Obama’s 1.6% military pay raise
Devtun sends us a link from Military Times which reports that the President has “ordered” Congress to give the troops a 1.6% cost of living increase for next year. I remember the Bush years when folks criticized that President for his “anemic” 4% and 5% COLA increases. Well, this is the seventh year that COLA raises have been below 2%, so where are those critics now;
“I am strongly committed to supporting our uniformed service members, who have made such great contributions to our nation over more than a decade of war,” Obama wrote. “As our country continues to recover from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, however, we must maintain efforts to keep our nation on a sustainable fiscal course.
“This effort requires tough choices, especially in light of budget constraints.”
The language is identical to the letter Obama sent to Congress in summer 2015, when he set the military pay raise for this year at 1.3 percent.
This is the same president that promised that he wouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of the troops and veterans. The same president whose wife has promised to make things better for military families.
Category: Military issues
Won’t do any good, this anemic 1.6% “pay raise” (accompanied by a cost-of-PX-raise).
Due to the SJW antics going on in the military services, good people will still be leaving, and not joining, in droves.
Thanks for your service. Now fuck off.
Sincerely
Your CIC.
Oops, I forgot to add, “Due to the SJW antics going on in the military services, along with the drawdowns, the reductions, and the force outs,. . . .”
Let the troops get some new tattoos who needs a pay raise?
extra sark
and don’t forget black socks with PTs.
AND we can roll our sleeves now!!!!
Wow… the JEF giving a 1.6% raise! Isn’t DA MAN being real generous with the coin this year?
Guess it’s more important to him to make sure Mooch and the girls get in their vacay this year since it’s the last one on our dime…
Well didn’t we recently have some idiot at the Puzzle Palace explaining how the troops would be happier with less money, not himself of course just the “troops”….this is a natural extension of our economic recovery, the recovery is bullshit and the COLA of 1.6% is bullshit as well. But under the democrats I wouldn’t expect to see a great deal more compensation.
And don’t forget the service senior enlisted advisors a couple years back telling Congress, “Cut pay!” The Sergeant Major of the MC even said, “My Marines are too comfortable, they’ve got it too easy.”
Though, when you’re ordered to go tell Congress to cut pay and personnel, hard to disobey that order when you know you’ll be destroyed if you don’t.
“This is the same president that promised that he wouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of the troops and veterans. The same president whose wife has promised to make things better for military families.”
We all knew that was bullshit to begin with.
Just like “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. Period.”
“I’ve brought the troops home from Iraq, just like I said I would!” followed by, “Now, if you all remember, this plan to leave Iraq was the previous administration’s, not mine.”
And over 500 other whoppers.
I think 500 would be a starting point with this administration. A Republican administration would have been forced from office had they done the crap the demmies have done.
Hear, Hear!
I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that welfare flunkies got a better COLA than Active Duty Military personnel, this is a CIC guided by the same SJW “logic” that views Military Service as a form of welfare.
WORD!!
???
This, in political terms, is known as “Throw the peasants a sop.”
Inflation rate projected for year-end by the CPI index is 1.5%.
I don’t see no general COLA comin’ that has anything but a symbolic ‘feelz good’ about it. 2.2% would be less of a snub.
What’s a little financial snub between US and THEM? Obviously, we’re not friends, are we?
If so, it qualifies as an abusive relationship.
Would there be, uh, whips and chains involved in this ‘abusive relationship’? Handcuffs? I’m asking for a friend.
Would that be IDC SARC by chance?
As I was just recalling with someone else.
In 2008 I PCS’d to a new duty location. My BAH as an E-7 was $2,067 a month. In 2009 was when BAH took a huge hit across the board. Some went up, but most went down.
In 2012 I was promoted to E-8. My BAH was so low after the hit that even after promotion, 4 years later, my BAH ($2,035) was still lower than it was as an E-7 in 2008.
What makes it worse was that I wasn’t starving, but I was working with Junior NCOs and enlisted who had to drive an hour plus to work everyday because they couldn’t afford to live closer like I did.
I was fortunate except five years in Bethesda, 72-77. Had to moonlight at Washington Hospital Center, where I almost made more money part time as I did as a Navy E-6. If I got in enough hours there, I sometimes did make more. We lucked out in that we got a fairly decent place in Silver Spring, but many junior Sailors humped an hour plus every day. The DC catchment area extended way into VA and MD. I had guys traveling 50 miles daily b/c that’s all they could afford. Cheapest place we had was Millington. Very cheap 77-81, don’t know about now. The hospital there has been closed, so I have heard. On Guam had base housing … a blessing in that we also had good wall sharing neighbors. Man, do I have stories about our neighbor, a MASSIVE BM2 (boatswain’s mate) from the PI. This isn’t any of those stories, but they did seem to lose a lot of dogs during our time as neighbors. I mean massive as in about 6’2″, 250, and he could bench press a Buick. Bethesda was a beast on junior troops, just a beast. We barely made it with three salaries. Long Beach (71-72) was very cheap at the time…We lived in San Pedro and Mrs. HMC, an Army SP4 (?), walked a few blocks to Ft. MacArthur, where she was a medic. She then got orders to Letterman and she completed her obligation there. It was fun. Wish for a repeat. Having a good woman x 45 years is an added blessing.
“Having a good woman x 45 years is an added blessing.”
Having a good woman is the only way I can make it through life sometimes.
Still remember the joys of moving to Monterey as an E-5 with kids for an 11 month school, a one year waiting list for married quarters at Ft. Ord, and no COLA. Damn good thing we had no bills, or we would have been screwed.
Every time Obama starts supporting the troops, I’m reminded of a movie called “The Choirboys”:
Sergeant: Remember, the Captain is behind you 100%.
Charles Durning: Yeah, I’ve felt him there many times!
My sponsor’s letter to me (1976)said trade assignments with anyone for anywhere else, HAWAII is murder for junior corpsmen due to lack of housing and high costs. But being poor in Hawaii was no worse than being poor in California. We lived ‘ashore’ in Waipahu until old ‘unsuitable’ quarters became available to us. As Bill M. states a good woman is indispensable to a good life (no matter where your duty station is). Shipmates and good neighbors help a lot too. DOUG out
And then the genius decided we should be paying European style prices for gasoline.
Proof positive of that well known saying, “Nothing is to good for you people!” Or something…. Hmmm…, Nah! Politicians love us, and just want to help. Uh-huh. Well, in an election year. Maybe. Sorta.
Their is eventually going to be a personnel and retention issues, if not already, if they keep this shit up along with the social engineering of allowing fruitcakes and deviants to serve and especially if the bitch gets elected by hook and crook.
This is worse than the Carter years and that was not a particularly good time to be in the military, especially overseas, I know I was there & done did that, and that influenced me to get out, when the time came whether to reup or move on to something else…served also under Nixon and Ford…in fact when I was out processing it was mostly NCO’s like myself with lots of experience E-4,5 & 6’s, the core of the force, I see a Deja vu all over again on steroids taking place.
COLA is an abbreviation for “Cost Of Living Allowance”. Since the last cost of living increase I could find is substantially less than 1.6%, I don’t see what the fuss is about.
Incidentally, Social Security is getting a 0.0% COLA.
Any inflation rate that is less than 1.0% results in a $0.00 COLA raise in all areas, including SocSec and VADC.
However, if the year-end rate is as projected at 1.5% that WILL result in a COLA raise.
I can only imagine the ruckus & shitstorm active duty members would be in if they did like our instructors in EOD School did. It was across the board with all 4 services.
It was like 4 or 5 days before the pols voted on our pay raise. The had every student line up outside the support area offices. Each student would enter an office, an instructor would ask you what state you were a resident of, dial that pols DC office number & hand you a short, succinct “speech” to spout out to whomever answered.
There were about 350 students. That year we got a double-digit pay raise. Did the phone calls make a difference? Don’t know, but surely it didn’t hurt.
If that happened today, I could see some NCOs up to their eyebrows in shit.
It only takes effect if (or should I say “when”) the esteemed Republican-led Congress does not place a different number in the Authorization or Appropriations acts.
And the (R) Congress has been silent every time the pResident balances the budget on the backs of the service members.
I wish the budget was even closed to balanced. In truth he’s just shifting spending from a group he really doesn’t like (us) to groups he likes more (pretty much everybody else). If we were getting our fiscal house in order, and small pay raises (or even a pay freeze) were part of that, that would be one thing, but the spending spigots are still open for lots of other things (cough, “pork”, cough), while Joe get’s to try and figure out how to live within his salary for another year.
Nineteen TRILLION in debt, POTUS sends down 1.3%? Insulting. And it’s CONGRESS that’s to blame-they control (most) spending.
Feels like the wolf is getting even closer to the door.
Back when he first came on board, the President also promised pay parity between military personnel and federal civilian personnel regarding annual increases. With 1.6% coming in 2017 it looks like he made good on his promise. Of course we thought he meant he would raise the civilian rate to match the military rate, not bring the military rate down to match the civilian rate.
So you people stayed in the military. Just because I made the best out of my education and parlayed my GED into a real living doesn’t mean I should have to pay for your free ride the rest of your lives.
Give you people a pay raise and you still bitch. Free dinner at Ponderosa Steak House and huge discounts at Lowes are not enough for ya.
Ok, maybe I can see Marines getting a little something, but these Air Force people? I mean really, are they truly veterans anyway?
1.6% of too much…is still too much.
Damn straight … the Air Force pay should be frozen until they earn their keep. I’m thinking about 2025 should do the trick.
Marine Lives Matter
OK, posting this here b/c it seems to be getting the most eyeballs today. This is National Suicide Prevention Month. Many veterans and probably all careerists have known a troop who took their life. We moved here in 84 and several young Sailors rented shortly afterwards, a few guys and a girl, next door. Beautiful young girl, 20 or so, committed suicide b/c her boyfriend back home was moving on. A split second decision that ended a wonderful life. Today she would be a grandmother and probably unable to recall that guy’s name. Great sadness. I’ve known patients who did so b/c of never ending uncontrolled pain. I can’t judge them. I knew of a case in which a guy stood in the middle of the street, arms raised, until someone stopped and took him to an ER. He didn’t know any other means of getting help quickly. He would have killed himself. So, you boys and girls, if you’re thinking of this, don’t do it. Call someone. Go to an ER. Go to a doc in the box. Stand in the damn road. If you know someone who is a threat to themselves, take them to a health care facility or call an ambulance. Stand in the damn road with them. It’s a lot better to overreact than to hear that gunshot from next door. I don’t believe it is possible to overreact if you feel someone is in peril. You owe no apology to anyone for ever seeking help for a person in need of care in any capacity. THINGS WILL GET BETTER. There is a lot of traffic on Jonn’s blog; I bet if enough see this, someone will be saved at some time. Love you turds … And a double hat tip to Frankie C in FL whose recent intervention certainly saved the life of a veteran who would have killed himself. He saw a need and responded. Double hat tip, Frankie C. Got this today from the VA: Be There: Help Save a Life September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Helping someone feel included and… Read more »
I’m going to be late to this parade but how about cutting off the endless flow of “refugees”, welfare benefits for illegals and money wasted on forcing states to allow trannies in restrooms and taking over cities police departments?
Veterans will be able to shop online at the military PX’s. Giving the chain a much needed cash boost. Set for 2017
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/16/pentagon-to-open-online-exchange-shopping-to-vets-in-2017.html
Why would I shop online at an exchange when Aldi and Walmart are cheaper and within 5 minutes of my house?
1.6% !!!!
Wow, hey baby,,,, now we can afford to supersize our McDonalds order. We’re living large now!
Watch what congress gets for a pay raise.
Probably not less than 20 to 30 percent pay raise.
Been doing this since the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
Give the military a 5 or less percent pay raise, then give themselves a 20 to even 50 per cent pay raise.
Then complain that there is NOT enough money to give the military a pay raise.
Of course there isn’t enough money, you STOLE it all for yourselves libturds.
Fracken libturds!!!