@oregonpapa, FDR introduced many of the social programs now considered government-provided subsistence assistance, including Social Security (which is in fact no such thing). When the G.I.’s like my Pa came home from WWII, G.I. home loans were made available, allowing them to buy houses, and creating the new middle class. WWII was largely responsible for the U.S.’s recovery from The Great Depression, also a major factor in the creation of that middle class. I mention all this because it is the middle class economy and society of the 50’s and 60’s that allowed pre-recorded music, Hi-Fi equipment, and musical instruments to become readily available, for which I am extremely grateful.
Personally, I think Veterans should receive far-more substantial benefits and pensions than they currently do, and elected-public servants---politicians---should receive none. Politicians don’t need or deserve the money, Veterans do. Neither I nor almost everyone I knew went to Vietnam when we graduated High School in ’68 (neither did Clinton and Trump a few years earlier), and the few I did came home either in a body bag (my sister’s boyfriend) or seriously screwed up (a really good Chicago Blues pianist I know). It’s the least we can do for their sacrifice.
