Should the Senate privatize military commissaries?

Give DECA to AAFES. Not only will this get rid of the massive tax bill the gov pays for them, but they will generate funds for MWR. Tax free isnt really tax free just because they call it a fee. DECA is a waste of tax payers money.

The commissaries may not be standardized which is how the whole military system works. The quality of service and products may go up or down depending on the region. I'm against.

I always liked the atmosphere in the commissary and the volunteers that worked there. Not sure how I feel.

This is my own personal opinion... Overseas and remote CONUS bases, keep Commissary. Everyone else....well personally, I have not seen that much of a savings in commissary prices. The other aspect that I see is that the Department of Defense is trying to manage shipments of lettuce, cabbage, and baked beans.... along with chips, dips, and all other stuff groceries.... If I was king of the world, I would probably try to find an already existing organization (Wal-Mart, HEB Groceries, Kroger, etc) to make a business deal that they will sell to the military beneficiaries at a specific rate upon verification of said benefits (ID Card). They already have sources, distribution lines, etc.

For those that say that the Commissary doesn't charge taxes, please explain to me what the 5% sur-charge is??!! (smells like a tax to me!).

I have seen what happened when base housing got privatized and using that as the basis for my answer: HELL NO!

I'm not sure how it will affect it in the grand scheme of things. "Privatizing" is not the same as subjecting it to market forces, as I presume they will still be subsidized and be subject to extra conditions (like any contractor). Personally I find a lot of things to be cheaper at Wal-Mart anyway, there are only a handful of items I can get cheaper at the commissary - like certain prepackaged Asian foods or other odd stuff that you can normally only find at specialty stores.

Privatizing is definitely better than shutting it down, and may even lower costs below current prices, if the "Walmart Commissary" doesn't have to pay property mortgage or taxes or electrical bills. They will hire new folks and pay minimum wage, so their personnel costs will be less than DeCA. If the lawyers and program managers write a good RFP, it could be a win-win, unless you're a DeCA employee. Government run is almost always more expensive than private, so it will likely work.

Considering that the average Store Worker makes between $10 and $19 an hour there I would say there needs to be a change. I would authorize them to actually try and be self sustaining and to turn a profit which they are currently prohibited from doing. I do not think that privatizing is the answer here. The commissary needs to be competitive with the outlets on the economy.

The deals in the commissary are on specific items. Our younger troops will notice it specifically on things like baby formula, milk, etc. Our "older" folks just aren't going to see the same cost savings, because they don't buy the same items.

If we are going to shut down anything, it really should be the Exchanges. They are an older model of retail establishment, which just doesn't compare to what currently exists.