Military May Get Pay Cut, Fewer Benefits
After
all, it’s the ongoing sequester that will cut another $52 billion from
the Pentagon’s budget come January, The Wall Street Journal says.
Specific details aren’t available, because the Pentagon is waiting for
approval from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, President Obama, and
eventually…
Military May Get Pay Cut, Fewer Benefits
By Brandon Ballenger
3 hours ago
“Selfie” may be word of the year, but if the decision were based on impact, “sequester” might have been a better choice.
After all, it’s the ongoing sequester that will cut another $52 billion from the Pentagon’s budget come January, The Wall Street Journal says. That’s on top of the $41 billion already cut this year. Because of the cuts, top military commanders are considering a plan that would mean slower growth of pay or possibly a reduction, along with reduced benefits.
Specific details aren’t available, because the Pentagon is waiting for approval from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, President Obama, and eventually Congress. It plans to release details in February. Here’s what is clear now, per the WSJ:
- Without cuts, military personnel costs would rise from half of the budget to 60 percent in the new year.
- The new plan would not immediately cut benefits for service members.
- The plan includes no changes to the retirement system.
- Everything else — including pay, housing allowances, health and other benefits — is on the table.
According to a recent
Reuters investigation, however, the Pentagon is terrible at accounting,
and it’s virtually impossible to properly audit. A single office of the
Pentagon’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service made at least $1.59
trillion in errors in 2009 financial reports for the Air Force, it says.
That includes $548 billion in made-up numbers — blanks that were filled
in with the numbers needed to reconcile the military’s books with the
Treasury’s.
“Because
of its persistent inability to tally its accounts, the Pentagon is the
only federal agency that has not complied with a law that requires
annual audits of all government departments,” Reuters says. “That means
that the $8.5 trillion in taxpayer money doled out by Congress to the
Pentagon since 1996, the first year it was supposed to be audited, has
never been accounted for.”
It’s a little difficult to say what the
Pentagon can and can’t afford to do when the Pentagon can’t account for
what it’s spending now.This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as 'Military May Get Pay Cut, Fewer Benefits'.
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