Who really supports the troops?

[toasty]

Bush claims to, yet he "strongly opposes" a proposed raise to troops, reports the Army Times:

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.?

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/05/military_whitehouse_opposeraise_070516w/

Granted, they're essentially dickering over the amount of the raise, but when I think of how many times Bush and his flock have questioned the patriotism and the support for the troops of anyone who dare oppose his war, shit like this makes my blood boil. Go ahead, Bush, continue to send tax cuts and preferential treatment to those in your inner circle, but shaft the soldiers who risk their life for the benefit of your massive ego. Nicely done.

I hope someone shoves this up his ass next time he accuses war critics of not supporting the troops, because those same critics in Congress are the ones pushing for this raise...

[Localizer]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

Those extra pay increases might actually entice more people to join the military which, lord knows, Bush has been having problems with since he went to war.

[shosh]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

the paid security personnel, i.e. mercenaries, make over 20K a month there... soldiers make shit already.

[Jia]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

^^
Yep.

You can't put a price on service, and the way we treat our soldiers and veterans in this country is despicable. A pay raise to civilian sector levels is only a start.

I used to serve, and I can tell you that there's a lot of resentment among active duty personnel about their pay. We knew in our gut that we were getting a pretty shitty deal both while we were in the service and when we got out. It's pride that keeps most from speaking up more.

[floridaorange]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

^^
Yep.

You can't put a price on service, and the way we treat our soldiers and veterans in this country is despicable. A pay raise to civilian sector levels is only a start.

I used to serve, and I can tell you that there's a lot of resentment among active duty personnel about their pay. We knew in our gut that we were getting a pretty shitty deal both while we were in the service and when we got out. It's pride that keeps most from speaking up more.

100% Agree

[rubyraks]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

The discrepancy between the pay of the mercenaries and contracted service people and the pay of the soldiers is both repulsive and shameless. If the gov't put half the resources it wastes on the private contractors towards paying military personnel, we'd have a much larger and financially viable military. We'd probably save a lot of money in the long run as well, but alas this gov't would rather line the pockets of it's friends.

[Kamal]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

the paid security personnel, i.e. mercenaries, make over 20K a month there... soldiers make shit already.

I have a friend who works for a US company on DOD projects in safe US Bases in Iraq (iirc) and all he does is install Windows 2003 on machines and pulls in over 150K.... go figure

[superdave]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

I think we should pay the troops better, but part of being in the military is about serving your country. I think people have forgotten that it's an honor to serve your country in the military.

[88Mariner]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

The discrepancy between the pay of the mercenaries and contracted service people and the pay of the soldiers is both repulsive and shameless. If the gov't put half the resources it wastes on the private contractors towards paying military personnel, we'd have a much larger and financially viable military. We'd probably save a lot of money in the long run as well, but alas this gov't would rather line the pockets of it's friends.

it would be better that they pay private contractors that the gov't itself doing whatever it needs to get done. the government wastes more money in other areas than it does on private contractors.

[rubyraks]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

it would be better that they pay private contractors that the gov't itself doing whatever it needs to get done. the government wastes more money in other areas than it does on private contractors.

generally I hear you, but when they're paying private contractors a boatload of money to do what the military has historically done for much less that there's just another example of a waste of money.

[toasty]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

generally I hear you, but when they're paying private contractors a boatload of money to do what the military has historically done for much less that there's just another example of a waste of money.

word. The idea of paying private contractors to do the very same job our military is doing, and paying them much more to do so, is completely antithetical to the Republican ideals -- to which I happen to subscribe, BTW -- of a strong military and limiting government waste.

[rubyraks]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

Republican ideals...of a strong military and limiting government waste.

Don't you mean the old Republican ideals? They haven't followed those since well I can't remember. They consistently blame the dems for spending, yet the last 3 republican administration have amassed the highest amount of debt in our history (and their congressman have fared even worse in terms of pork barrelling). And as for the military, Bush alone has completely destroyed that one.

[Jia]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

I think we should pay the troops better, but part of being in the military is about serving your country. I think people have forgotten that it's an honor to serve your country in the military.

It is an honor, of course, but that doesn't mean it's a privilege. A lot of people who join the military do it less for honor and more because they don't have any other options. That's why I joined. That's why most everyone I knew joined. Ostensibly though, it's easier to say you joined because of the honor of serving your country instead of admitting that it was primarily due to lack of options. I'm not saying I speak for everyone. I just hope you're not making the point that military personnel should just expect to make do with less due to the fact that "it's an honor" to serve.

I don't think you were actually making that point, but I felt like clarifying anyways.

[toasty]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

Don't you mean the old Republican ideals? They haven't followed those since well I can't remember. They consistently blame the dems for spending, yet the last 3 republican administration have amassed the highest amount of debt in our history (and their congressman have fared even worse in terms of pork barrelling). And as for the military, Bush alone has completely destroyed that one.

Very true, and yes, I do mean the old Republican ideals. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- the current administration is Republican in name only. There are some people who support him because they've thought about it and decided that they support him, but I kinda feel bad for the people that blindly support him because he calls himself a republican/conservative, and because they have been republicans/conservatives all their lives, they go along with it without thinking.

Of course, I'm not a fan of people that blindly follow ideology on the left, either, so there you go.

[superdave]

Re: Who really supports the troops?

It is an honor, of course, but that doesn't mean it's a privilege. A lot of people who join the military do it less for honor and more because they don't have any other options. That's why I joined. That's why most everyone I knew joined. Ostensibly though, it's easier to say you joined because of the honor of serving your country instead of admitting that it was primarily due to lack of options. I'm not saying I speak for everyone. I just hope you're not making the point that military personnel should just expect to make do with less due to the fact that "it's an honor" to serve.

I don't think you were actually making that point, but I felt like clarifying anyways.

I've had family & friends join the military and were proud of serving was the point I was trying to make. Being in the military and proud of it was more important than the pay itself which in light of everything they do there should be pay raises. A couple of them that was there only choices too because of their financial situation, but still enjoyed their service.

I think we should pay soldiers, teachers, policemen, & firefighters higher wages for the important work they do to. I get frustrated when I see these hedge fund managers & corporate executives paying themselves multi-millionaire incomes while we debate 3 % increases to the military.