How do you feel about Congress cutting military pay?

It's a small cut to start with, 1SG (Join to see), but that worries me. Once they take a step down that road, it's easy to continue on the path and make deeper cuts in future years.

Personally, I'm tired if congress always looking to limit or withhold pay increases or entitlements for the service member. If they want to save money, congress needs to look in house. For example, military personnel are required to fly coach but congress can book first class! Social security is broken because it's not a system congress uses for themselves. We need to hold congress accountable to being good stewards of the taxpayers dollars as much they want us to be.

1SG (Join to see) it's a small cut now, but congress will continue to come back to military cuts when they need to slash the budget. Like SPC Charles Brown mentioned, if congressional benefits and pay were tied to military benefits and pay then congress would always find another way to balance out the budget. I've said before, social security is still broke because congress doesn't use it. They have their own special retirement plans and healthcare plans. When we stop allowing them to act as if they are better than ordinary citizens, only then will be able to get things done.

1SG, I was just making a point about something similar to this. It was a microcosm of this situation. Many long time military personnel like to say "quit complaining and drive on". This is great and it makes for a very short term solution. Of you continue to let these kind of things to happen without a peep because "we are the military and we just suck it up" you make it easy for politicians to drop the hammer on you. So as a whole, if we do not stand up for our benefits and pay as politians elect to cut them, we make it easy to continue this trend. So we are not complaining about these cuts are belly aching... We are putting a foot down. Stopping policy makers from continuing to drop the hammer in our pay by not going down quietly. This is a scenario where it is okay to complain. It is okay to pipe up. There's a time to suck it up and there's a time to remind congress that we are people with families and responsibilities like anyone else. I with you on this one.

I would truly love to see congress and the president live on what the highest paid members of the military equal to their respective time in service. I would also like to see them retire and live on the pay and benefits our retirees earn. After that, well, I bet they would change their opinion about what our service members are truly worth!

I hate it, but with our "need" to support illegals and tons of other wasteful spending they need to cut costs somewhere. Someone said "how come you hear of SS going broke but not the welfare office". Idiots in charge of the credit card.

It's down right disrespectful and one of the most controversial issues military members face. I feel for my brothers and sisters whom are still in. It seems like they will continue to pick at this until they get what they want. The sacrifice is unmatched and yet they have the audacity to reduce the pay even more?? God forbid they're asked to dig out of their own pockets.

LTC (Join to see), here's how some politicians may feel about military pay!

Never fail's. They want people to enlist, or say in . Well bring the family have a career stay in but we don't want to pay your what you would make in the civilian side. Or buy a house for the family that you have. Oh wait stay on post you say. Well there isn't enough housing on post. Well we didn't issue you a family so it's not our problem. Just like the way when you go to the VA when you get out. First thing they say is prove you done this in the military. Well stupid I just got out of the military and have been there for x amount of years where else could I have done it. Well there isn't any medical showing you sustained the injury in the military. so they use your body up then don't want to fix it when you get out. PAR for the coarse you are screwed.

I have more questions than thoughts. This article is 3 weeks old. Was what was passed in line with what was laid out in the article?

If so, my main issue would be around how the BAH decrease was done. If it cuts the BAH rate for someone PCSing to a a given location, that might be OK . It is just a factor to consider when setting up household. It should also have the impact, over time, of lowering housing costs in a given area.
Landlords have no incentive to ask for LESS than average BAH for an area.(remember, I was around when it was supposed to pay 80% of off-post housing costs, so that doesn't seem absurd to me)

IF it cuts BAH for people currently at a location, then that is an issue, as those housing decisions have already been made and are locked in. Part of me is tempted to say that $50 one way or another shouldn't make a difference. But I remember when I was making decisions based on $5 one way of the other.

Lower pay raise? Shrug. I have had a 6 year pay freeze at my civilian employer.