White House Against 3.5% Pay Increase for Soldiers

 
Yesterday, the House passed a comprehensive $646 billion defense spending bill by an overwhelming vote of 397-27. The bill authorizes "more than $100 billion in military procurement. That includes money to buy new protective vehicles and body armor for troops, and an additional $142 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." But the White House is threatening to veto the bill because it objects to, among other things, a recommended 3.5 percent military pay raise for 2008, with further increases in 2009 through 2012. The increases are "intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today." Even after the proposed increases, the gap will still remain at 1.4 percent. In a statement of administration policy released Wednesday, White House budget officials said the administration "strongly opposes" the pay raise provision because, according to them, extra pay increases are "unnecessary." The White House is also objecting to a $40 monthly allowance for military survivors, additional benefits for surviving family members of civilian employees, and price controls for prescription drugs under Tricare, the military's health care plan for military personnel and their dependents. Bush's veto threat is holding captive all the funding contained in the bill. [MORE]