Military personnel to see pay rise 2.2 percent in 2007 (smallest in eons)

[MADem]

$448 billion defense bill gives smallest hike since ’94


WASHINGTON — Military personnel will see a 2.2 percent pay raise next year, their smallest pay increase in more than a decade, after Congress on Friday sent its final version of the 2007 defense budget to the president.

Earlier versions of the $448 billion appropriations bill in the House had supported a 2.7 percent pay raise for servicemembers starting next January. But later Senate versions supported the lower level, and the final bill provides only enough money for a 2.2 percent cost of living adjustment.

Congress approved $378 billion for general defense operations, including more than $1.9 billion for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, created to develop new ways to diffuse and avoid roadside bombs in Iraq. Another $1 billion would pay for new body armor and other protective gear.

President Bush had lobbied for only a 2.2 percent pay increase in his budget proposals. It’s the smallest pay raise for active-duty troops since 1994; last year, Congress approved a 3.1 percent increase.

The difference will mean about $6 less a month for the youngest enlisted troops and nearly $13 a month less for an E-5 with 10 years experience....

[fooj]

1. But those f*cking tax cuts for Little Lord Pissypants and his buddies

keep on coming. :grr:

[MADem]

2. Yep. This is pretty appalling. The sacrifice that so many are being

asked to make, and they're stiffing them a lousy percentage point or so on the compensation? It's just so....fucking cheap.

[acmejack]

3. Just another case of supporting our troops.

I'd have been surprised if they'd have displayed any generosity. This what happens in an administration of cowardly chickenhawks.

[izzie]

4. But good contracts for Blackwater and CusterBattle types.

Which does not filter down to their lower people either. Look at this Congress power and WH and you can almost see the pattern on how to take a great country down.

[MADem]

7. Yep...those poor bastards have a "get shot, get fired" clause in their

contracts. Talk about COLD.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Help is on the way....

:eyes:

[true_notes]

6. Welp....

Looks like I'm going to the welfare office to make up for my pay "increase".

Fuck this "I'm for the troops" admin. They have no idea what it's like to be out here.

[MADem]

8. We actually got the total number of service personnel on food stamps

down to "cases" under Clinton. A commander would know who qualified. It was less than a percent of the total workforce, and was usually caused by a combination of "LOW paygrade + LARGE or VERY LARGE family." Bush is NOT keeping pace with real inflation with this latest slap in the face and the wallet. He should be ashamed, but he doesn't know shame.

[tabasco]

9. Damn! 2.2% ?? The troops are getting shit on by the Bush cabal.

Hey! Paris Hilton & her friends need that tax cut !

I knew a lot of hardcore republicans in the service. I hope they like what they got from the republican corporate cabal.

[true_notes]

10. Still,

They will support these fools in the election.

[tabasco]

11. I'm not so sure.

NONE of the Army people I now know would vote for Bush.

[MADem]

15. I have to agree with tabasco, above

I am still in contact with a large number of senior level personnel on active duty and none of them think this administration is worth a warm bucket of spit--or a cold one, for that matter. They ardently long for the Clinton era, and frankly, feel shame that they bitched way back when, when their requests for additional funds weren't granted beyond inflation and cost of living increases due to the budget constraints. They long for the days when they had to choose between which MILCON project they could start on their installations--gee, I can have the new community center, OR the new bowling alley--but not BOTH...DAMN that CLINTON!!!!! Nowadays, they have to fire the janitors, make the servicemembers do the vacuuming, dusting and cleaning the restrooms, to pay the damn light bill.

There may be a few Rah-Rah Gung-Ho kids in the lower ranks, tucked safely out of harm's way, doing typing in Tampa or at the Pentagon, who have glugged down the Kool Aid and are mimicking their Quisling bosses, but those who are over in the sandbox for the fourth or fifth time have had MORE than enough.

[JerseygirlCT]

12. But hey, look, when they pull themselves up by their

bootstraps (which they've had to purchase themselves) and get rich, they can look forward to all those nice tax cuts!

[YankeyMCC]

13. Eons! Hey now!

You know you're getting old when someone refers to something you experienced as happening "Eons" ago. ;)

BTW: Yes, I agree it's a disgraceful way to "reward" our troops. I remember how hard it was back when I was in and getting these paltry raises.

[MADem]

16. Oh, hell, I experienced that, and the GO NAVY GO HUNGRY days

back in the doggone FORD-CARTER era...I've seen the fat and the lean.

But from my perspective, a DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT, if you have to write whole chunks of it, becomes an ERA in and of itself--it's almost a never-ending journey, and when it finally ends, you have to start all over again--rather like a labor of Sisyphus. Put enough of those ERAS together, and you get a damn EON!!!

[lpbk2713]

14. Support the troops? Not BushCo.

Their bogus war has bankrupted the US Treasury. There's no money left for the troops.