Tag Archives: military pay

Let’s Hope This Is Possible

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On Saturday, Breitbart posted an article reporting that President Trump is attempting to make sure our military gets paid during the Sombrero Shutdown orchestrated by Senator Schumer.

The article reports:

President Donald Trump is taking steps to ensure that U.S. service members receive their paychecks next week despite the ongoing government shutdown, directing his administration to find and allocate available funds as congressional gridlock threatens military pay. 

…The government shutdown, now in its second week, began October 1 after Senate Democrats rejected multiple times a clean continuing resolution to maintain funding at prior levels. President Trump has consistently stated that essential national security personnel — including 1.3 million active-duty service members and hundreds of thousands of National Guard members — will remain on duty. However, congressional aides told Reuters that legislation must pass by Monday, October 13, for payroll to be processed in time for the standard mid-month pay date of October 15.

Trump’s post followed comments by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who told Punchbowl News “every day gets better” for Democrats during the shutdown. Trump responded, “I DISAGREE! If nothing is done, because of ‘Leader’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.”

The article concludes:

Despite these pressures, Senate Democrats have repeatedly voted to block a short-term funding bill that would reopen the government. Meanwhile, reports indicate that several members of the Democratic caucus plan to attend a Napa Valley retreat hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee set for Monday and Tuesday, October 13-14, prompting criticism from Republicans who contend the party is “vacationing during a shutdown.”

Trump’s latest action aims to bypass the impasse and ensure that military personnel are not left unpaid due to political disputes in Congress. “The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT,” he wrote, “and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy.”

A number of pundits have stated that they expect the shutdown to end after the No Kings protest on October 18. This is a left-wing paid protest with a goal of destabilizing America. The theory is that if the Democrats open the government before the protest, they will be among the people and things protested against. Please understand that the majority of the protesters are paid to protest. This i s not grass roots–it’s AstroTurf!

Congress Needs To Cut Its Own Pay Before It Takes Benefits Away From Our Troops

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Yesterday the Military Times posted an article about the changes Congress and the President are making to the benefits received by our active duty military. This is the same military that Congress and the President have been deploying overseas for the last thirteen plus years.

The article reports:

The lower pay raise will be the most obvious hit for troops, who would be in line for a 1.8 percent raise based on anticipated private-sector wage growth.

For an E-3 with three years of service, the lower raise is a loss of about $195 a year. For an E-7 with 10 years, it comes out to $356. For an O-5 with 12 years of service, it’s $667 in annual salary.

Pentagon planners noted that move alone will save them about $3.8 billion over the next five years. Opponents argued that it creates a new wage gap between troops and their civilian counterparts, giving them less disposable income.

In addition, lawmakers approved trimming back the housing allowances paid to troops who live off base. The Pentagon initially sought to reduce the tax-free housing benefit by 5 percent by reducing the 100 percent of troops’ estimated housing costs that are covered now down to an average of 95 percent — in effect making troops pay 5 percent of their housing with out-of-pocket cash.

The new deal allowing only a 1 percent reduction for one year pushes off future decisions for now.

This is not the way to save money in the defense budget. Note that the article reports that cutting the amount of pay raises will “create a new wage gap between troops and their civilian counterparts.” Our military is a volunteer force. You can only cut wages so much before people stop volunteering.

I have a few suggestions here. How much does a welfare family receive in benefits compared to how much an enlisted military family receives in wages? Can we cut the federal government’s contribution to welfare and let the states sort out welfare fraud? Why is it that welfare programs seem to be the one thing that never gets cut? Why is welfare not running out of money and Social Security (which people pay into) always cited as going broke?

If the Republicans who got elected to Congress in November want to respect the wishes of the voters who elected them, they will find another way to cut the spending. To accept the continued hollowing out of our military and the cutting of benefits paid to our soldiers is to tamper with the national security of America. The voters will hold them accountable.