Berkowitz: Shafting, not 'supporting,' the troops [View All]

[lebkuchen]

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15354

According to Army Times, the GOP-controlled Congress has:


Canceled a "modest proposal" to increase the benefit from $6,000 to $12,000 to families of soldiers who die on active duty;

"Roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones";

Refused to consider "military tax relief... that would be a boon to military homeowners, reservists who travel long distances for training and parents deployed to combat zones, among others";

Passed pay raises for "some ranks," but "cap raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at 2 percent, well below the average raise of 4.1 percent";

Accepted a $1.5 billion cut in the military construction request for 2004: A proposal by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, to restore $1 billion of the $1.5 billion cut by "cover that cost by trimming recent tax cuts for the roughly 200,000 Americans who earn more than $1 million a year... instead of... $88,300," was defeated.