Bastards:

A group of House Republicans have proposed a plan to offset the costs of relief and rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina that includes trimming military quality-of-life programs, including health care....

Service members would be offered cash if they are willing to accept reduced health care benefits for their families.... Reduced health care benefits could save $2.4 billion over 10 years....

--Navy Times

Incidentally the annual pay of Gregory Burke, a private first class stationed in Iraq who's included on New York magazine's annual "Who Makes How Much" list this week, is $18,444. This includes $130 a month in hazardous-duty pay. Yeah, he gets room and board. You and I, on the other hand, have a much decreased likelihood of permanent disability from being blown up by an IED on the job.

Needless to say, as David Sirota and others have pointed out, nothing's going to cause the Republicans to rethink their precious tax cuts. Reuters:

The recovery from Hurricane Katrina may temporarily sideline some parts of U.S. President George W. Bush's domestic agenda, including efforts to make the administration's tax cuts permanent, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Tuesday....

The White House, however, said that while recovery from Katrina was a top priority, the administration remained committed to its economic agenda.

House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay declined to comment on Snow's remark, but said House Republicans were not reconsidering their push to extend Bush's tax cuts.

"We are not reexamining that. That is raising taxes and I just stated that's not an option," he said during a weekly media conference. "Raising taxes would be the worst thing to do in this situation. We've got a growing economy and to pour cold water on that growing economy by raising taxes is not an option."...

The bloviators at the Heritage Foundation are taking the same tack, describing a choice not to make the tax cuts permanent as a "tax increase" and saying that making that choice will hurt flood victims. Shameless.