Congress votes to cut troop pay.

[Elegiac]

Cutting pay raises is not the same thing as cutting pay.

In the long term it is, given inflation is a thing.

[Zvinny]

Cutting pay raises is not the same thing as cutting pay.

When you raise someones pay by 1% and then cut 5% of their money and make them pay for things they used to get as a benefit of their job, it's a pay cut.

[SL1200]

Yay republicans!

[Kellhound]

Like the 90 million dollar tank order 2 years ago that congress voted through even though the Army didn't want it and immediately sent those tanks to sit on the sand in Nevada.

It was either that or shut the only US tank production line down, not a good thing either.

[dextersmith]

Wow, get limbs blown off and get to pay for your injuries too.

[WskyDK]

And I'll continue to get my $1451 a month for BAH while in school.
Got while the gettin was good.

[Cerus]

Too much is already spent on armed forces who are used to fight useless wars because the US wants the rest of the world to be like us. Or because they have oil.

[Mormolyce]

Isn't that below inflation? Ouch.

In this same bill, it funds an increase to the overseas war funding for Iraq operations, while it allows the administration to continue with a strategy of training and arming moderate rebel groups fighting the Syrian civil war in hopes they can be a proxy ground force against the Islamic State.

Because that's worked so well in the past.

Like how those troops we spent gazillions training in Iraq bravely defended it against ISIS.

- - - Updated - - -

It was either that or shut the only US tank production line down, not a good thing either.

Too big to fail? :P

[Mihalik]

Are you REALLY surprised?

This is what exasperates me when it comes to American politics and the idiots who fall for it. I'd like you to point me to the Republican representative of your choice who campaigned on a military spending, veteran care and pay reduction.

American politicians go on TV, with their fucking stupid flag pins, screaming Support the Troops at the top of their lungs, crying crocodile tears for soldiers and veterans, thanking them left and right for their service...then they fucking go and cut their pay, dump veterans, jizz in the pants at any chance to bomb something or send the poor dumb trooper to get himself killed. The sheer hypocrisy screams to the high heavens.

All the while contractors and defense companies are flooded in cash. There is no money for veterans, but there are trillions for the piece flying crap of F35, a whole 1.4 Trillion USD.

[Aeno]

More of a product of sequestering rather than any defense bill cuts. Still sad though that we continue to pump out death showers and still pay our citizens less. :\

[Chickat]

Im all for scaling back the military/defense budget, but cutting pay is not the way to go.

[Kellhound]

Isn't that below inflation? Ouch.



Because that's worked so well in the past.

Like how those troops we spent gazillions training in Iraq bravely defended it against ISIS.

- - - Updated - - -



Too big to fail? :P

No, just hard and expensive to restart after a prolonged shut-down.

[Slaskra]

Wow, get limbs blown off and get to pay for your injuries too.

Today's military is bloated with admin. Literally only a minority of them are deployed, much less even see combat.

I'd like you to point me to the Republican representative of your choice

So that's who I should thank for this, then.

[Cerus]

Who even joins the armed forces to make a lot of money? You join either out of misguided patriotism or a desire to kill people. So you're pay was cut back - so what? You still get tons of other benefits. My brother is in the army - they paid for his med school and multiple moving and housing costs including 3 years in Hawaii. You pay diddly in living expenses in the military. But you also expect to get rich?

[Korgoth]

Should be paying more not less. Maybe necessary with current funding but shameful.

In one year we went from drawing down Afghan., almost clear of Iraq, to now having what is resembling a renewed cold war with Russia, a prolonged Air operation over Iraq, which probably will include ground before too long, Ebola relief and anti terrorism efforts in Africa, and oh yeah still in Afghan.

When you double what the military is doing you shouldn't be cutting their pay.

[Socialhealer]

You have to love how a reduction in the amount of a raise someone is going to receive is considered a cut in pay.

wut is inflation? O.o

[Crissi]

Who even joins the armed forces to make a lot of money? You join either out of misguided patriotism or a desire to kill people. So you're pay was cut back - so what? You still get tons of other benefits. My brother is in the army - they paid for his med school and multiple moving and housing costs including 3 years in Hawaii. You pay diddly in living expenses in the military. But you also expect to get rich?

The benefits were cut too, so they'll need to pay more out of pocket. Cutting people's buying power isn't exactly the greatest of ideas under the guise of svaing money, but then increase military spending elsewhere.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Can't say I'm happy about this.

At all.

*Can you post a link, please?

Military wife?

[Fugus]

Who even joins the armed forces to make a lot of money? You join either out of misguided patriotism or a desire to kill people. So you're pay was cut back - so what? You still get tons of other benefits. My brother is in the army - they paid for his med school and multiple moving and housing costs including 3 years in Hawaii. You pay diddly in living expenses in the military. But you also expect to get rich?

Wrong, when I joined the Military, zero of the guys I was training with went in for that reason.

ALL of them either joined to pay for school, for a paycheck as the labor market in the US is horrible, and one guy joined because his father was in the military and he looked up to them.

None of them expected to get rich, the thing is they have had one thing the civilians should have had since the beginning and that is their wages tied to inflation to an extent. This actually brings the Military pay more inline with how they treat civilian pay which is the ass backwards way of doing it. And many who joined stay in because the pay ends up being better than what they can get working in a normal job unless they have the right MOS or security clearance while others just love the lifestyle.

I see this has a horrible way of doing it, if they wanted to cut something, they should have cut the private contractors out and let the military make their own stuff which would be less costly. If they wanted to cut the soldiers budget, all they had to do was allow many out of their contracts early while actually cutting recruitment down. This seems more like trying to cut their pay without cutting their workforce.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

Relevance?

Batman does not need relevancy.