Jesus Christ! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

And we have not started the violent overthrow of the US Government again why???

Wronger than wrong. Wronger than wrong. Wronger than a youth pastor's errant dong.

If there's any spindoctoring done here, please will you keep us apprised?

Completely ridiculous, of course, though I would guess it's more the result of a stupid bureaucracy than anything intentional. The system sees that they were discharged and sends them a bill. Someone forgot to take into account that there are various, completely unequal, reasons for being discharged.

Still, it's insane that they should have to go this far. Someone should have corrected this instantly.

The word "despicable" seems woefully inadequate to properly describe this.

What does it even mean to be in the military these days, anyway? It’s sure as hell got nothing to do with protecting our country or our rights.

It’s all about invading foreign countries, torturing and murdering the locals then stealing their natural resources. That’s not noble—that’s the plot for V: The Miniseries.

Every day I think to myself, this administration can't possibly do anything to fuck up even more than it already has. It just doesn't seem possible. And yet, on an almost daily basis, they prove me wrong.

This is beyond fucked up. As a veteran myself, I can't begin to tell you how insulting this is. I actually had to walk away for a few minutes before I could calm myself enough to write this. Whoever is responsible for this travesty deserves a lingering and painful death.

They're gonna use the money saved to license that Godsmack song for another recruitment commercial. OH WAH AH AH!

Don't you just love it?

Wait 'till you see what they've done to health care for us vets!

I WISH I HAD SPIT ON THOSE CHICKENHAWKS WHEN I WAS IN LOOGIE RANGE

Do Cantwell and Murray know about this?

I'll have to ask some of the army guys I invited over for turkeyday about this crap. That's really fucked up if it's true.

Shut up Dan, you freedom-hater you. You are totally for the terrorists, undercutting our steadfast leadership. We're AT WAR, don't you realize that? No need for dignity or that old piece of shit, the US Constitution. Just gets in the way.

I would love to say I'm surprised but...

Ok, lemme get this straight... people are offered this big signing bonus, as a way to induce people to join the army and risk getting blown to hell.

Then, when you get blown to hell, they ask for some portion of it back?

Well, if they were having trouble meeting their enlistment quotas before, I don't think this will help much.

What a bunch of cheap, heartless bastards.

How is it that there is no end to the depths to where this administration sinks? How is it that they keep finding something else to slap us in the face with? Why don't they ask these guys to refund all the money spent on their training, since they were obviously failures because they allowed themselves to be wounded?

Why does anyone still give this mentally impotent fuckwit any approval points at all?

"Sure, I'll give you your money back. Got the check right here. And I'll send it off to you as soon as I recieve my fucking legs."

It doesn't surprise me. Recently on NPR they reported that the military is discharging folks with PTSD for mental disorders. Never mind that the mental disorder was caused by their military service.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16330374&ft=1&f=2

@8: Disturbed, not Godsmack.

Yes, that simian "Oh ah ah" scream belongs to Disturbed, but Godsmack are in fact the big military recruitment whores. Check out this hilarious interview from Arthur:

http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=1244

anthony @4, yes, you're right, but these things come from the top down. the admin. sets the tone for the bureaucracy below it, and we have seen the truth of this over and over for the last 7 yrs. it's "incompetency and distain work just fine for us" and so it goes...until congress/the american people actually DO something about it.

You can urge passage of H.R. 3793, the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007, by writing a letter to:

Representative Susan Davis
Chair, Subcommittee on Military Personnel
U.S. House of Representatives
1526 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Meanwhile Bush has directed the military to take the money for fighting the Iraq War from the salaries of the Navy and Air Force.

Which tells you how insane and how much they hate the armed forces in the White House.

Will in Seattle @ 22,

The military will still stampede to vote Republican, so there's no downside for the Repubs on this.

Oh God, Dan, I think you just wrecked my Thanksgiving by posting this. Just when I honestly think this fucking administration can't possibly be any more idiotic, along comes this little tidbit of happy news. For Fuck's Sake, can we not impeach this guy already?!?

But paying them for the rest of their life is the "welfare state" ... we can't have that, can we!!!!

Fucking nut jobs

I have not voted for either Bush-and with the way things are going, I don't think I am voting Republican anytime soon. Neither has/is any veteran in my family.

There, now-feel better?

I think debating this is useless. I know what will happen.

Some Republican will go on TV putting this spin: "see what happens, we need more funding for the military, we can't even pay our blown to bits soldiers, it's because these liberals want to put a cap on our army budget"

And a significant amount of idiots watching tv will vote Republican, because it's the patriotic thing to do.

On one hand I feel sorry for these soldiers.
On the other hand I am sure most of them had no qualms when they did worse things to civilians in Iraq, so maybe it's just karma.