If you’ve been following the fiasco known as the debt ceiling negotiations, you may know that President Obama made the statement that he wasn’t sure if Social Security checks would go out on August 3rd. Well that’s not the only thing in jeopardy. Military pay is still in limbo as Charles Hoskins at POLITICO explains: Lawmakers who want the federal government to guarantee the military gets paid during a debt crisis are accusing the Obama administration and others in Congress of using the issue as leverage in advance of any deal making on the debt. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and fellow Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert said Thursday at a news conference that leaders of both chambers were holding up the legislation, which first surfaced in late March as the threat of a government shutdown loomed. Gohmert said he would file a discharge petition to force House consideration of his measure, which has 197 co-sponsors of both parties. So, as should be obvious, it has good bi-partisan support. But leadership seems to be ignoring the issue. Hutchison’s bill would require Treasury to pay debt obligations and military pay first out of Treasury revenues in the event Congress refuses to increase the debt ceiling. Gohmert’s bill, filed March 31, is aimed strictly at guaranteeing pay in the event of a shutdown, but he said he would offer an amendment to incorporate Hutchison’s language on the debt limit. “If we can ever get these bills to the floor I think there will be no question that they will become law,” Hutchison said. There’s no reason either bill shouldn’t reach the floor – as mentioned, Gohmert’s bill has 197 co-sponsors in the House and Hutchison has 80 co-sponsors in the Senate. In both cases the probability of passage is very high. The question of course, is why Congressional leadership won’t advance the bills to the appropriate floor votes. They seem to forget that thousands and thousands of troops will remain in harm’s way regardless of which way their negotiations go. The troops deserve better. You know what to do. ~McQ Twitter: @McQandO
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Posted
Jul 14 2011, 12:59 PM
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