Pentagon asking Congress to hold back on generous increases in troop pay

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

The Pentagon, not usually known for its frugality, is pleading with Congress to stop spending so much money on the troops.

Through nine years of war, service members have seen a healthy rise in pay and benefits, with most of them now better compensated than workers in the private sector with similar experience and education levels.

Congress has been so determined to take care of troops and their families that for several years running it has overruled the Pentagon and mandated more-generous pay raises than requested by the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. It has also rejected attempts by the Pentagon to slow soaring health-care costs -- which Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has said are "eating us alive" -- by raising co-pays or premiums.

Now, Pentagon officials see fiscal calamity.

In the midst of two long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials are increasingly worried that the government's generosity is unsustainable and that it will leave them with less money to buy weapons and take care of equipment.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050703054.html?hpid=topnews

[strategery blunder]

1. I guess the Pentagon will just have to learn to live with thinner procurement budgets then.

No big loss.

[Lasher]

3. It's hard to filter soldiers' salaries & benefits through the pocket of a rich man.

Now procurement money, that's a different story.

[bemildred]

10. Indeed.

It's all about the money, just like always.

[bemildred]

11. And don't forget the mercenaries, plenty of money for mercenaries. nt

[Lasher]

12. Yes, and you can filter their salaries and benefits.

Everything is always done better in the private sector, you know.

[Demeter]

2. Where's that "smilie"?

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[DesertDiamond]

4. ??? Who's getting this great pay? My nephew was starving on what they were paying him

it forced him to volunteer to go to Afghanistan just so he could get a tiny raise in pay and be fed. Meanwhile his wife is at home still struggling to keep her utilities turned on. She eats from the food bank. They would LOVE to see this super high pay that's being written about here.

[Scuba]

5. Cut one submarine, pay the troops. Take care of their families. Nuff said.

[onethatcares]

6. cut one carrier strike force

you'd damn near feed the world.

How many other countries have 11 carrier strike forces out roaming the worlds oceans?

[No Elephants]

7. Maybe Halliburton, Bechtel and Blackwater can chip in to help out.

Am I right to think that military men who have not yet retired are rarely this outspoken spontaneously?

If so, who's behind this? Whoever it is (they are), I'll be he, she or they prominently wear flag pins in public. Just a guess.

[xchrom]

8. The irony is strong in the pentagon. Nt

[rasputin1952]

9. Get rid of "Star Wars", set aside a couple of nukes, cut

out a carrier or a sub, no more billion dollars fighters...all of the things that should be cut from the Pentagon's budget...and they come up with "troop pay"?...:wtf:

[ezmerelda39]

13. Too damn bad...

for our fighting forces, especially when the contracted armies are making far more and have no accountability. Very simple, decrease the contractors and increase the pay for those who are putting their lives on the line in the line of duty. There seems to be a large disconnect at the Pentagon on priorities.

[Jefferson23]

14. On my gosh, Blackwater aka Xe, not on the Penatgon list to

plead frugality???


Unfucking real.

[Suji to Seoul]

15. Why not make it a completely volunteer army, with volunteers volunteering their time

to get killed in two endless quagmires? Worthless scumbags at the Pentagon!!!