Amid a fluid situation that appears to be heading towards a federal shutdown, Boehner and House Republicans have passed a stopgap bill that will keep the government running for an additional week, and among the provisions in the bill is one that includes funding military personnel for the remainder of the fiscal year. Reid says it’s ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate, and Obama calls it a “distraction.” A “distraction?!” To insure military men and women get their paychecks is a “distraction?” Seriously?!
House Majority Leader Cantor’s website comments, “It’s alarming that a bill that funds our troops and could likely pass both the House and the Senate has been termed as a “distraction” by the White House. No one wants to see the government shut down, but Republicans are committed to ensuring that our men and women in uniform serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world will be paid if that happens. The White House is directly jeopardizing that."
Breitbart’s Big Government reported Tuesday:
As this recent Congressional Research Service report explains, if the government were to shutdown, an OMB Directive issued in the 1980s (along with a handful of legal opinions) guide what parts of government continue to function and what parts must close down. Short story, all of the important functions of government, i.e national security, the military, air traffic control, border security, Social Security payments, etc., will continue to function.
Sensing the potential PR nightmare from this, it seems the Obama Administration may have decided to raise the stakes on a shutdown. According to draft guidance from the Pentagon, the Obama Administration will require military personnel to report to work…but, will hold their paychecks until the impasse is resolved. As Government Executive explained in a March 15th article:
Military personnel and exempt Defense Department civilian employees are required to continue working without pay during a government shutdown, according to guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
In a memo prepared earlier this month, Defense officials noted that service members and some civilian workers, including those involved in national security and the protection of life and property, still must report for duty but will not be paid until Congress appropriates funds to reimburse them for that period of service. All other employees will be furloughed, the memo stated.
Military personnel are not subject to furlough.
This is something new, folks. The article goes on to explain that during the last government shutdown, in ’95, military personnel continued to receive their paychecks; but according to a Federal Times report, “the planning guidance sent to the services and defense agencies says a shutdown this time will be different.” So as the Breitbart article continues, “During the 1995 shutdown, the Clinton Administration followed the OMB guidance issued during the Reagan Administration. The Obama Administration, it seems, is tacking a different direction.”
AP reports that “The Obama administration warned Wednesday that a federal shutdown would…delay pay to U.S. troops fighting in three wars…”
It's despicable enough that an administration (and a party) preaches ‘compromise’, then refuses to practice the same, but even moreso that Democrat members would hold our military hostage during a budget battle. However, with the usual demagoguery, underhanded tactics, hypocrisy and their known aggression towards Defense, is it really that surprising?
Boehner says Congress shouldn't be paid in the event of a shutdown. I think most of us would agree that should go without saying, but ESPECIALLY if our honorable servicemembers' pay is at risk! If President Obama does not order that our military men and women are paid on time, then he certainly exposes his true colors as the left-wing radical he's suspected of being...with salary intact!
