The Hightower Report

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RIPPING OFF VETERANS

In the wild and woolly world of unbridled commerce, you'll often encounter disgusting life forms than can only be described as sleaze or slime. For example, take the roving band of companies that profit by essentially bilking vulnerable military veterans of their pensions.

These financial corporations appeal to vets who face some personal crisis and need quick cash. No problemo, say the financial agents, just sign over your military pension payments to us for a while, and we'll advance you some cash. Only later do these desperate veterans realize that they've been robbed – to get, say $20,000, they give up $60,000 or more in monthly pension payments, amounting to as high as 75% interest.

These schemes are illegal, for the law says that future military pensions cannot be signed away by a retiree. Incredibly, though, the Pentagon sides not with our soldiers, but with the profiteering companies that prey on them, even handling the paperwork to divert the retirees' pay to the corporation. Pentagon officials twist the language of the law, declaring that these are not assignments of retiree pay, which would be illegal, but merely the "collateral" for loans taken by retirees.

The companies twist the language further, denying that these are even loans. Rather, they say that these deals are straightforward commercial transactions: "We are just purchasing a stream of payments," one company lawyer said coldly.

Even colder, whenever veterans balk at paying the usurious rip-off, company lawyers sue them, usually in courts far away from where the vets live. Financially strapped retirees cannot afford to challenge these companies, so they are losing the cases by default, and often having to file for personal bankruptcy.

What's bankrupt here is a system that's robbing veterans. Where's Bush? Where's Rumsfeld? Where's Congress? To help battle this outrage call the National Consumer Law Center: 202/452-6252.

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STAR WARS MISSILE MISFIRES … AGAIN

Gosh, it's sad that the Bushites have not been able to provide protective armor for all of our troops in Iraq – resulting in untold numbers of needless deaths and maimings – but … well, the Pentagon has other priorities. Such as playing with its Star Wars toys.

There recently was another test of this boondoggle. The scheme is that the military industry can build a whiz-bang technological wonder that will allow a U.S. missile to be fired at an incoming enemy missile and shoot it out of the air. So far, the Pentagon has shoveled $80 billion into this smoke-and-mirrors stunt, with another $50 billion to be thrown at it in the next five years.

I say "smoke-and-mirrors," because it doesn't work – and nearly all independent experts say it won't ever work, and isn't even needed.

Indeed, the Pentagon even rigged its previous tests – including putting beacons on the target missile so their Star Wars missile can find it easily – yet, it still doesn't hit the target. The latest test was especially embarrassing. Instead of merely missing the target, this one couldn't even get off the ground. Pentagon chief Donnie Rumsfeld, however, is undeterred, saying that critics who claim that his pet project doesn't work are misguided, because "what the definition of 'work' is, is terribly important."

OK, Donnie, try this small dose of reality: The system is so flawed that it cannot be fired if the weather is bad! Excuse my skepticism, but it's at least possible that an enemy might not wait for a perfectly clear, calm day to take a shot at us.

The main thing that the Bushites' highly touted missile defense system can be counted on is to hit the federal budget. But they don't care, for it's all being deficit financed, paid in IOUs that our grandchildren will have to pay – long after the Bushites are gone and their Star Wars scam has been assigned to the scrap heap of ridiculous waste. Is there no other need in America that we could spend this money on?