Army Bonuses: Up To $40,000 and Counting

This is getting ridiculous. Our men and women in uniform deserve only the best, but the quagmire of Iraq (created by Bush) is forcing our military to up the ante substantially so that our "all volunteer" military starts to look more and more like paid mercenaries. Now the Army is offering bonuses up to $40,000 for certain jobs, not to mention up to $50,000 in home mortgage help. All you have to do is sign up for eight years. And heck, since the people who only signed up for four years have to keep serving anyway thanks to a backdoor draft, what's the big deal?

Bush is truly damaging our long-term safety by abusing the very nature of the National Guard and Reserves, betraying our troops by not keeping our promises to them (in equipment, safety, tour of duty length, etc.) and turning recruitment into a desperate cash bonanza.

What Bush isn't doing: pushing for more permanent troops, pushing for better benefits for the National Guard and reservists, or even pretending there's an exit strategy for Iraq (where our troops will be mired for a good decade or more, according to his people).

What Bush is doing: spending millions to root out desperately needed gay and lesbian soldiers willing to fight and die for their country, lowering standards by accepting older recruits as officers and looking the other way when it comes to past "minor" crimes. Inspiring, isn't it?