House panel approves military pay raise

The Washington Post ^ | 5/14/2010 | Ed O'Keefe

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Lawmakers disregarded Defense Secretary Robert Gates's calls for fiscal restraint on Wednesday, approving a military pay raise higher than President Obama and the Pentagon requested.

The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee approved a 1.9 percent pay bump for uniformed military personnel, half of a percentage point higher than Obama's fiscal 2011 budget. The markup also increased hostile fire pay and family separation allowances.

"This raise will further reduce the gap between military and private-sector pay raises," said subcommittee chairman Susan Davis (D-Calif.).

But the raise is in direct disagreement with the wishes of Gates, who plans to push for at least $15 billion in cuts from the Pentagon's budget, mostly from contracts and administrative redundancies. He also called special attention to Pentagon personnel costs.

"Leaving aside the sacred obligation we have to America's wounded warriors, health-care costs are eating the Defense Department alive, rising from $19 billion a decade ago to roughly $50 billion -- about the entire foreign affairs and assistance budget of the State Department," Gates said Saturday.

Davis said she's open to working with Gates on his cost concerns but kept the proposed pay raise intact.

The military pay bump means civilian federal workers should anticipate a 1.9 percent raise. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) vowed last year to ensure pay parity for service members and civilian workers after the military earned a larger raise.

Wednesday's House markup did not include language repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays openly serving in the military. It's unclear whether the issue will be included in next week's full committee meeting, Davis said. Gates wants the Pentagon to complete a military-wide study of the review before Congress acts.

[Nachum]

The list, ping

[notaliberal]

1.9 percent?? I wonder what those pigs in congress at the American taxpayers trough gave themselves this year or last?

For these military men and woman to put their lives on the line and these jerks in Washington can only come up with 1.9 percent?

[Carley]

The pigs in D.C. get automatic raises so we don’t have to see them voting rasies for themselves.

Pigs are offended by the comparison.

[Vaduz]

Obama kicks dog.

[Condor51]

health-care costs are eating the Defense Department alive, rising from $19 billion a decade ago to roughly $50 billion -- about the entire foreign affairs and assistance budget of the State Department," Gates said Saturday.

Well, lah-dee-dah. Who gives a carp about the State Dept's 'foreign affairs and assistance budget'?

As last I checked I don't see that in the Constitution as being part of the Federal Goobermint's constitutional allowed powers.

Unless its this [part:

Article 35, Section 27, Sub Section 67, Paragraph 98
The Federal Goobermunt shall tax Americans so the State Department can give the money to people who hate our guts, and foreign countries we never heard of.

Oh wait??? That was discarded as it never got out of the Constitutional Convention.

The escaped mental patient who proposed it was caught and locked back up in his padded cell.
...............

[ScottinVA]

Clinton used to pull this crap, too. Just give the troops enough to bump them into a higher tax bracket so the net take-home was ultimately less. The old Dem trick of getting to screw the troops over with a humiliatingly low pay raise, while extracting more taxes from them.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We are SO screwed with the current bunch in DC. What an INSULT to our fine troops!

And the other poster is right. I survived the Clinton years while in the military. He’d pull this cr@p every year, giving us a tiny raise...which would essentially mean nothing because they’d get it out of our hide some other way...either with additional Federal or State taxes, back-doored.

And it wouldn’t surprise me if HIDDEN in this legislation is a fat raise for everyone in DC as well, or some tax break for CongressRats!

F-ing Jerks.

One of the FEW places where I don’t mind spending my tax dollars is a strong military.

Gutless wonders!

[silverleaf]

the foreign affairs and assistance budget of the State Dept pays for all those shindigs like the 4th of July barbeque where we invited the Iranians, and the gay night party in Iraq? Maybe also gifts like the Michael Jordan shoes for Kim Chong Il?

priorities, man.

Not to fear, the stalwarts wil hold the budget line on military retirees/TRICARE, social security recipients and MEDICARE, which are “overused” ... we go to the doctor so much because it’s cheap..

[444Flyer]

The average pay for an E1 serviceman in 2009 was $35,104.97 for fighting to preserve, defend and care for America and our Constitution.

The Zero made this for his attempts to destroy America last year.

“Obama income for 2009 is: gross, $6,114,931; adjusted, $ 5,505,409. Links to U.S., Illinois returns, donations”

Now that is screwed up!

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/04/obama_income_for_2009_is_55054.html