The 1.4 percent pay raise the Obama administration has proposed for the nation's servicemembers would be the lowest raise given since 1962 - when none at all was given.
The administration, which wants to freeze non-military pay for federal workers to tackle the deficit, says a 1.4% raise for the military would match average private-sector-wage growth and is in addition to earlier increases in housing and food subsidies.
The raise proposal comes as the White House seeks ways to reduce a deficit fueled in part by stimulus spending for the private sector. Servicemembers say the cost-cutting should not include the pay for men and women in uniform.
"This is absolute garbage," says Marine Corps Sgt. John Ellis, 26, a squad commander who recently returned from Afghanistan, his fourth deployment. "The U.S. government can bail out GM and other major corporations, but for us little guys who make beans for money (and) risk getting killed these people think we don't need a raise."
Is this an admirable turn towards fiscal hawkishness on Obama's part? The 1.4% increase would, obviously, be a larger raise than was given non-military public sector employees, whose wages will not increase. Or is this an affront to the value we as a nation place on our servicemembers? It's a contentious issue, for sure. What are you thoughts?
