Talk about lousy timing: With President Bush’s popularity scraping bottom in opinion polls, with U.S. casualties rising in Iraq in a force surge that has stretched soldier tours to 15 months, the Bush administration on Tuesday said it “strongly opposes” key military pay and benefit gains tossed into their fiscal 2008 defense bill.
Initiatives the administration “strongly opposes” include:
* A military pay raise for next January of 3.5 percent versus 3 percent endorsed by the White House.
* Lowering the age-60 start of retirement annuities for reserves by the length of their future mobilizations.
* Expanding eligibility for combat pay to service members forced by combat disabilities to retire short of 20 years.
* Directing medicine manufacturers to provide the Department of Defense with the same price discounts for the TRICARE retail pharmacy network that are provided already on medicines dispensed from base pharmacies.
The administration also grumbled that the Senate intends to block for another year TRICARE fee increases for under-65 retirees and dependents.
The objections appear in a “Statement of Administration Policy” from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget delivered to Senate leaders as they opened floor debate on the defense authorization bill.
A day later, Senate Republicans, at White House’s urging, blocked amendments to the bill that would have shortened Iraq tours for U.S. ground forces and slowed frequency of wartime deployments. Republicans said the amendments really were aimed at changing administration policy in Iraq.
Here’s more on Senate provisions that the White House opposes:
Pay raise. Like the House, senators favor a 3.5 percent military pay raise for 2008 versus the administration’s proposed 3 percent to match private sector wage growth as measured by the government’s Employment Cost Index. The White House calls the extra half percentage point unnecessary and notes that basic pay has jumped by 33 percent since 2001. The added cost of the bigger raise, $2.2 billion through 2013, is money “that would otherwise be available to support our troops,” said a budget office letter.
TRICARE increases. Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the new assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, has said he intends to work with Congress and service associations on more modest TRICARE fee increases for under-65 retirees and their dependents than has been pushed so far by the Bush administration. The budget office letter doesn’t reflect that air of compromise.
By not allowing the TRICARE fees and deductibles to rise as the administration planned, the budget office chided, the Senate is adding $1.86 billion. Again, “funds that would otherwise be available to support our troops.”
Reserve retirement. The Senate bill would lower the start of reserve retirement at age 60 by three months for every 90 days a reservist or Guard member is recalled after the change is enacted. The administration opposes this move, arguing it fuels growth in military deferred compensation and overall entitlement spending and will “only marginally” improve career retention among Reserve and Guard members.
Combat pay. The Senate bill would expand eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation to certain retirees forced by their disabilities to leave service short of 20 years. Only those disabled by combat injuries would be eligible. Payments would be set by plugging into the usual retired pay formula the smaller number of years that disabled retirees have served.
The House voted to expand the pay only to Chapter 61 retirees who served at least 15 years and have combat-related disabilities rated 60 percent or higher. House-Senate conferees will have to reconcile the differences. The administration opposes such “piecemeal changes to disability compensation,” said the budget office, noting that several commissions are studying disability pay. Congress should await a comprehensive reform package.
To comment, e-mail milupdate@aol.com, write Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.
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