Day: August 10, 2007

Growingly Desperate, Army Trying Anything to Nab Recruits

Trish

You know the Army is getting desperate for recruits when it starts overlooking drug use, criminal records, age, and obesity. But oh yeah, you still can’t tell anyone you’re gay.

Despite spending nearly $1 billion last year on recruiting bonuses and ads, Army leaders say an even bolder approach is needed to fill wartime ranks.

Under a new proposal, men and women who enlist could pick from a “buffet” of incentives, including up to $45,000 tax-free that they accrue during their career to help buy a home or build a business. Other options would include money for college and to pay off student loans.

This would come after the other recent enhancements to recruiting failed to get the numbers up, including:

  • Increasing to $20,000 the bonus for troops who join by Sept. 30 and leave for boot camp within a month
  • Raising the enlistment age to 42
  • Allowing recruits to come in with non-offensive tattoos on their hands and neck
  • Offering a $2,000 bonus to Army soldiers who refer a new recruit
  • Enlisting recruits who don’t meet weight standards and must trim down their first year
  • Advertising that targets potential recruits’ parents
  • Increasing the number of recruits with general education diplomas (GEDs) rather than regular high school diplomas
  • Creating a more pleasant boot camp environment
  • Sending “gung-ho” soldiers fresh from boot camp or war zones back to their hometowns to visit old friends and schoolmates to promote the Army
  • Increasing to more than 15 percent the number of Army and Army Reserve troops given waivers for medical and moral reasons or for positive drug and alcohol screen tests

The Army blames the dwindling numbers on several factors.

More high school graduates are going to college, and the economy is strong, providing lots of civilian jobs. At the same time, only three of 10 people between 17 and 24 fully meet the military’s standards.

Less obvious factors have also decreased the recruitment pool. They include higher obesity rates, more people diagnosed with mental health conditions such as attention-deficit disorder, more criminal citations due to the increase of the drinking age from 18 to 21.

Let’s see, did we miss anything? Nah, I guess that pretty well covers all the possible reasons people aren’t joining the Army.

Oh yeah, how about THE FRICKIN’ WAR? Maybe the idea of being cannon fodder in an endless and futile bad idea doesn’t appeal to a lot of people.

Alaska Republican (A Different One) Suspected of Biggest Earmark Grab Ever

Trish

The stench from a recently discovered earmark in the 2005 Federal Transportation bill is making members of the Lee County, Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization board swoon. They are also demanding an explanation.

Back in 2005 — before voters the following year tossed out corrupt Republican politicians by the handfuls — it was business as usual for Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Bob Young (R-Alaska) to pay back a donor with a gift from the public till. He appears to have done just that by slipping into the bill new I-75 exit and entrance ramps to a development project being built by a crony.

“I’ve seen little gimmicks and little tricks used to make sure somebody’s friend or contributor is taken care of but this is by far one of the more underhanded, surreptitious examples I’ve seen — ever.”

Young visited Southwest Florida in early 2005 to attend a town hall meeting.

While in town, Daniel Aronoff, a wealthy part-time Naples resident who owns property east of Coconut Road and would benefit from the interchange, held a fundraiser for Young…

The words “Coconut Road interchange” were not in the federal transportation bill approved by Congress in 2005.

Those words were attached to a $10 million earmark sometime after the House and Senate votes but before the president signed the bill into law.

Young can at least be proud that people are hailing his alleged move as one of the most egregious ever. After all, if you’re going to go then go big. But if he did it, as O.J. would say, then how?

The language within the earmark was changed during a process called “bill enrollment,” when technical corrections are made to legislation before being sent to the president. Such corrections include changes to punctuation, section numbers or updates to reflect final actions taken by the House and Senate.

“This goes beyond the intent of the technical corrections process,” said Keith Ashdown, a researcher for the Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group. “It’s supposed to be about getting your punctuation right, not about making sure that your major benefactor is getting their pork…I’ve seen little gimmicks and little tricks used to make sure somebody’s friend or contributor is taken care of but this is by far one of the more underhanded, surreptitious examples I’ve seen — ever.”

Even after people started getting whiffs of the stinky largess, Young and fellow Republican Rep. Connie Mack tried to make it sound like an offer Naples, Florida couldn’t refuse.

In letters to county leaders, Young and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, warned that the money could be lost and future funding jeopardized should it be rejected.

In fact, funding reallocations happen all the time.

Board members want to get to the bottom of the issue by their Aug. 17 meeting when they will decide how, with all the actual urgent priorities for roads in their area, the money should best be spent.