Wasn't yesterday's feast great? Have General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics Land Systems been good to you this year? They didn't let you go hungry. Nope, no lining up at the welfare center to present the monthly budget in applying for the supplemental nutrition program for arms manufacturers!
The US military says its values its soldiers. But what it really values is the hardware and those who make it.
"[Stars and Stripes reporterd] "nearly $88 million worth of food stamps were used at commissaries nationwide in 2011, up from $31 million in 2008."
"The Defense Department doesn't track commissary sales, so it's unclear which military personnel seek benefits.
"Analysts believe, however, that recent vets are the demographic most likely to need help: 860,000 sought unemployment benefits in October.
"Statisticians consider some 25 percent of these men and women to be 'young veterans.'"
Food stamp usage in the military is generally not banner news. You have to look around for it.
In October I posted a summary of food stamp use. It included an item from a southern newspaper citing the use within the military.
Again, it points out that while the US spends lavishly on its defense budget, the soldiers do not do so well. By gross tonnage in dollar bills, the defense establishment believes in civilian contractors and armaments, not its indigenous people.
You can also view food stamp subsidies as a way in which you can pay soldiers less in an institutional rip off, one in which they're actually entitled to more but forced to apply for this taxpayer money through the means test SNAP program applicants go through.
"From 2008 to 2009 military families were using food stamps at twice the rate as civilians, 25 percent to 13 percent. About $31 million of food stamps were used in nationwide commissaries.
"From July 2009 to March 2011 in Oklahoma, where there are four military bases -- Fort Sill, Tinker AFB, Vance AFB, Altus AFB -- $1.8 million in food stamps was spent."
It's a good demonstration of a systemic immorality and just another hidden national disgrace. It's the stealing of the riskiest patriotic labor so we can suck out a few dollar more for the gadgets of killing.
This post was originally published at Dick Destiny blog. DD blog is guaranteed 100 percent free of robots and bloodsucking defense contractors.
