Outrage: Obama Administration Targets Military for Pay Reductions
Sunday, 09 May 2010 11:27 PMBy: Newsmax Wires
President Barack Obama — who came to power with the help of government employee unions across the nation and has lavished on them hundreds of billions in stimulus funds to keep them on federal, state and local payrolls with no strings attached — is moving to cut spending on salaries for military personnel.
This weekend The Washington Post headlined story, "Pentagon Asking Congress to Hold Back on Generous Increases in Troop Pay,” disclosed that the Obama administration is “pleading” with Congress to give military personnel a much smaller increase in pay than lawmakers have proposed.
The Pentagon contends that Congress simply has been too generous with troops during the past decade.
In fact, lawmakers have lavished so much money on troops, according to the Post, that service members are now better compensated than workers in the private sector with similar experience and education levels.
For example, the military brass claims that an average sergeant in the Army with four years of service and one dependent would receive $52,589 in annual compensation, according to the paper. This figure includes basic pay, housing, and subsistence allowances, as well as tax benefits.
Meanwhile, a U.S. postal letter carrier, with no supervisory or hazardous duty, makes approximately $80,000 a year when all benefits are factored in...
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I have no idea what any of our troops earn, but whatever it is, it is not enough - in my humble opinion.
H/T Mike
"This just in"!!
Found this on Military.com:
Military Pay Raise of 1.9% Likely in 2011
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are poised to give servicemembers an extra boost in pay next year despite objections from the Defense Department over the long-term cost of the raise.
On Wednesday, the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee announced plans for a 1.9 percent pay raise next January, 0.5 percent above the target set by Pentagon planners in January. Defense officials had asked for a 1.4 percent raise based on anticipated private sector raises for 2011.
Check out Military.com's Pay Calculator
But Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., said the extra money is needed to help close the ongoing gap between civilian paychecks and military wages. Congress has approved higher-than-civilian pay increases each of the last 12 years.
Lawmakers have said repeatedly that the additional pay raise is also needed to reward servicemembers and their families for the sacrifices during nine years of war and because of the strain placed on the force.
“I would challenge anyone to find a civilian job that has the same set of requirements and risks as those experienced by our military personnel,” said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. “For me, the assertion that personnel costs are crowding out the ability to fund other defense priorities should not be solved by asking military personnel to take less.”
Even with the extra boost, a 1.9 percent pay raise in 2011 would be the lowest since the start of the all-volunteer military in 1973. In 1988, Congress approved a 2.0 percent raise for servicemembers. This year, troops received a 3.4 percent bump in their pay....
More here.
