Obama Gave Petraeus And Wife Big Government Salaries
Fri, Nov 16 2012 00:00:00 E A14_ISSUES
Posted 11/15/2012 06:54 PM ET
President Obama calls government spending "investments." But Obama had taxpayers invest not just in harebrained green energy schemes, but in those who might hurt him — like David and Holly Petraeus.
The late British Stalinist journalist Claud Cockburn is given credit for quipping, "Never underestimate the effectiveness of a straight cash bribe." How much more so when the money comes from the taxpayers' bottomless pockets?
On top of the scandal forcing military genius David Petraeus to resign as CIA director, and in which Afghan forces commanding Gen. John Allen, USMC, is in trouble for e-mail exchanges with a Tampa socialite, comes a third four-star general's troubles.
Gen. William "Kip" Ward, former head of the U.S. Africa Command, was demoted to three stars this week after a 17-month investigation discovered "lengthy stays at lavish hotels for Ward, his wife and his staff members" billed to the government.
In our quite-proper admiration for those at the highest ranks of the armed forces, we may have forgotten that some brave men and women dressed in green can be as tempted and manipulated by greenbacks as anyone else.
What are we to make, therefore, of this fact? On top of Gen. Petraeus' sizable government salary, CNSNews reports that since last year his wife Holly, the victim of Petraeus' alleged affair with author Paula Broadwell, has been enjoying a $187,605 salary as an assistant director within the Dodd-Frank law's new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Obama has made sure the Petraeuses were well within the top 1% (courtesy of the 99%, of course), with a combined government-provided annual income not too far from $400,000.
The CFPB, which is expected to destroy thousands of small banks, is funded by the Federal Reserve, so Congress has no oversight over it. Indeed, Mrs. Petraeus' post is not subject to Senate confirmation.
It may be months before the public knows what Gen. Petraeus knows about Bengazi, but when a president "invests" so much money in both you and your wife, where is your loyalty likely to go? To the truth or your powerful patron?
Film at 11....
