"Every time a Dem is president GIs suffer pay cuts, every time a Rep is president, we get pay raises

[Hamlette]

Sat next to a soldier on a plane trip yesterday. He was complaining about being sent to Iraq for the 3rd time. This time it will be for 15 months and he sarcastically said: "Vote Republican." I said "never" and he made the above comment about pay. He complained about not getting combat pay in Kosovo and implied that was the problem.

I mentioned that we had no military deaths in Kosovo which might be why they didn't get combat pay. I also said the GOP controlled Congress and the budget and since the GOP was against going into Kosovo that might be why they wouldn't give extra pay to the soldiers. He said "no, it depends on who is the president."

No wonder the military votes GOP. The GOP starts war and the grunts get more pay. It seemed odd to me that it would be worth the extra pay but to this guy I think it was. I imagine living on what we pay our soldiers would be horrid (he was married with a baby.)

Maybe we should rethink "combat pay."

[Miss Chybil]

1. You can't spend a pay raise when you're in a box. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

11. Yup...

Had a friend that he saved so much money during the Kosovo conflict that he got himself a brand new BMW. He was only a Sergeant (E-5) with a better car than his Company Commander. Of course, he was good when it came to money matters so that helped a lot.

[TahitiNut]

16. It takes more money to "recruit" enlistees when they're more likely to get killed.

All Hail the "Volunteer" Military!! :puke: :puke:

[BulletproofLandshark]

2. I was in the Navy during the Clinton Administration

My pay was never cut

[Hamlette]

3. I suspected he was wrong but I couldn't check it.

I wasn't sure but I didn't think he'd been in the military under Clinton. I didn't really want to engage him and worried more that even if not true he believes it. And hence, the military always votes GOP.

[sarge43]

15. Congress can't cut base pay.

Special allowances, combat, flight pay, etc can be downsized, but not base.

[jaysunb]

4. Too much war & kool-aid for this guy.

N/T

[wakeme2008]

5. the biggest pay raises came under Clinton

Now after GOP took the Congress they paid a game one upping Clinton. Clinton would ask for a 4% raise and they would say how cheap Clinton was and vote the military a 4.1% raise.

So If you were making $20,000 Clinton's 4% would net you $800 per year. The BIG SPENDERS from the GOP would net you $820 dollars a year. BFD.


PS, I was not in the Army 18 months and on my only Viet Nam tour when I made E-5... I bet after two tours this soldier was only a E-3 maybe a E-4.

[madokie]

6. no facts in that statement

"Every time a Dem is president GIs suffer pay cuts, every time a Rep is president, we get pay raises

[BOSSHOG]

7. I got combat pay and yearly pay raises when Clinton was President

But what the fuck do I know, I only spent 24 years in uniform, I'm intellectually curious and I hate chickenhawks with a passion. The young lad was brainwashed by some sad sack with the education of a regent university grad.

[Cha]

8. Sounds like he listens too

much to the assboil.. rose limpbaughs.

[Rex]

9. Maybe he should get out and join Blackwater, if that is all that matters to him.

What a fucking merc attitude.

[Lost-in-FL]

10. He drank the Kool Aid...

I was stationed in Germany during Kosovo and I knew many who went there and they had their COMBAT PAY. Also while they were there in Kosovo their FEDERAL TAXES were NOT deducted from their pay (TAX FREE MONEY... many people volunteered cause of that).

Under Clinton the military had the biggest increase in benefits specially for military housing. He increased the combat pay, Language identifier pay, etc. and he also increase the base pay (the highest pay raise).

[Progressive_In_NC]

12. Clinton did a lot of good with pay raises and new types of pay....

The problem was that they cut so many brigades and closed so many bases on his watch (and the repub congress let's not forget) that it overshadows what he did.

I remember the tears at the base closing hearings. It was really sad to be honest. That's all that people seem to remember.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. I got, $79 a month under JFK, $165 a month under LBJ 4 years later.

That included promotions, and overseas pay.

Of course, I squandered those princely sums on women, booze and endless games of poker.

I did manage to have 1/2 my monthly riches withheld for 3 months due to being caught off limits with a bottle of something called "Plum Brandy" (one active ingredient was kerosene) traded to us by Chinese (Taiwanese) soldiers for c-rations, blankets, cigarettes, and anything else we could "liberate" from the grasp of the Marine Crotch.

[sarge43]

14. Kosovo is part of Montenegro which is a designated combat zone.

And combat pay is authorized for anyone serving there for 24 hours or more. Further, Congress, not the CinC, determines how much money military/naval personnel receive from base pay to special allowances. USC, Article I, Section 8 (12)(13). CinC can approve or veto. Clinton never vetoed a military pay raise. Also, in one form or another, I've been on the military pay role one way or another for 45 years and I've never noticed any correlation between a state of war and the amount of money going into my bank account.

Hamlette, I think you were shat upon by chickenhawk.

One other thought: The same rule applies to soldiers as it does to everyone else: Don't get married until you can afford to so.

[Hamlette]

18. Very well could have been...

Hamlette, I think you were shat upon by chickenhawk.

I've been conned before. It was a 10 hour flight and after my experience on the way over (seated next to a missionary from the Campus Crusade for Christ) I was not going to get into an extended conversation with the person seated next to me so I didn't challenge him.

[Maestro]

17. Bullshit! Ronnie Raygun cut military pensions

when he was there. My father lost thousands in retirement from the military after a 21 year career. People do not realize that repukes add a little here and take it away from the backdoor. Sneaky little shits!