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I realize that I have posted quite a few news broadcasts lately and that some may feel there is little value in this type of posting on a financial blog site; however, I would beg to differ.
I couldn’t sleep last night and I woke-up early this morning (@ 2:30am) thinking about all that is going on in my life and in the world around us lately. Hoping that if I watched a little “light television” that I would be able to fall back to sleep. That didn’t work! I ended-up watching a re-run of Brad Meltzer’s “Decoded” which originally appeared on the History Channel in 2011. The episode, entitled “The President’s Inner Circle,” chronicled the American Revolution, the Culper Spy Ring and its contribution to the war, and Benedict Arnold’s traitorous actions during the war.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Benedict Arnold, he was actually considered to be an American hero and patriot up until the time he turned his back on his best friend, George Washington (yes, that “George Washington”), and on his country. As it turns out, Arnold decided to sell-out the country and his fellow citizens because the government was unable to pay him for all of his services and efforts during the war.
The U.S. (the future U.S. that is) was engaged in a gorilla war with the British and money was sparse; as a result, Arnold was seven years behind on his pay. Can you guess what happened next? You got it — he decided that he had had enough and that he wanted to get his money, so he decided to sell-out to the British for 20,000 Pounds, a fortune at the time. So, what does this have to do with the CBS Evening news broadcast — well — during yesterday’s evening news, Scott Pelley reported that the U.S. Military is “under orders to cut the budget.” To do so, military officials have proposed a plan to cut “Danger Pay” to soldiers operating in areas of — well — extreme danger. The plan, which is expected to be approved later this week, could save the U.S. Government 120.00 million dollars per year, but approximately 56,000 soldiers would see their pay reduced by as much as $225.00 per month. Per month? Really? How petty!
This is really bordering on traitorous. U.S. Government officials have not entertained the idea of reducing billions of dollars of aide to foreign governments and foreign militaries (or to their own pay for that matter), yet they are willing to cut the pay of fighting men and women (the true patriots of our nation) by as little as $225.00 per month? I feel sick again!
Brad Meltzer ended his piece with the following quote:
The best legacy of the Culper Ring is that it supports my core belief. You see, I believe ordinary people change the world. I don’t care where you went to school. I don’t care how much money you make. I believe that regular people, like the Culper Ring, is how the world gets changed. Don’t ever forget, history is a selection process. Most of us think that it chooses a moment, and a person, and it puts them together; but history chooses each of us, every single day, and the only question is: Will you hear the call?
Need I say more?
Note: The video is of the entire news broadcast (an individual segment was not available) and the part covering the military pay cuts can be found at time marker 10:40/20:58.
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