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Friday, August 15, 2003

lets give the Pentagon a pay cut 

Posted by Nick : 11:11 AM

Pentagon seeks to reduce the pay of U.S. soldiers currently serving in Iraq. Of course, they're losing pay in the sense that rescinding an not yet implemented Bush tax cut is considered a tax increase:
Unless Congress and President Bush take quick action when Congress returns after Labor Day, the uniformed Americans in Iraq and the 9,000 in Afghanistan will lose a pay increase approved last April of $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and $150 a month in "family separation allowances."

The Defense Department supports the cuts, saying its budget can't sustain the higher payments amid a host of other priorities. But the proposed cuts have stirred anger among military families and veterans' groups and even prompted an editorial attack in the Army Times, a weekly newspaper for military personnel and their families that is seldom so outspoken.

Congress made the April pay increases retroactive to Oct. 1, 2002, but they are set to expire when the federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30 unless Congress votes to keep them as part of its annual defense appropriations legislation.

(Link via OpinionJournal 'Best of the Web' e-mail)
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