Why are rightwingers so proud of a President who supports the troops by fighting their pay increase?

Question

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/05/military_whitehouse_opposeraise_070516w/
White House opposes 3.5 percent pay raise

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 16, 2007 17:47:40 EDT

Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.

The Bush administration had asked for a 3 percent military raise for Jan. 1, 2008, enough to match last year’s average pay increase in the private sector. The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage point greater than private-sector pay raises.

Answer 1

PLH you do know there is a reason Bush wont opt the pay increase. The failure to give the military an increase is because the Conservatives, BlackWater USA mercenaries are paying 3-5 times the wages. George Bush has weakened the career military and lost hundreds of thousands of special forces soldiers to the BlackWater mercs. Right in the Middle East Bush has 200,000 contracted mercenary soldiers through Halliburtons (KBR) from the BlackWater USA. All of this is in addition to our American troops. I hope you are aware that with Halliburton (KBR) no-bid contracts, the American tax payer is paying the wages for the BlackWater USA mercenaries too. It is all a squeeze play to under mind the American military high command, but go figure. I have a whole page of videos to view as proof and my source, so enjoy. http://video.google.com/videosearch?um=1&tab=wv&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=com.microsoft%3A*%3AIE-SearchBox&q=blackwater%20usa

Answer 2

Interesting article.

First thing, who said conservatives are proud of the president's performance. Have you kept up with current affairs lately? Ever notice how Bush's name is conspicuously absent from the Republican debates, while one of the buzz words is "Regan conservative" and which candidate best fits that bill? I can tell you as a conservative that Dubya pride isn't exactly running high right now. Just because some sycophants in the administration, like Alberto Gonzales, are towing the party line doesn't mean the majority are with him on a lot of his policies. Not a single Republican voted Yea for the Bush/Kennedy immigration bill (McCain was a no-vote). It's not even hard to find opposition to Bush's Iraq plan.

Also the article says the Bush administration was pushing for pay-for-performance in the military. Just goes to show you that slanted reporting will hand pick the points it wants to make and plaster it into the headline. You have to analyze these things, rarely will you find a black-and-white truth in politics, nor will you even find it in reporting with the sad state it's in.

Answer 3

Have you actually compared the military pay increases under Bush to those under Clinton ?

The " pay gap " the difference between military salaries and civilian salaries was 11% under Clinton, its now 3% under Bush.

Military pay raises are based to be 0.5% higher than the increase in the CPI ( consumer price index ).

That was done, to cut the huge pay gap that occured under the Clinton administration.

The funding formula requires a 3% pay increase this year.

Bush isn't fighting the increased pay, he just said it wasn't necessary.

And to the person who said Bush cut Veterans benefits, what planet are you on ?

The VA budget has increased from 47 billion in 2001, to 88 billion in 2007.

Thats the largest increase in history for any President.

Compare to the VA budget going from 38 Billion in 1993 to 47 billion in 2001 under the last president.

And before you start saying, but now we have the Iraq veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are only 2% of the Veterans receiving VA services.

There are 26 million veterans in the United States.

Answer 4

The majority of Americans have seen thier real earnings fall under Bush. I guess the troops are now learning they are no more important to Bush than the rest of us consumers. So long as we keep supporting corporate America (even after it moves it's headquarters to Dubai to avoid paying tax) and not demanding our piece of the pie!

Answer 5

I think he thinks he's a fiscal conservative. He isn't. Nor is he a social conservative. Bush is the best friend liberals have in the White House.

Answer 6

who says we're proud of him, Hippie Boy? Peace Love and Harmony? LMAO! I think we should take away 2 or 3 of the last congressional pay raises and give them to the troops! do you think congress would go for that Hippie Boy?

Answer 7

Your getting desperate, and really starting to look pathetic in your attempts to bash the government. I would suggest you do more research on the issues you choose rather than just post news story's that don't give the full information.

Answer 8

They didn't seem to mind when Bush cut Veteran's benefits either. I think it has to do with lack of critical thinking and analytical abilities.

Watch Frontline from last night. I think it was called, "The Lost Year In Iraq" at pbs.org

Answer 9

This makes me ill... just like this White House to be rolling in dirty oil money but not want to give anything to the troops making that possible. hypocrites.. the whole bunch of them!!!

Answer 10

That money is better allocated to defense contractors and mercenaries in Bush's opinion.