sent him a bill: Fox owed the government nearly $3,000 of his signing bonus.

“I tried to do my best and serve my country. I was unfortunately hurt in the process. Now they’re telling me they want their money back,” Fox said.

Updated: John Amato: Jordan is now getting a chance to speak out.

OK, so who really supports the troops? Actually, I hate to talk about the troops this way, use them to further a discussion, but these warmongering freaks (Kristol and his ilk) only make more money talking about war and more war and then attack us as anti-military because we want to get the troops out of Iraq and make sure they get the care they need when they return home. This example illustrates how little the BushCo. team values their service. I wonder how much you'll hear from the nutosphere about this story since the military uses them to spread their war propaganda around...

TP has a quote from Rep. Jason Altmire:

I am heartened by Brigadier General Michael S. Tucker’s announcement of the Army’s policy that it will not ask for repayment of bonuses paid to those soldiers who are injured in the line of duty. However, I am disappointed that the policy does not go further by stating that wounded soldiers will also receive the remaining balance of future bonus payments. It is preposterous for our government to have a policy that says that a soldier who has sustained serious injuries in the field of battle has not fulfilled his or her service obligation.

Booman Tribune; Congressional leaders on Thursday demanded that the Veterans Affairs secretary explain hefty bonuses for senior department officials involved in crafting a budget that came up $1 billion short and jeopardized veterans' health care.

Facing South: A special U.S. House task force voted yesterday to open a federal investigation into last November's disputed District 13 congressional election in Sarasota County, Fla., where more than 18,000 ballots cast by touch-screen machines recorded no vote for either candidate.

PERRspectives Blog: GOP quotes of the week, Iraq veto edition

denialism blog: Discussing the problem of denialists, their standard arguing techniques, how to identify denialists and/or cranks, and discussing topics of general interest such as skepticism, medicine, law and science. Mark Hoofnagle be taking on denialists in the sciences, while brother, Chris, will be geared more towards the legal and policy implications of industry groups using denialist arguments to prevent sound policies.

William K. Wolfrum: Tips on how to 'civilize' your blog posts

The Orstrahyun: Australia faces the world's most extreme 'climate challenge'.  How long before the mass evacuation of cities begins?

I kid you not. YR's should have accepted the ad I tried to place. They could have used the extra cash, even if it came from a Frenchman.

Nevada's chapter of the Young Republicans has basically imploded, leaving its chairman with up to $25,000 in personal debt and allegations that he mishandled money. All but three people have resigned from the statewide group, but the fallout could prove increasingly embarrassing to the entire state Republican Party. Today, the chairman of the group, Reno resident Nathan Taylor, plans to hold a press conference attacking three of the state's party leaders -- Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Jim Gibbons and Rep. Jon Porter.

"I've got bills at the hotel I can't pay," said Taylor, a 29-year-old political science senior at UNR who said he had to quit his food service job and drop classes to plan the convention....read on

Nathan's just doing a job worthy of the CBO. Taylor will probably double his efforts with extra bake sales and some double secret super duper rants. If he enlists, I'm sure he will be able to pay of the bills he ran up with all the extra incentives the Army is offering now. What say you Nathan? Your country needs you.

Also in trouble is a Steve Damion New Jersey College Republicans. Looks like he's out of a job too.

Jesus General writes a nice letter to both YR's as only the General can: "I think it's time for you to get tough. Look to our national party leaders for guidance. First, ask yourself, "What would Karl do?"...read on

Balloon-Juice: if this was young Democrats I would be chuckling right now.

Atrios says: Waaaah I hear the military is offering good signing bonuses now

OYE says:Chickenhawk Squawking Whining