A Swamp-Wide Pay Increase in Washington?

President Joe Biden signs a commission for Gina Raimondo as Secretary of Commerce Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

The poorly planned departure from Afghanistan has inspired U.S. veterans to try to save the people Joe Biden has abandoned. Last week, James Freeman in the WSJ reported on the brave volunteers of “Task Force Pineapple,” who are seeking to protect America’s friends from Taliban brutality.

Saving Afghans Abandoned by the U.S. Government

Also from the Journal, Ben Kesling and Michael Phillips report on another private charitable venture:

Zach Van Meter, a private-equity investor from Naples, Fla., phoned the government of Somaliland last week, asking if it would host thousands of Afghan refugees.

“He just called me out of the blue,” said Bashir Goth, the Washington representative for a region of Somalia seeking independence.

Two days later, on Aug. 25, Somaliland’s acting foreign minister signed a tentative accord with charities working with Mr. Van Meter, agreeing to temporarily house as many as 10,000 Afghan evacuees in Berbera, a port on the Gulf of Aden. It was part of an on-the-fly effort that Mr. Van Meter said has helped about 5,000 Afghans escape their country in the past two weeks, in one of the most successful known private efforts to extract Afghans.

From the Peacock Lounge, a conference room at the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington, Mr. Van Meter and an ad hoc collection of war veterans, Afghan diplomats, wealthy donors, defense contractors, nonprofit workers and off-duty U.S. officials conducted a global military-style rescue operation.

Jim Linder, a retired major general, former commander of special-operations units in Afghanistan and part of Mr. Van Meter’s group, said former Afghan comrades who felt abandoned by the U.S. government appealed to him for help. “This is not who we are as a people,” he said.

Using the Fog of Covid/War

While U.S. war vets are helping extract Afghans in one of the most successful known private efforts, Joe Biden announced that he was invoking his legal authority under “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare” (let these words sink in) to increase salaries for roughly two million members of the federal civilian workforce.

Give the Swamp Pay Raises

According to Jessie Bur at the Federal Times, bureaucrats are scheduled to see a 1.9% raise this year will instead enjoy a 2.7% bump, thanks to Biden’s action.

This taxpayer-funded increase is especially generous because the average federal worker already makes significantly more than the average person toiling away in the productive economy.

Yes, continues Mr. Freeman, “after creating the veritable model of incompetent governance recently witnessed by horrified Americans and allies around the world, Mr. Biden has decided this is the moment to declare a swamp-wide pay raise.”

What on earth does this latest raid on taxpayers have to do with addressing national emergencies?

Let’s hope (Biden) stays out of the way while U.S. veterans try to help people in need.