Grumpy Editor

NIH, CDC wasteful taxpayer-funded programs cited

Grumpy Editor ran across a piece by Joseph Rossell, at media watchdog NewsBusters, who cited “the media’s unwillingness to point to wasteful spending” at both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, combined, award about 64,000 research grants annually.

“The combined budgets of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, FBI, DEA and Secret Service came to nearly $1 billion less than the NIH and CDC combined budgets,” Russell tallied.

He listed “15 wasteful programs totaling $15,135,574,669” while “NIH and CDC are still having trouble coming up with ways to fund their fight against Ebola.”

Among the rather strange taxpayer-funded programs:

NIH spent $3.2 million getting monkeys drunk exclusively on alcohol to determine what effect the beverage has long term on their body tissue.

Then there’s $90 million that NIH awarded to Chinese researchers for various public health research projects, including $2 million to develop a vaccine for a parasite disease common in China.

Less NIH funding ---$181,406 ---went to a University of Kentucky researcher to study how cocaine enhances the sex drive of Japanese quail.

Congress in 2004 voted to give NIH $1.5 million to spend on four sex studies: Mood Arousal and Sexual Risk Taking, Study on Sexual Habits of Older Men, Study on San Francisco’s Asian Prostitutes/Masseuses and Study on American Indian Transgender Research.

CDC, via ObamaCare, received $15 billion to convince Americans to make “healthy” choices through “Community Transformation Grants.”

Read other ways NIH and CDC spend taxpayer money here.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page at a correspondents’ seminar, declared:  “My big fear is that this administration has been more restrictive and more challenging to the press, more dangerous to the press, really, than any administration in American history in terms of legal investigations and so on. And I think access to the White House has just gotten worse and worse.”  She added, “Decisions are made in closed-door meetings, or with the silent stroke of the president's pen, or because some lobbyist got some congressman to slip his pet project into a bill during the dead of night. We have to take the blinders off the White House. The more people know about what's going on in Washington, and how their tax dollars are being spent, and who's raising money for who, the less likely it is that major decisions will be hijacked by lobbyists and special interests.”  Adding to that, in illustrating the clampdown on details, Bloomberg White House correspondent Margaret Talev noted the White House has stopped providing details on fine wines served at state dinners...With the media spotlight on tomorrow’s voting, Larry Kudlow, in his syndicated column, maintained “the vast majority of political journalists…are missing a very big story.” He called it “the beginning of a new conservative revolution,” pointing out “the Republicans are going to recapture the Senate, picking up more seats than most any forecaster expects.  And the House GOP is going to add to its majority”…In other election-time news, California Gov. Jerry Brown, when asked at a campaign stop in Modesto why he hasn’t done more to lay out an agenda for a fourth term, replied: “I have communicated more completely to the people of California than any other governor in history”…In early voting, a number of voting machines in Maryland and Illinois were electronically switching Republican votes to Democrat, raising suspicions that fraud could be at the root of the malfunctions.  Among those encountering the vote switch:  Maryland’s Queen Anne County Sheriff Gary Hofmann.  The same problem occurred in Chicago where an election official attributed it to a “calibration error”…Tipping off the bad guys:  News reports over the weekend revealed the U.S. is intercepting Syria president’s communications for information on Islamic State militants…The New York Times Co. informed investors to expect a drop in fourth quarter ad spending.  That sent its stock down 6 percent on Thursday.  The Times, which last month announced plans to cut 100 newsroom employees, is working to transform itself into a digital newsroom with specialized stories and online subscription packages.

No stop-the-presses surprise here.  Newspaper headline following Vice President Joe Biden’s appearance Saturday at a Las Vegas rally:  Biden urges Latino voters to turn out for Democrats.

 

$7 billion power bill for Africa taps U.S. taxpayers; Newspaper editorial head count continues downward

American taxpayers, often facing power outages and steady rate increases from their local electric utility, are raising eyebrows today following President Barack Obama --- while on a three-nation tour of Africa --- pledging $7 billion to bring electricity to more parts of Africa, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The Power Africa project is directed mainly at Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique. 

Speaking yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa, Obama says the project would bring electricity to as many as 20 million homes and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Today’s assignment:  Survey U.S. media reports, see if there is mention that U.S. taxpayers would be supporting the $7 billion project in Africa while at home they are facing higher power bills and, in some cases, other costs. 

In Nevada, for example, a recently-passed state bill calls for NV Energy to shutter coal-fired power plants and replace them with renewable energy and natural gas facilities --- with ratepayers reimbursing the New York Stock Exchange-listed utility for both closing old power plants and for construction of new ones.

 

Newspaper editorial staffers slide continues 

There were about 2,600 fewer full-time professional editorial jobs at newspapers last year, a 6.4 percent decline from 2011, leaving that category with about 38,000 full-time employees, reports the American Society of News Editors in its annual newsroom census.

The total could be even lower.  ASNE points out some large newspapers did not fill out the survey this year, resulting in missing data.

Those include USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, the Arizona Republic, the Miami Herald, the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune and several others.

In all, 978 of 1,382 dailies responded to the survey.

Additionally, notes ASNE, the definition of editorial staff has become muddled as some newspaper operations maintain regional editing centers.

 

In case you missed these…

Crossfire will be returning to CNN in the fall.  An earlier version aired for 19 years…At least a dozen Los Angeles Times editorial staffers received pink slips Friday…The Star-Ledger, Newark, part of Advance Publications, warns its 771 workers it may shut down by the end of the year if its employee unions don't make concessions…Not getting much coverage:  CNSNews reports that “the Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to ‘unauthorized’ alien workers who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011”…In a massive downsizing, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades to 33 from 45. A brigade usually numbers about 3,500 soldiers, but can be as large as 5,000 for the heavily armored units…Los Angeles bans plastic bags used in supermarkets.  Patrons have to bring their own reusable bags or pay a dime for each paper bag.  (No reports from environmentalists on concern in the number of trees cut down to supply sudden heavy usage of sturdy paper bags)…John Shaffer, program director at KDWN, Las Vegas, is named president of the Associated Press Television and Radio Association (APTRA).

A Bergen County, N.J. couple is facing a fine (up to $500) after neighbors complained the bird feeder of Alfred and Annette Rockefeller is attracting too much wildlife. Alfred, 77 and disabled, says feeding birds is one of his joys.

Wall Street Journal takes poke at prompt loan-repaying Tesla Motors; Fast Company cites 'golden age for TV'

Rather than kudos to Tesla Motors, Inc. for paying off an almost half billion dollar government startup loan in a swift three years, a Wall Street Journal editorial took a swipe at the fast-growing electric car maker, notes Grumpy Editor.

Tesla wired a $451.8 million payment to the government on Wednesday. That sum, coupled with two prior payments, paid off a $465 million loan the company received from the Department of Energy in 2010 to foster development of advanced-technology vehicles.

The repayment came nine years early.

Despite the prompt payment (while other companies with recent government loans have defaulted or are about to) a WSJ editorial writer, in giving a bit of history on the California-based company, decided to “take apart Tesla by the numbers, if only to give our reader-taxpayers a better sense of what they’ve paid to make Tesla’s owners rich.” 

Taking up one fourth of the editorial page on Friday, the material cited subsidies, windfalls, a brokerage report and a Los Angeles Times analysis.  It even mentioned an environmentalist who noted “manufacturing and charging electric cars over their life cycle can produce more carbon than small, gas-powered vehicles.”

The negative editorial was contrary to the hefty applause WSJ’s auto writer Dan Neil recently gave Tesla after a comprehensive test drive. 

And on Saturday’s The Journal Editorial Report on Fox, Kimberley Strassel, WSJ editorial board member, praised Tesla in the week’s hits or misses segment, giving the high-tech auto firm a solid hit in paying off the loan. 

Meanwhile, those “rich owners” --- big and small investors of the publicly-held stock --- gave their answer to the WSJ editorial at the market close on Friday:  Tesla jumped $4.35 a share, reaching $97.08, almost four times above its 52-week low.

 

Magazine hails TV as top creative medium

 

Catching Grumpy Editor’s eyes was some material in the June issue of Fast Company that lead off with:  “Once a wasteland, TV is now the most thoughtful creative entertainment medium of them all.” 

Then it added, “It’s a golden age for TV, where on any given night, viewers can find multiple examples of American comedic and dramatic genius.” 

Huh? 

Sounds like something that was written in the 1950s, not the current fare that includes easy-on-the-budget reality shows, unfunny comedies peppered with laugh tracks and a parade of reruns in prime time. 

It’s hard to beat the TV menu of the 1950s.  Among top shows was Playhouse 90, a 90-minute weekly drama series on Thursdays that ran from 1956 to 1960 on CBS.  Playhouse 90 began as a live series, making a transition to tape in 1957. 

On the comedy side was Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” on NBC from 1950 to 1954.  The Saturday night “live” 90-minute variety program, which produced genuine laughs, also featured Carl Reiner and Imogene Coca.

 

In case you missed these… 

Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, warning on the Justice Department investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen, declared:  "U.S. government efforts to prosecute leakers by obtaining information from journalists has a chilling effect domestically and sends a terrible message to journalists around the world who are fighting to resist government intrusion."  Meanwhile, in connection with the Rosen case and the Associated Press scandal, Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said:  The president was "a strong defender of the First Amendment and a firm believer in the needs of the press to obtain information."

 

While accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan has been paid more than $278,000 since the Nov. 5, 2009 incident that left 13 dead and 32 injured, soldiers wounded in the mass shooting are fighting to receive the same pay and medical benefits given to those wounded in combat…ESPN is cutting about 10 percent of its work force…Bob Schieffer, the 44-year CBS News veteran and moderator of “Face the Nation,” received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism…A panel of news and news/talk experts named Hubbard Radio's WTOP, Washington, D.C., the U.S.’s top news station in Radio Ink Magazine's first listing of news and news/talk stations…ABC News’ Diane Sawyer and Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren made Forbes’ 2013 list of the world’s most powerful women.  Sawyer ranked No. 73 and Van Susteren No. 97.

 

Young spellers --- perhaps some will be future copy editors --- will be in the spotlight tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday for the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md.  The Bee, promoted by E.W. Scripps Co. since 1941, started in 1925 with nine contestants.

Newspaper reporter sinks to bottom of least-favored jobs; a reminder: HHS adds PR firm to tout ObamaCare

For those thinking about a career as newspaper reporter, some glum news:  that occupation ranks as the worst these days, tallies a 2013 CareerCast.com Jobs Rated Report, observes Grumpy Editor.

Newspaper reporter drops to the bottom of the list (No. 200) in a tally by the Carlsbad, Calif., firm.  That’s one notch below lumberjack and compares with a 126 ranking in 1988.

“Newspaper reporters have fared poorly in the report for years due to the job's high stress and tight deadlines, low pay and requirement to work in all conditions to get the story,” points out CareerCast.com.  “Ever-shrinking newsrooms, dwindling budgets and Internet competition have created a very difficult environment, driving the position to dead last on this year's Jobs Rated Report.”

Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com mentions, "People who love to write can consider working for online publications or transition to advertising or public relations.  Many jobs in communications offer better hours, greater stability, a work/life balance and a healthier hiring outlook than being a newspaper reporter."

So what are the top five 2013 jobs?

Topping the list is actuary, followed by biomedical engineer, software engineer, audiologist and financial planner.

 

Another reminder of outside PR use by HHS

Making the rounds again on the Web after a Newsmax mention last week is the Obama administration awarding PR firm Weber Shandwick a $3.1 million contract “to help sell ObamaCare to the uninsured and persuade them to enroll in a healthcare plan.”

The repeat of an announcement almost seven months earlier does remind, however, how Washington --- with wall-to-wall chatter these days on budget cuts via sequester --- spends taxpayer money on an outside PR campaign when Department of Health and Human Services already has a mighty taxpayer-paid press office.

See the HHS lengthy press office list here.

Perhaps the Obama administration and HHS are swayed by inspirational words on the Weber Shandwick Web site.  The global public relations firm with offices in 81 countries, boasts:

“We are a creative studio of writers, designers, builders, strategists, conversation-starters, storytellers. We are passionate about our clients and, through our specialty firms and dedicated practice groups, we are deeply knowledgeable about their businesses. And while we are a big, global organization, we believe that collaboration is the best way to succeed.”

The PR firm also cites:  “We inspire. We incite. We shape ideas to move companies and organizations forward. We get people thinking and acting in new ways so they connect with and advocate for your brand. And we do it with a level of commitment and expertise that is simply unmatched by anyone, anywhere.” 

Undoubtedly, HHS couldn’t resist those stimulating words.

 

In case you missed these…

Not so fast:  “Air traffic controllers back at full strength,” proclaims a Saturday newspaper across-the-page headline over an Associated Press story.  Not quite.  The sixth paragraph of the AP piece reads: “There  was no immediate word on when the controllers’ furloughs would end.”  Sunday papers have the FAA controllers going back to work "within 24 hours." Actually, President Barack Obama was prepared to sign the bill on Saturday morning, but now must wait until tomorrow because a spelling error in the measure needs to be corrected. 

In an unusual promotional partnership hailed as a Hollywood first, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. customers will be able to buy tickets to June 13 screenings of Man of Steel, the latest Warner Bros Superman movie…The Express-Times, Easton, Pa., is eliminating its production department and will move its printing operations to the Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance starting June 3.  The move erases 12 full-time and 26 part-time Easton jobs

Cheers for radio coverage.  While most newspapers snub radio coverage with its many offerings, the Orange County (Calif.) Register says long-time radio writer Don Barrett is the newspaper’s new radio columnist…Traffic-clogged drivers already are squirming in Los Angeles with word that President Obama will fly to the city again on June 7 for a series of Democrat fundraisers.  LA Observed, which follows these trips, reminds readers to “mark your Obamajam calendars.”

An amusing, attention-getting ad from iGATE in Forbes magazine declares in large type:  “If this ad does not deliver results, we’re not paying Forbes.”  iGATE, with principal executive offices in Fremont, Calif., provides consulting, technology and business process outsourcing, and product and engineering solutions.

Sequestration triggers reports of wasted taxpayer funds

With the sequester in place, Washington Times and Wall Street Journal writers are among those pointing out some ridiculous happenings on where taxpayer money is dumped, notes Grumpy Editor.

On the day sequestration went into effect, the Washington Times’ Stephen Dinan tallies more than 400 jobs posted by federal agencies via ads.

Among them:  The U.S. Forest Service seeks a few good men and women to work as recreation aides this summer, the Internal Revenue Service is searching for an office secretary in Maryland, the U.S. Mint wants 24 people to help press coins, and the Agriculture is searching for three insect production workers to help grow bollworms in Phoenix. 

Citing waste of taxpayers’ money as the sequester rolls in, Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley A. Strassel lists some “absurdities in government spending.” 

They include the Environmental Protection Agency giving $141,000 for a Chinese study of swine manure, part of a $325,000 National Science Foundation outlay for building a robotic squirrel, a $27 million project to help fund pottery classes in Morocco, and most noteworthy --- “feds last year held 894 conferences that each cost more than $100,000 --- $340 million altogether.” 

Meanwhile, shutting White House tours in the wake of the sequester is kicking up some dust. 

ABC News' Jonathan Karl, for one, questions the White House's claim that $84 million in cuts, out of a $1.6 billion budget for the Secret Service, caused the end of the tours.  Karl claims, “Tours are open 20 hours a week and use 30 uniformed Secret Service officers at about $30 an hour. Total saved? Approximately $18,000 a week." 

 

‘Snow day’ in D.C. shelves ‘warming’ hearing 

Prediction of a major snowstorm smacking Washington, D.C., led to cancellation of a global warming (aka climate change) hearing slated for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.  

Most of nation’s capital was shut down for a “snow day” in which federal workers stay home with full pay.  Although the Wednesday storm did not materialize and snowflakes were scant, there was no indication that workers would make up for the lost time in the now budget-conscious Washington. 

The Washington event --- underscoring weather predictions often are fuzzy despite heavy use of large-scale computers and specialized software with input from hundreds of daily observations from land, sea and air --- was followed by a widely covered Friday story emphasizing the planet will be warmer in 2100 than it has been for 11,300 years. 

In the study, published in the journal Science, researchers claim that after a cooling trend that lasted about 5,000 years, about two centuries ago temperatures began to rise and that projections indicate a continued uptrend. 

The National Weather Service, known as the Weather Bureau when established in 1890 (when Ulysses S. Grant was president), is staying out of the discussion which relies on paleoclimatology that reconstructs climate based on geological evidence that includes glacial deposits, fossils, sediments plus rock and ice cores.

 

Washington Post boots indie ombudsman 

The Washington Post is eliminating its independent (non-staffer) ombudsman who fields readers' complaints, investigates, and then writes about them.  The Post created the position in 1970. 

Publisher Katharine Weymouth says she and the Post "remain faithful to the mission" of the ombudsman and added the newspaper planned to appoint "a reader representative (a Post employee) shortly to address our readers' concerns and questions." 

The staffer will not write a weekly column but will “write online and/or in the newspaper from time to time to address reader concerns, with responses from editors, reporters or business executives as appropriate,” adds Weymouth."

 

In case you missed these… 

Rasmussen Reports 56 percent of voters regard news reported by the media as at least somewhat trustworthy, but that includes only six percent who think it is very trustworthy…Toronto Star reporters withheld their bylines from the Wednesday edition in a show of protest against upcoming layoffs and restructuring…The buzz around Hollywood, via “two high-level industry sources” reported in the Hollywood Reporter is that NBC is moving toward a May announcement that the 2013-2014 television season will be the last for Jay Leno as host of the long-running The Tonight Show…TV reports on an abundance of sharks in waters off the Florida coast gained wide coverage in the past few days despite the fact sightings of the toothy marine fish, most of them small and ignoring humans, are normal for this time of year…Time Warner Inc. has decided to spin off its Time Inc. publishing business into a separate company…Redesigned Redbook, one of the Hearst Corp.’s magazines, turns its focus on fashion, beauty and shopping starting with the April issue…The Salt Lake Tribune trims Monday editions to two sections from five in an effort to reduce costs.

Weighty matter: Lawmakers focus on $1 coins --- again

Many newspapers over the weekend carried a lengthy Associated Press story on a pending push for still another $1 coin to replace the dollar bill in efforts to “save taxpayers some $4.4 billion over the next 30 years,” notes Grumpy Editor.

The move comes despite past efforts (some continuing) to go metal rather than paper for $1 have proven to be unpopular with the public and businesses.

Over the past four decades, attempts to utilize coins in place of $1 bills have been snubbed.

With $1 in coins rather than in paper, it means carrying extra weight, now in addition to cell phones and other modern gear.  Imagine the additional pounds in lugging $15 or $20 in $1 coins.

The latest effort to go to $1 via coins route stems as lawmakers --- rather than putting a critical or investigative eye on fraud, waste and duplication in federal operations --- explore ways for the government to save money.  So, for them, switching to more durable $1 coins seems one way to go.

Along with a change in composition, the $1 metal version would require new equipment to be purchased or existing production methods overhauled --- using taxpayer funds, of course.

Most noteworthy (not mentioned in the AP story), is that the Susan B. Anthony $1 coin, minted from 1979 to 1981 with another try in 1999, fizzled.

Circulation of the Sacagawea dollar coin, minted since 2002, also has been unpopular.

Then there was the Eisenhower $1 coin, issued from 1971 to 1978, which saw limited circulation.

But an Eisenhower coin will return in 2015, as part of the Presidential $1 Coin Program.  Coins in that program now are minted only for collectors.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.) sums up the feelings of many who frown on the $1 coin: 

“If the people don’t want it and they don’t want to use it, why in the world are we even talking about changing it?”

Ashanti paid $20,000 for non-singing daytime gig in N.J.

Newspaper and trade publications’ show business reporters somehow missed a new venue for entertainers that brings easy daytime money without the hassle of going to places like Las Vegas for a one nighter, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Singer Ashanti was paid $20,000 in taxpayers’ money earlier this month for a day-long appearance at Atlantic City High School in New Jersey. 

As explained by WNYW, Fox 5 in New York City: 

“The 2003 Grammy winner led assemblies, met privately with a group of middle school students and did an interview with the high school’s radio station.” 

The TV station said funds from a district budget account designated for the improvement of instructional services were used to pay Ashanti who was in town for a multi-cultural festival. 

The performer (full name:  Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas), also a record producer, model and actress, was named after the Ashanti Empire in Ghana.

 

Taxpayers to foot $20 million ObamaCare PR push

While the U.S. government over the years has run TV/radio public service announcements (PSAs) --- at no cost to taxpayers --- to inform or educate the public about an issue, now, in promoting ObamaCare, the public relations price tag to taxpayers will be $20 million, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Surprisingly, few newspapers this week mentioned the costly promotion. 

The Health and Human Services Department handed the task to global public relations firm Porter Novelli. 

Based in New York, the PR agency, part of the Omnicom Group international marketing communications firm, maintains 90 offices (13 in the U.S.) in 60 countries. 

What’s interesting about the assignment is that Porter Novelli co-founder (in 1972 with Jack Porter) is William Novelli, who retired in April, 2009 after eight years as AARP chief executive officer. 

His departure came at a time when AARP, representing 40 million people 50 and older, was running into unexpected PR problems with some members stemming from its stance backing what was to be labeled ObamaCare. 

“Health care reform is AARP’s top priority,” declared incoming AARP CEO A. Barry Rand in the July, 2009, AARP Bulletin.  “We simply can’t fix the economy without restructuring the delivery of health care, expanding access and cutting costs."

The lucrative ObamaCare account was being kept secret on the Porter Novelli website.  As of yesterday, no mention was made. 

However, the opening page noted in bold letters that Porter Novelli is “Named Top PR Agency in Spain.” 

The site described what Porter Novelli is all about: 

“Combining the power of immersion with the rigor of data, we create a deeper human insight that transforms the opinions, beliefs and behaviors of those who matter most to our clients.” 

That’s what probably moved HHS to sign the firm.

 

Editors miss First Lady in Vegas; $100 million to Tunisia

Two interesting stories --- especially to taxpayers finishing up income tax returns and wondering how their money will be spent --- somehow escaped most print and broadcast editors’ attention late last week:  First Lady Michelle Obama, with her two daughters, visited Las Vegas one week after President Barack Obama made it to Sin City, and the United States plans to give $100 million in cash to Tunisia, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Mrs. Obama’s trip, not announced to media, came to light following a Las Vegas reporter’s query on a special closure at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport. 

Her Wednesday-Thursday visit with daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, was noteworthy because the president shot arrows at Las Vegas twice in recent years, scaring off tourist and convention activity.  

In February, 2009, aiming at business gatherings, he declared:  “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime.” 

Then a year later, he warned:  “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” 

A sour economy followed, resulting in thousands of casino workers’ jobs lost plus Las Vegas rising to first place in the U.S. with home foreclosures. 

Last year’s  unemployment in Las Vegas, at 13.3 percent, was among the highest in the nation. 

Meanwhile, most editors also missed Thursday’s announcement from the Obama administration that $100 million, subject to congressional approval, will go to Tunisia for short-term fiscal relief --- to help improve its economy. 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the funds would allow Tunisia to “use this money for its priority programs, accelerating economic growth and job creation.” 

In addition, the U.S. is negotiating a separate package that would offer loan guarantees to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Tunisia.

 

U.S. pays $50,000 each for Afghans killed March 11

Many newspapers yesterday reported the U.S. promptly paid $50,000 in compensation to relatives for each of 17 Afghans killed two weeks earlier in a shooting rampage said to be carried out by an American soldier, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The unusually large payout may have buzzed over the heads of most editors, accustomed to U.S. life insurance policies. 

But in Afghanistan that amount turned out to be a whopping number.

Average annual income there is equal to about $425. 

That means each $50,000 payment corresponds to 118 years worth of average annual income in Afghanistan, based on current figures. 

The Wall Street Journal reported one farmer lost 11 family members in the shootings. 

“Such payments are customary in Afghan culture when a wrong like this is done," The Journal quoted a U.S. official. 

The U.S. also paid $11,000 for every injured villager in the March 11 incident. 

Also paying family members was the Afghan government.  But the amount was much smaller: $2,000 for each person killed and $1,000 for each injured. 

An Associated Press story on the compensation mentioned, “The families were told the money came from President Barack Obama.”

*                    *                    *                    * 

Money woes put U.S. military families in bind 

Meanwhile, on the same day the unusually high Afghan payouts were reported, an Associated Press story told how money woes have been hitting U.S. military members and families. 

It pointed out financial struggles stemmed from multiple deployments, frequent relocations, mounting credit card debt, strain in paying bills and difficulty spouses have in getting and keeping jobs. 

“The stress factors with the families is just unbelievable,” AP quoted Roger J. Mealey, a Vietnam veteran who runs a website to aid struggling military families.