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lol But mindsets that far out of touch with reality typically aren't worth beating your head against a wall on FYI.
What did I say in this thread that is "out of touch with reality"?
I can't have an opinion on our military's pay because it's the part of the government that is somehow immune from criticism/pay FREEZE (we are not even talking CUT, but we should)? Nonsense.
Interestingly enough, folks that actually served discuss it with me freely (that's how I got the 120K for a tour of duty in Iraq number) I can't disclose much of the details on their specifics, partly because I didn't pry, partly because it'd be out of bounds for me to do so.
Everything should be under consideration, and damn this "military is above scrutiny, rah rah rah" pathos. My freedoms would not diminish one bit if half of the wars half way across the world were not fought in the first place.
What did I say in this thread that is "out of touch with reality"?
I can't have an opinion on our military's pay because it's the part of the government that is somehow immune from criticism/pay FREEZE (we are not even talking CUT, but we should)? Nonsense.
Interestingly enough, folks that actually served discuss it with me freely (that's how I got the 120K for a tour of duty in Iraq number) I can't disclose much of the details on their specifics, partly because I didn't pry, partly because it'd be out of bounds for me to do so.
Everything should be under consideration, and damn this "military is above scrutiny, rah rah rah" pathos. My freedoms would not diminish one bit if half of the wars half way across the world were not fought in the first place.
I am a 20 yr serviceman. Yes, we should put everything on the table. But, the actual military pay is not going to put a dent in the budget. If we want to get serious about budget cuts then we need to look at the big money. DOD contracts, additional DOD spending (housing, lodging, wasteful spending on unnecessary projects or obsolete facilities)- the list goes on and on. It always seems like congress passes a huge DOD budget based on the previous war. We end up wasting money on things that are not important. We need to restructure how the big pot of money is used. A (slightly) bigger & more flexible military would help. We can cut back on the thousands of DOD contracts/contractors. There is definitely ways to cut the overall DOD budget. Slashing military pay is the least effective, and the worst way to do it
What did I say in this thread that is "out of touch with reality"?
I can't have an opinion on our military's pay because it's the part of the government that is somehow immune from criticism/pay FREEZE (we are not even talking CUT, but we should)? Nonsense.
Interestingly enough, folks that actually served discuss it with me freely (that's how I got the 120K for a tour of duty in Iraq number) I can't disclose much of the details on their specifics, partly because I didn't pry, partly because it'd be out of bounds for me to do so.
Everything should be under consideration, and damn this "military is above scrutiny, rah rah rah" pathos. My freedoms would not diminish one bit if half of the wars half way across the world were not fought in the first place.
I agree with your post.
If posters want, they can research what someone downrange gets; don't forget to include what your family gets also. Don't forget that if people were held back by stop-loss under Bush, they just got additional money for all of the months that they had to serve.
It's an all-volunteer force, sometimes akin to welfare.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wellyouknow
What did I say in this thread that is "out of touch with reality"?
I can't have an opinion on our military's pay because it's the part of the government that is somehow immune from criticism/pay FREEZE (we are not even talking CUT, but we should)? Nonsense.
Interestingly enough, folks that actually served discuss it with me freely (that's how I got the 120K for a tour of duty in Iraq number) I can't disclose much of the details on their specifics, partly because I didn't pry, partly because it'd be out of bounds for me to do so.
Everything should be under consideration, and damn this "military is above scrutiny, rah rah rah" pathos. My freedoms would not diminish one bit if half of the wars half way across the world were not fought in the first place.
Military Pay Tables (http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables.html - broken link)
So, let's take a married E-5, with six years of service, stationed at San Diego, CA: Base Pay: $2,205.30 Housing Allowance: $1535 Food Allowance: $267.18 Family Separation Allowance: $250 Hazardous Duty Pay: $225 Hardship Duty Pay: $100 Total: $4,582.48 per month, or $54,989.76 per year, tax-free
Some jobs in Iraq start at about $80,000 a year. Others pay more. In most cases, housing and meals are provided. If you work overseas long enough (over 330 days) that income is excluded from United States taxes. Review the IRS guidelines for the details.
The pay you're talking about sounds like contractor pay.
So, let's take a married E-5, with six years of service, stationed at San Diego, CA: Base Pay: $2,205.30 Housing Allowance: $1535 Food Allowance: $267.18 Family Separation Allowance: $250 Hazardous Duty Pay: $225 Hardship Duty Pay: $100 Total: $4,582.48 per month, or $54,989.76 per year, tax-free
Some jobs in Iraq start at about $80,000 a year. Others pay more. In most cases, housing and meals are provided. If you work overseas long enough (over 330 days) that income is excluded from United States taxes. Review the IRS guidelines for the details.
The pay you're talking about sounds like contractor pay.
and that is San Diego where the housing pay is high
Our military force is voluntary. Some volunteer to serve, some sign up for benefits/education etc. What is wrong with that? Don't you "volunteer" to go to work each day to get paid, have benefits, insurance etc? They have a job to do and they do it. Do they get to say "I am not feeling like going to Iraq today so I think I will opt out, ok?" No, they don't. So since it is basically a job, just like yours and mine, (oh except for the risking your life part and not being able to say no when told to do something that falls within your job description that might get you killed) why does anyone think it is ok to freeze or cut their pay? Do you want your pay frozen or cut? Just like most other jobs, their spouses/children receive benefits as well. Do you want your benefits or your family's benefits cut? No, of course not. I would even venture to guess that we would all be very upset and angry if the government wanted to freeze or cut our pay. Our government has some belt tightening to do, no doubt about it. The rank and file military is NOT where we need to start, IMO. I would even expand this line of thought to anyone in service type jobs (police, fire fighters etc). They too are government employees that serve the public.
You've been telling them that for years. You told Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr., and now Obama to do it. You told a 12 year Republican Congress that you all fooled yourself into believing would do it, to do it...they didn't do it either. It would seem to me that you'd get the message by now...the Congress, even with its new Tea Partiers, aren't going to get it done!!
This Obama appointed panel made some good suggestions...there is something for all of us to hate AND love. Corporate taxes going down by to 26% sucks to me, but i can live with it. Cutting the top tax rate to 23% for the super rich is appalling, but i can live with it since capital gains would be taxed at that same rate instead of the present lower rate. No more home mortgage deduction sucks...but i can live with it.
In other words, i'm ready to act like an adult and pay this thing down so our kids won't have to. To simply holler "cut spending" is unrealistic.
If you continue to enable bad government you will continue to get bad government.
I can't have an opinion on our military's pay because it's the part of the government that is somehow immune from criticism/pay FREEZE (we are not even talking CUT, but we should)? Nonsense.
Interestingly enough, folks that actually served discuss it with me freely (that's how I got the 120K for a tour of duty in Iraq number) I can't disclose much of the details on their specifics, partly because I didn't pry, partly because it'd be out of bounds for me to do so.
Are you seriously suggesting that we should even be talking about a pay cut instead of "just" a freeze? Oh wait, I see you have some expert intel about it from talking to a few people who are/were in the military. I don't know who you talked to or what that person did in Iraq since you won't say anything more than that, but I sure as heck know that everyone I'm currently serving with have never made that much on any of their tours. Especially not if they actually have bills to pay even while deployed like any other normal person. Even more especially if they're enlisted.
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But mindsets that far out of touch with reality typically aren't worth beating your head against a wall on FYI.
