Troop Pay Raise only 1.7%?

[KingOfLostSouls]

been seeing some reposts the repubs are passing around that obama only proposed a 1.7% pay raise to troops

is this true? that's pretty paltry. and seems to be scoring points against him with military people i seen.


anyone got some literature on this, I just started looking to throw out some refutations of it.




on edit: excuse me, 1.4%



found something

http://www.armytimes.com/benefits/pay/military_2011_pay_raise_020410w/






already making the rounds on the right as a wedge issue. this is one of those things where they should stop funding blackwater and start funding our troops. 1.4% IS insulting during a time when he still hasn't pulled troops out of iraq, and is still throwing money at private contractors. another genius idea by rahm? sounds like one of those "moderate" plans that would backfire.

[DJ13]

1. Its still more than Social Security recipients got, which was 0

[Mari333]

2. and what do we pay the MERCENARIES with our tax dollars?

hundreds of thousands per yr.

corporate wars .

[KingOfLostSouls]

4. yup

stop funding blackwater



fund our troops

[eShirl]

3. dupe

[Ozymanithrax]

5. Never mind

[Ozymanithrax]

7. Here is the straight dope..1.4% payraise in fiscal 2011

Highlights of Obama's 2011 budget request
PAY RAISE – The administration requests a 1.4 percent military basic pay raise for next January to match average wage growth in the private sector as measured by the government’s Employment Cost Index (ECI).

By law, military raises are to match year-to-year change in the ECI. However, for the last 12 years Congress has suspended the formula, setting military pay increases at least half a percentage point above ECI. This was to close a pay gap with civilians that, in the late 1990s, stood at 13.5 percent.

Defense officials argue the “pay gap” is gone if one counts hefty increases in basic allowance for housing (BAH) over the past decade. When total compensation is compared, say pay officials, most military members earn more than civilian peers of similar age and education level.<.div>

[bigtree]

6. President Barack Obama’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget calls for a 2.9% pay hike

ARLINGTON, Va. — President Barack Obama’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget calls for a 2.9 percent pay increase for servicemembers, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

That compares with a 3.9 percent pay increase for this fiscal year.

This fiscal year’s budget initially called for a 3.4 percent pay raise, but Congress increased that amount during budget negotiations. Lawmakers also increased the fiscal 2008 pay raise from 3 percent to 3.5 percent.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60998

[mwrguy]

8. What does the average worker get these days?

Pay in general is going down. Why should they bitch about how much it went up for them?