For those in the military: Have you been given

[Blue_Roses]

a 3% pay raise from Bush in the last few years? I ask this because a life long friend of mine who has recently left the AF on injured status said, that the reason he likes Bush is because Bush is for the troops. I said, "how, when he doesn't even clean up the hospitals that vets stay in after they've been blow to bits by his stupid war"? He said, "because Bush has given us a 3% pay raise each year. No other President has done this." My response was :wtf:

Now this is a friend who has been in the AF for 17 years and is someone I have literally known all my life. He's not a republican, but a registered independent and liked Clinton too. However, I have to say, I was somewhat taken back to hear this. I didn't have access to the internet at the time we were talking about this, so I'm going to do some research on this. I just thought I might get a jump start from those who are actually in the military who can give account to this one way or another.

EDITED TO ADD:

I found this that explains what my friend could be talking about.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/payandbenefits/a/06paychanges.htm

Clinton was very generous in his pay raises

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0898/082098a1.htm

http://www.hnn.navy.mil/archives/991015/Clinton.htm

[MADem]

1. EVERYONE gets a pay raise every year. It varies depending on how CONGRESS votes for it.

Bush's role is to sign the legislation, just like every other president does.

It's called a cost of living raise. And the ones under Clinton were damned generous. A lot of military personnel were finally able to afford homes thanks to him.

Jesus, every year, everyone getting a government check gets a raise--from legislators, who give themselves the best chunk, to civil servants, to the military, to those on the dole getting SS or SSI/SSDI checks.

Your friend is an IDIOT if he only just noticed this. He obviously slept through the 'personal finance' classes they've been giving in bootcamp for the last decade or so if he's new to the services.

[Blue_Roses]

2. hmmm..

thanks...

[MADem]

6. Oh, and tell your idiot friend that his raise was one of the lower ones in my memory

(which goes back many, many decades)--a whopping two point two percent this year....

Hell, the retirees do as well. If he fell in the targeted raise group as well, he might have gotten a little more, but that's not the majority of the poor bastards in uniform at all.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/payandbenefits/a/07paychanges.htm

There were two versions of the act under consideration. The Senate version called for a 2.2 percent across-the-board increase in Basic Pay and the House version called for a 2.7 percent increase. The Senate version won the battle. Military members will see a 2.2 percent increase in Basic Pay, effective January 1, 2007. That means they will see the increase in their January 15th paycheck.

[Blue_Roses]

8. well, I have to say,

I was disappointed to hear this coming from them as well. We will talk about this again, but I want to have my ducks in a row.

[Lost-in-FL]

5. I agree with you...

I don't see how he just noticed since everyone is always looking forward to that increase. If he was in the Air Force, that might be why since they get spoiled rotten.

[Lost-in-FL]

3. During the Clinton years...

I had a 6.2% increase in 1998. That was the highest ever, for any president. The raises were normally between 2 to 3% per year when I was in back in 1994-2000. 3% was the norm.

[atreides1]

7. The highest was under Reagan

It was 11.7% and then 14.3%, after that it was regulated by Congress.

[Lost-in-FL]

11. I read it was the highest rate...

at the ARMY Times. :shrug: But don't know what it was based on. He also increased Hazards pay, COLA, Language identifier pay, Housing, Uniform allowance, Separate Rations, etc. not only the base pay. That is what I remember and at the time I didn't even know if Clinton was a Dem or Rep.

[MADem]

12. That was following a brutal era of "HOLLOW MILITARY" years

People had "GO NAVY...GO HUNGRY!" bumperstickers on their cars out in San Diego during the Carter era. Pay was in the toilet for many years post-Vietnam.

That big raise was actually a deferred raise--the military was broken because it just wasn't worth it to stay in--civilian jobs paid way better, and a load of people had part-time jobs to make ends meet out on "the economy" as it was termed.

Had the raises been given in numbers approaching the inflation rate all along, that big bump would not have been needed. And had it not been given, recruiting would have been as problematic as it is today, even before the "Reagan build-up" that everyone talked about back then.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Somewhat of a surprise

but last year military retirees got a larger pay raise then active duty personnel. I think it 3.1% vs 2.7%. Retirees raises are tied to a COLA based on inflation. I've also noticed the past couple of years that some military pay grades are getting more of a raise then others.

[MADem]

10. WE know why that is, though, don't we?

Retired geezers VOTE in large numbers. They've got MOAA and Fleet Reserve and a host of other lobbying agencies up on the Hill to press for advantages. The ACDU types can't even vote, half the time--they get their ballots too late, or someone else in Rove's dungeon votes "for" them.

It was a GOP Congress that prepped this legislation that included these pisspoor raises--it was a done deal in October of last year.

They're doing the 'targeted' raises for hard-to-recruit/retain specialties, but that's a small percentage of the total force. The skivvie stacker who ends up behind a gun in a Humvee due to personnel shortages isn't getting that extra money. It's a bit different in the methodology of distribution from say, Aviation Career Incentive Pay or reenlistment bonuses, but it serves the same purpose, in essence.

[BOSSHOG]

15. This old geezer

never, ever misses a vote. I was a pain in the ass Voting Officer. I had absentee ballots leaving the command in record numbers.

[MADem]

21. Me neither, but then, I'm a product of a Boston Democratic machine!! NT

[hobbit709]

9. In 1971

my pay went from $180/mo to $330/mo as an E-3. That was the only pay raise I remember getting. The rest were time in grade/promotion raises.

[MADem]

13. Did you move off base? Or stop using the mess hall and get SEPRATS? Or both?

Or were you stationed overseas when that happened, or in a high cost of living area?

[hobbit709]

16. Nope, that was base pay

we got a big raise at the time bacause the military hadn't gotten one for years.

[MADem]

19. It seems a bit large (no, not the amount, but the percentage)

But then again, there was a lot of neglect going on. And those years were malaise-ridden, too. Rusty cars, lousy jobs, not enough money to make ends meet.

Gerald Ford's exhortation to "Whip Inflation Now" was just around the corner, really.....

[BOSSHOG]

14. I got a whopping

$288.00 a month as an E-1 in 72. But the deal included three hots and a cot. Beer money and a chow pass. What could be better?

[TahitiNut]

17. That was when $12,000/year was a good starting salary for a new college grad, too.

... and just before the "all-volunteer" military actually had to attract people after the planned attrition of the post-Vietnam era.

I've tried to read my old carbon paystubs from '69 in Viet Nam ... but age (mine and theirs) has taken its toll. (sigh)

[BOSSHOG]

18. I'm a pack rat

I've got 30 years of paystubs and every other kind of paper that one accumulates. And enough plaques to build a house with.

[TahitiNut]

20. I never even opened my footlocker after it was shipped home from Nam.

It all got tossed out in the trash. I could never bring myself to going through it. So, the only paperwork I have is what I carried back and was given when I ETS'd at OAB ... if only because it had my DD-214. (A VERY precious item.)

Between the allowances for my wife at the time and the combat pay and other adjustments, along with the typical scratch-outs ("corrections") and worn-out carbon paper smears, I can't make head or tail of it anymore. I remember knowing it to the penny and item-by-item, but those brain cells died a long time ago, I guess.