Push for pay increase resonates

[ProSense]

Democrats push for bigger military pay raise

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, February 26, 2006

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry and a team of Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a bigger pay raise for military personnel in 2007, saying the proposed 2.2 increase simply isn’t enough.

“I will push for a salary that meets the needs of our troops,” Kerry said in a statement sent to Stripes on Friday. “When gas prices and everything else are so high, we can’t just pull a number out of thin air. We have to be sure their salary is enough to put food on the table and do right by their families.”

The 10-senator team earlier this month sent a letter to the Senate Budget Committee calling the Defense Department’s proposal “paltry” and saying “Congress must do better” for the troops.

When the fiscal 2007 federal budget was unveiled earlier this month, Defense officials said the military has seen a 29 percent increase in pay since fiscal 2001, and noted the 2.2 percent raise was in line with private sector pay forecasts for next year.


http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=35327

I think this is the first Kerry article I've come across in Stars and Stripes

[globalvillage]

1. See, bush* just doesn't get it.

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." — George Bush Jan. 27, 2000

If my boss tried to give me 2.2%, I'd give it back. It's an insult.

I'm glad the Senator is sticking with this. 2.2% is not going to help these people in the current economy.