Thanks to the severe financial crisis, this year has brought story upon story upon story which has alarmed and even caused panic among military families. Given where we currently are (or aren’t), I have to believe that we’re going to see more stories and more confusion as to how the state of the economy will affect military pay and benefits. There has been an internal debate on how to cover these stories at SpouseBUZZ because we’re a military spouse support site with a long-standing policy of staying out of politics. But on the other hand, current events have an effect on military families and for that reason, they’re hard to ignore. Plus, misinformation — or lack of information — breeds panic, and we want to emphasize preparedness and not panic.
After the last debacle where military families were used as political pawns, there was a lot of chatter about legislation crafted to protect military pay. Personally, I’d rather politicians kiss babies and go to ribbon-cutting ceremonies because they have a tendency not to factor in the unintended consequences of their actions, or really screw things up, but your mileage may vary. Yesterday, I read an update on the legislation. And by update, I just mean that the bill is sitting on someone’s desk collecting dust.
Two weeks after a Texas congressman tried force a House vote on his bill mandating that servicemembers be paid first in the event of a government shutdown, only nine representatives have signed on. The so-called discharge petition requires 218 signatures.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, filed the bill in March only to see it stuck in committee. During a press conference on July 14 he announced he would use a House rule that allowed members to petition to get a bill onto the floor. At that time he expressed confidence that he’d have the backing, claiming he had 190 co-sponsors.
“We need to make sure the military, people in harm’s way that are dodging bullets, never have to have it cross their minds that their paychecks may not come in,” Gohmert said at the time. He was joined there by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who had filed similar legislation in the Senate, where it has also languished in committee.
I know that bills are complex and they often have extraneous pork and language tacked on. Sometimes when legislators vote against a bill, it’s because the bill isn’t a “clean” bill and while they may support the essential parts of the bill, they don’t support all the extra additions. Armed with that knowledge, I brewed myself some tea and settled in for a long and torturous read. I was pretty sure this bill had seen no movement because it was a convoluted piece of legislation. When I downloaded the bill, I thought surely I had the wrong bill. Nope. It’s a one-pager with clear and concise language that even a layperson like me can understand.
I’d like to hear more about why this hasn’t moved. Perhaps there’s a good reason which I haven’t thought of. But in the absence of that information, I found myself surprised over the fact that a bill such as this was languishing in committee, having a mere nine signatures on a petition to move it forward in the House of Representatives. If, as many politicians claim, the military should never have to worry about pay being withheld, why would anyone object to advancing this bill? From the story linked above:
Leaders on both sides do not want to remove military pay from the debate because they believe that having it at risk will make it easier for lawmakers to go along with a deal for which they otherwise would not vote.
What this particular example says to me is that many politicians are giving lip-service to protecting military families during a time of war because the military is more valuable to politicians when they’re vulnerable than when they’re protected.
As expressed at the top, I tend to prefer a less-is-more approach given the current state of affairs. I’m not sure how I feel about this legislation per se, but these are merely personal preferences and issues for me to wrestle with. However, I am sure how I feel about being used as a pawn on a chess board, over and over and over again.
It’s unseemly.
If you support a bill to protect military pay, you can click here and let your legislators know. No matter where you stand, strap yourselves in for a bumpy ride. Perhaps we should have a drinking game and every time someone says, “we’re not sure veterans will get their pay if….” we can throw back a shot. Oh, never-mind. We can’t afford to go on a months-long bender. After all, we have jobs and responsibilities, and we actually do them….
We’ll keep an eye on developments as they pertain to military families, but Paycheck Chronicles and our Money Channel are great destinations where you can find 24/7 news on all-things-financial, so bookmark them, stay informed and empowered.
Note: Everyone is free to express their opinions but as stated above, we do not get into overtly political discussions at SpouseBUZZ. Personal attacks on politicians, parties or other commenters will not be tolerated and will be deleted. You can voice your opinion and thoughts, and respond to the thoughts of others, in a reasonable, civil manner.
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I almost snorted my iced coffee at your drinking game idea. I fear it would result in an even deadlier hangover than the time I foolishly played a dice game with a bunch of pilots. ;-)
Iced coffee? Traitor! My green tea drinking friend has betrayed me and gone to the dark side. Our friendship may not survive this…. :)
Fear not, my worthy Camellia sinensis-drinking compatriot — it's tea and tea only for me most days. That other caffeinated interloper makes an appearance but rarely (though it is awfully tasty with almond milk). ;-)
If the conservatives would stop protecting their rich freinds/supporters then we would not need such a bill.
What a politician wants first and foremos is to be elected into office. Once in office, what a politician wants is to be reelected into office. That is something none of us should forget when we hear all the news about people proposing bills. I take every single one of their suggestions with a grain of salt and the thought that they don't necessarily want to do this to help us out, but to get us to vote for them next time around.
I am not sure how constitutional a bill to pay the military first would be, and I bet that someone, somewhere would challenge it and we'd see it dragged through the courts, if it ever came to be a bill that is. The hope never dies that all the people with the power to the federal checkbook take a look at their own finances when they start cutting, and maybe, just maybe sit out a month or two, for the greater good. But it's not the most realistic hope, so instead we keep on squirreling away money in case the doodoo hits the fan…
I often wondered what it felt like to be the rope in tug of war….Not so much any more….
It's all so disheartening. Our leaders in government are so detached from what the lives of any regular American is like. I'm very tired of our families being treated like pawns. I will let my representative know how I feel but I fear that they are deaf.
I completely agree with To the Nth- I laughed out loud at the drinking game- I completely agree with everything you have said! I wish I had the articulation you have on the matter! :)
So proud of my congressman for signing on to this!
You can thank your Republican representatives who wrap themselves in the flag and cut veterans benefits whenever they can. They are total hypocrites.
There are 201 Sponsors of this bill http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01… and the GOP has been working to make sure our military is paid regardless of what is going on but it's been passed over by the Senate and Obama threatens VETO.
if momma ain't happy no one is happy. When the ssi and military pay is threatened. The states welfare pay will be overloaded. and every state will go bankrupt. If they take this out of the equation they will lose the ace up their sleeve. I wish you all well and good luck.
I am a wife of veteren who passed away from Nam' how dare they use those guys over there laying on there bellies protecting them & there Families ::sorry no check for U or spouse.,.. How dare he do that it was a LOW BLOW and one people will not forget no matter what he thinks come 2012 U don't forget that…..
Gotta love the disclaimer "Everyone is free to express their opinions but as stated above, we do not get into overtly political discussions at SpouseBUZZ. Personal attacks on politicians, parties or other commenters will not be tolerated and will be deleted…"
Catch 22, military personnel need to criticize the potentiality of the government withholding pay, but can't be overtly political because the government controls their pay and have the power to withhold it.
The senate and congress have allot of nerve talking about our military pay & health benefits. The president ,congressmen and senators collect a retirement after just 1 term in office. Their pay and benefits are well above the pay & benefits of a retired military person on active duty has no set hours and still only make 50% of our base pay. Leave your hands off our pay and benefits.
"IN GOD WE TRUST"