Time and time again, Bush has threatened to and actually vetoed legislation that would have provided pay raises for the troops he is "back-door" drafting to death. Well, HE'S back at it again "strongly opposing a measly 0.5% increase. Why, you ask?
WH Official Explanation from its STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY:
Military Pay: The Administration strongly opposes sections 601 and 608 of the bill. The additional 0.5 percent increase in 2009 above the President's proposed 3.4 percent across-the-board pay increase is unnecessary, as are increased pay raises in the outyears. The 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation reaffirmed that the overall military benefit package provides a good quality of life for servicemembers and their families. While the Administration agrees that military pay must be kept competitive, the 3.4 percent raise, equal to the increase in the Employment Cost Index, will do that. The cost of these provisions, above the President's Budget request, is $293 million in FY 2009 and $8.3 billion from FY 2009 to FY 2014.
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He begrudges an $8.3 billion 5-year investment in those he has asked to offer life and limb in a war that cost $12 billion A MONTH.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the 0.5 percent increase in troop pay would mean spending just an extra $324 million in 2009:
Compare for yourself:
The US Armed Forces Pay Scale Effective January 1, 2008.
Proposed US Armed Forces Pay Scale for 2009
Contact Congress and tell them you want more of your tax dollars to go to the troops, not the contractors and not the military-industrial-media "disaster capitalism" complex.
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