Thread: Pres. Obama Rallies Mayors to Help Block Military Pay Raise

Pres. Obama Rallies Mayors to Help Block Military Pay Raise

June 22, 2015|Speaker Boehner's Press Office

The people’s priorities are our priorities, which is why Republicans are working every day to make sure our troops have the resources they need to win and come home safe.

But right now, Washington Democrats are blocking a pay raise for our troops in order to extract more money for the IRS and the EPA. And if they don’t get that money, Democrats plan to shut down the federal government.

It’s a “risky strategy,” and the commander-in-chief is seeking reinforcements.

In San Francisco on Friday, the president reiterated that he will not approve funding for our troops unless he gets more money for big government:

“Speaking to the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Friday, President Barack Obama warned Congress he will not sign any defense bills that increase military spending above the Budget Control Act caps unless domestic programs are also boosted.” (POLITICO)

The president also asked the nation’s mayors to join his party’s crusade:

“I’ve been clear, I will not sign bills at sequestration levels. I will not sign bills that seek to increase defense spending before addressing any of our needs here at home. (Applause.) … And I need your help. I need your help, Mayors, to talk to your members of Congress… Reality is a stubborn thing -- facts, evidence, reason. (Laughter.)“ (The White House)

That’s a good point, about reality. After all, the facts are that the president proposed, pushed for, and signed these budget caps into law. And the evidence of all that is plain. So it stands to reason that the president should be perfectly willing to sign a bill that is “exactly in line” with his own request.

Instead, defying logic, the president is so desperate to get more money for big government that his party is blocking the resources our troops need and the raise they have earned.

So this is what “Filibuster Summer” looks like: on one coast, Senate Democrats are voting to block a pay raise for our troops. And on the other, the president is hitting the bully pulpit to rally support for this scheme.

As Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) says in this week’s Republican address, “President Obama still has no strategy to defeat and destroy ISIS, yet his party has a strategy to get more money for the IRS.”

Our troops shouldn’t be used as political leverage. They should always come first.

- See more at: http://www.speaker.gov/general/pres-....sZSCHLHp.dpuf

I am attempting to see sense in either/both sides. What I do see is school yard children who like to fight. Obama has cut our military forces and by fighting military pay raises if he wins, he has succeeded in cutting more by attrition, IMO. Now, I have to figure out why he wants that.