Posted on 06/02/2013 5:53:48 AM PDT by tellw
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Motion sensors and razor-wire coils ring the ammunition depot on this vast Marine Corps base. Sentries stand watch in the lobby of the headquarters complex. Military police officers patrol the barracks every few hours. But no building here boasts the defenses of the giant, government-run supermarket, whose bright, wide aisles are stocked with seemingly every brand of every food product available in America — Heinz ketchup, Oscar Mayer bacon, Lay’s chips — all sold at close to wholesale prices.
The cost of ordering the goods, filling the shelves and checking out customers is all borne by the American taxpayer.
Three summers ago, Richard V. Spencer, a retired investment banker who serves on a Pentagon advisory board, proposed shutting down the commissary at Camp Lejeune and every other domestic military base, a step that would save taxpayers about $1 billion a year.
He called several large retailers to see if they would be willing to take over the markets. None were, but Wal-Mart, which has stores within 10 miles of most U.S. bases, proposed offering equivalent discounts to troops, their spouses and their retired brethren. He figured other national chains would follow suit.
When the Defense Department bureaucracy that runs the commissaries learned of Spencer’s plan, it sounded an alarm among allies in industry and in Congress. A trade group whose mission is to represent companies that sell goods in military stores fired off a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, warning him it would be “ill-advised” to make major changes. Senators and representatives dispatched similar missives. So did veterans groups. “Richard, my fax machine is vomiting letters of complaint,” Spencer recalled Gates telling him. Worried that congressional anger would doom other Pentagon cost-cutting initiatives, Gates told Spencer to drop his commissary plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Obama put out word to make any cutbacks as visible and painful as possible to the citizenry and those depending on system, such as troops, seniors, school kids hoping to tour WH, etc.
He did this out of petulant rage and with utter disregard of the people he is supposed to serve.
It's been a while since I went through all the accounting training for the different buckets.
I do know that NAFI funds are used for AAFES, and profits go to the MWR programs. The only appropriated funds used by AAFES are for utilities and overseas transport.
/johnny
I have a brother in law with commissary privileges. He has taken us to bases on several occasions, offering to purchase items for us. My experience is that prices are rarely better than those in discount stores in the area. Even gasoline in the base gas stations can be beat on the outside with little effort. Sure, if you went to a top of the line department store, and bought latest release items at retail prices, the base is better, but not by much. Meanwhile, the DOD is subsidizing the commissaries with buildings, people, and advertising. This is clearly an opportunity for cost savings.
A trivial saving.
The Federal government spends $1 billion every 2.5 hours.
They spend far more than that trying fruitlessly to buy the affection of organizations that hate us.
/johnny
In my day, that was illegal, to the extent that if you lived off-base, and your neighbor's kids (not members of a commissary-eligible family) came over to play with your kids, it was illegal to give them a glass of commissary-purchased Kool-aid.
Not that that one was ever enforced.
Non-appropriated funds. In fact commisaries are funded by a surcharge paid at each transaction ( 3-5%)
This sounded like a Business Socialist scheme to privitize the commisaries....which would have taken comm. from zero taxpayer funds to billions for the private company to make money from running them.
Backdoor Business Socialism
As I said, it's been a while since I sat through all those boring accounting classes about appropriated funds and NAFI funds. The accounting for food service in the military can be a nightmare for the kitchen manager (E-6/E-7). Everything has to be kept separate in the two funding buckets, and the funds can't be co-mingled.
/johnny
No offense, but you really don’t know what you’re talking about. The Commissary and AAFES are run by two different programs, have different ways of using any profits and operate totally different from each other.
You probably have very limited experience with the Commissary. Base gas stations (run by AAFES) are in a different class and true, there’s not much savings there. AF exchanges have top, name brand and expensive items. The NEX (Navy) had discount brands and was helpful in that way.
But the Commissary....It’s only allowed to mark items up 5%, so most things are cheaper than on the outside.
Not true. It’s legal to give a Commissary bought item away, but not to resell.
SMALL REPAYENT FOR WHAT THESE FOLKS HAVE GIVEN. The prices in the exchange are not a much or any cheaper than the outside, but the grocery is.
The Washington Post is full of excrement the Commissary system is funded under a Government Stock Fund/Revolving Account. Congress initially establishes funding for the stock fund, but the stock fund manager must ensure prices for funded items do not make a profit or show a loss. Prices are adjusted up or down to keep the funding level as constant as possible.
It is bad enough the furloughs will hit on 8 Jul 13 through 30 Sep 13 with the Commissary being closed Monday and Tuesday to absorb the hit, but this pack of lies just irritates the heck out of me. The active duty folks that live paycheck to paycheck will have to plan accordingly to work around the shutdown as town in 10 miles on way from the Air Force Base I work at. Who can afford the gas at $3.75 a gallon and climbing to go into town? Being a retired Senior NCO working a Simple Service gig it really burns me as to how “dear leader” is treating our active duty force.
You just can’t beat meat prices and quality at the commissary.
BUT 0BAMACARE IS FREE!
I would much rather have US Army veterinarian inspected meat than USDA inspected meat.
/johnny
Yes!
Our Dear Leader get all his Wagyu Beef at the local commissary.
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