Posted on 06/03/2016 11:10:17 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
America’s troops – who haven’t seen a raise over 2 percent in years – could soon see their monthly pay actually go down in some cases if a Senate plan to overhaul the military housing allowance goes through.
Right now, the Defense Department pays service members a set housing stipend based on several factors including rank and zip code. These rules allow bargain-hunting soldiers who find cheap housing to pocket the difference -- and use it for groceries, utilities or other expenses.
Under the new Senate proposal, members of the Army, Navy and Air Force would get only the exact amount they spend on rent and utilities. It’s part of a plan to make sure rent and utilities are covered for everyone while curbing abuses in the system – while likely saving the government millions in the process, according to one estimate.
But the rule tweak is facing strong resistance from military advocates, including some in Congress who are now fighting the proposal.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Some commands are already enforcing this rule. Then troops rent places that take the full allowance.
This will be an accounting nightmare...and zero money will be saved.
All that will happen is that landlords will start charging exactly the max limit of the housing allowance.
The same has already happened around bases with lots of people on TDY (Fort Knox for example). An apartment near there will rent for exactly the TDY per diem housing allowance cap. No more, no less.
The local housing markets also know what the allowances are too. I didn’t find any bargains on the market when I was a newlywed E-3 living off base. The cashflow always benefitted the landlord.
When I was in the Navy a hundred years ago, enlisted E-4 and above could live off base and get the housing allowance simply by requesting it. E-3 and below could get it if they requested it and if the barracks were at 95% or greater occupancy.
EBT cards, welfare, unemployment , and disability for illegals remains approved.
Actually, it was only 30 years ago. And the Navy encouraged sailors and Marines to live off base because the barracks were always so full.
We lived on post.
This was back in the 80s so it’s probably worse today.
We had a four burner stove with only two burners working. They couldn’t get those other two burners to work. It was obviously an old stove so I asked them if they could replace it.
You’d have thought I asked them for a solid gold stove. They told me the taxpayers couldn’t just buy a new stove for everyone who wanted one.
We made do with two burners.
A few months later, there was a big Federal Sting operation for narcotics. In the course of buying drugs, one of the undercover Federal agents was asked if he wanted to buy any cheap stoves or refrigerators.
They took the Federal agent to THREE, THREE warehouses full of new stoves and refrigerators. Yep, they were all appliances purchased with hard-earned Taxpayer dollars for Soldiers.
The worthless Civil Service employees were selling them to drug dealers while they told us to get by with an unsafe stove.
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