No 3.5% Pay Raise For Troops?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Military, Money
The White House has pulled another political loser for no apparent reason, this time taking a bold stand against…the military and military widows?
The Bush administration had asked for a 3 percent military raise for Jan. 1, 2008, enough to match last year’s average pay increase in the private sector. The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage point greater than private-sector pay raises.The slightly bigger military raises are intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today. Under the bill, HR 1585, the pay gap would be reduced to 1.4 percent after the Jan. 1, 2012, pay increase.
Bush budget officials said the administration “strongly opposes� both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases “unnecessary.�
I might understand if this wasn’t during war time, but, um…you’re really going to piss off our ALL VOLUNTEER Army? You think that’s good idea George? These increases are only so people in the military don’t think they’re missing out by not being in the private sector…you know…so they STAY in the military.
Oh, and about those families left behind…
A death gratuity for federal civilian employees who die in support of military operations, and new benefits for disabled retirees and the survivors of military retirees also drew complaints.This includes the transfer of the GI Bill benefits program for reservists from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a step that GI Bill supporters said is needed to set the stage for increases in reserve benefits that have been kept low by the military because it views the program as a retention incentive rather than a post-service education program.
Refusal by lawmakers to approve Tricare fees for beneficiaries, something administration officials view as an important step in holding down health care cost, also drew opposition, along with a provision imposing price controls on prescription drugs dispensed to Tricare users.
Yeah, because we want to make sure that their family pays their fair share after their loved one gave their life for their country. That’s a great way to promote fighting, and possibly dying, for our collective freedoms.
Good times.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 and is filed under Military, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
[...] Other Bloggers Weigh In (Hand Picked From MemeOrandum’s Blogger Roundup): Crooks and Liars; Taylor Marsh; Daily Kos; Huffington Post; Think Progress; Donklephant; The Carpetbagger Report Technorati Tags: Army Times, Bush, Current Events, Headline News, Headlines, House Armed Services Committee, Military, National Defense Authorization Act, News, News and Politics, Politics, Rants, Republicans, Support The Troops, VA, Veterans, Veterans Administration [...]
May 18th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Shoudn’t your headline say, “No 0.5% Pay Raise for Troops?”
May 19th, 2007 at 8:27 am
[...] The difference between a 3% and a 3.5% increase is spin-worthy, but at the end of the day, the whole bill is a Mexican standoff. The Bush administration has no leg to stand on, if now it tries to be fiscally conservative. Of course, there is one way to save money, but we can’t just pull out of Iraq. The war that would cause no pain should start to hurt fairly. digg_url=’http://www.radicalcontrapositions.com/left_flank/2007/05/19/what-becomes-of-the-pays-as-it-goes-war/’; digg_skin = ‘button’; digg_bgcolor = ‘#FFFFFF’; digg_title = ‘What Becomes of the Pays-As-It-Goes War’; digg_bodytext = ”; digg_topic = ”; Powered by Gregarious (42) [...]
May 21st, 2007 at 10:51 am
Last year our pay raise was a whopping 2.2%. That’s nothing compared to the 5-6% raises in the past (Ronald Regean Era… paying attention Bush?) Trust me, 3.5% may not seem like enough, but it’s certainly not enough!
May 21st, 2007 at 10:52 am
Err: The pay raise may not seem like alot, but it’as certainly not enaough.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:45 am
Well, you’d have to have the word “additional” in there, yes?
The issue here is that this is just a dumb political move for Bush. Especially since the Pentagon’s budget has skyrocketed, we can’t pay the troops any more? They’re our most important asset, and we’re not treating them as such. Remember…ALL volunteer. You have to make that more attractive, not less.