Obama orders 1 percent military raise

[n2doc]

In the midst of discussion about launching a U.S. military strike on Syria, President Obama moved Friday to reduce the size of January’s military raise.

Instead of the 1.8 percent raise due troops under a federal pay formula, Obama notified Congress he is exercising his powers as the government’s pay agent to cap the Jan. 1 increase at 1 percent.

The announcement came at 5 p.m. at the start of the Labor Day weekend after the news had been dominated for days about how the U.S. should respond to apparent use of chemical weapons against civilians by the government of Syria.

The pay decision is not unexpected and is not final, but it may diminish some support for a bigger military raise.

Obama’s 2014 defense budget sent to Congress in February included a 1 percent pay increase, a recommendation endorsed by the Senate Armed Services Committee but opposed by the House of Representatives. The defense authorization and appropriations bills approved by the House include the 1.8 percent across-the-board raise, the amount called for under the Federal Pay Comparability Act requiring raises to keep pace with private-sector wages.

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http://www.navytimes.com/article/20130830/BENEFITS02/308300036/Obama-orders-1-percent-military-raise-January

[atreides1]

1. Good move

This will be real popular with the military.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. Missiles and fuel ain't cheap.

[Alkene]

3. Economic priorities, don't ya know.

In a Friday letter to Congress notifying lawmakers of his pay decision, Obama said he is “strongly committed to supporting our uniformed service members, who have made such great contributions to our nation over the past decade of war.”

However, he said the U.S. is recovering “from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare” requiring efforts to stay “on a sustainable fiscal course.”



I.E., shit rolls downhill.