is this true??

[jordanrules23]

i heard today that Obama proposed a 1.4% increase in pay for Military members the lowest since 1973, but a higher increase was granted for welfare recipients.... Are you people for real??????

[jordanrules23]

if im wrong please correct me......Thanks

[grandmama]

where did u hear this?

[bryce]

Obama to request 1.4% pay raise for 2011

By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jan 31, 2010 8:38:13 EST

President Obama will seek a 1.4 percent military pay raise for 2011 as part of his defense budget request that will be unveiled Feb. 1, according to a point paper issued Tuesday by the White House.

If approved by Congress, it would be the smallest annual military pay raise since the birth of the all-volunteer force in 1973, a reflection of the lingering recession’s dampening effect on wage growth and living costs. The next-smallest raise in the volunteer era was a 2 percent increase in 1988.

In contrast, the pay raise for this year, which took effect Jan. 1, was a robust 3.4 percent.

The proposed 2011 raise would match the projected increase in the Employment Cost Index, a Labor Department measurement of private-sector wage growth. For 11 consecutive years, including this year, Congress set annual military raises half a percentage point above the increase in the ECI in order to whittle a perceived gap between average military and private-sector pay that supposedly has existed since 1982 and peaked in 1999.

The point paper, issued in advance of a speech on military family initiatives by first lady Michelle Obama to an association of military spouses, also envisions an average 4.2 percent increase in Basic Allowance for Housing rates next year.

In other budget highlights noted in the point paper, Obama will seek:

• $30.9 billion for the Defense Department’s medical program, an increase of 5.8 percent above 2010 levels. About $669 million would be devoted to treatment for traumatic brain injury and other mental health issues, while $250 million would go to fund continued research on mental health issues among service members.

• $1.36 billion to expand the availability of military child care services, an increase of $87 million over 2010 funding.

• $1.9 billion for expanded counseling and assistance services, to include financial counseling and transition and relocation assistance, an increase of $37 million over 2010.

• $84 million to fund programs designed to expand career and education opportunities for military spouses through tuition assistance and internship programs, an increase of $12 million over 2010.

For the full details on Obama’s plans for 2011 — including a complete pay chart that shows how the proposed raise would affect you — see Monday’s issue of Air Force Times, Army Times, Marine Corps Times or Navy Times.

[BettorsChat]

Bush cut military wages.

[BigWeiner]

Bush cut military wages.

Jordan didn't know that. Whoops. I bet he wishes he could delete this thread.

[harold_bush]

I didn't see in the article anything that talked about the welfare increase. I don't have a problem w/ what Obama did as long as the he didn't increase welfare by a greater percentage. If times are so tough that military wages have to be cut or esentially given no raise, the welfare rate sure as shit shouldn't be going up.

Same goes for Bush (reminder: I'M INTO A BUSH GUY). If Bush cut military wages and didn't cut welfare benefits then that is reprehensible in my book.

Surely everyone can agree that welfare rates shouldn't go up more than military pay???? If times are tough and nobody gets an increase I understand.

[jordanrules23]

Bush cut military wages.

again, your proving my daily point

[vols fan]

In other news, Idiot Majority Leader Harry Reid says 36,000 jobs lost in February "REALLY GOOD "

I would like to ask those 36,000 whithout a job how good it is for THEM?

[musclemann]

here is what you were looking for jordan.

The Bush administration today threatened to a veto a House defense spending bill over a 3.5 percent pay raise for U.S. soldiers and a $40/month increase in benefits for military widows, among other provisions. The legislation passed the House today 397-27.

ThinkProgress noted last night that the White House opposed the pay raise for troops:

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 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.

The dems pushed this while george was giving his billionaire buddies tax cuts jordan!!!!!!!!!!!

[harold_bush]

The Bush administration today threatened to a veto a House defense spending bill over a 3.5 percent pay raise for U.S. soldiers and a $40/month increase in benefits for military widows, among other provisions. The legislation passed the House today 397-27.

ThinkProgress noted last night that the White House opposed the pay raise for troops:

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 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.

The dems pushed this while george was giving his billionaire buddies tax cuts jordan!!!!!!!!!!!

That article said he threatened to veto, did he? I'm asking, I have no idea.

As you know, a lot of politicians on BOTH sides vote against bills that on the surface see absurd to vote against, but often times do so b/c the bills are loaded with a lot of unrelated pork. Not saying this was the case here, just a reminder that all is not always what it seems.

[BattersUp!]

It really saddens me that the very people that never had to fight anything, sit back and reap,and steal the benefits off of the men and women that died for those rights.

[flarendep1]

It really saddens me that the very people that never had to fight anything, sit back and reap,and steal the benefits off of the men and women that died for those rights.

Agreed. So many in America have no respect for the history of this country and think they are entitled.

[jordanrules23]

Agreed. So many in America have no respect for the history of this country and think they are entitled.

every AMERICAN should serve in our military in some capacity

[flarendep1]

every AMERICAN should serve in our military in some capacity

Personally, I think our Military should return and guard our borders.

Not a bad idea for all to serve in some capacity, I would be for that.