If President Bush and the GOP are the ones who support the troops, why do they oppose paying them a wage equivalent to what civilians earn? The Army Times reports:
Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.
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.” Hoo-rah...
Bush has even threatened a veto if Congress sends him a bill with the higher pay hike, plus a minuscule $40 per month increase in benefits for military widows and price controls for presciption drugs bought through the military healthcare program. I guess the widows of our fallen and troops who need prescription medications really don't need the extra money, either.
Labels: Bush administration, military |
