Bill to Pay Military if Gov't Shuts Down Gaining Momentum

[rockdawg21]

Thank you Kay Bailey Hutchinson [R-TX] (http://hutchison.senate.gov/) for supporting our troops!

I don't see any Senators from California, Florida, or New York on that list and they are 3 of the 4 states that every other state pays attention to. GO TEXAS!!!

http://hutchison.senate.gov/?p=blog&id=522
With both the White House and the Department of Defense now saying that the paychecks of our military men and women will be threatened by a government shutdown, an effort led by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) to ensure pay for members of the armed forces is gaining rapid bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate, with 43 cosponsors already signed on.

Sen. Hutchison: "The men and women who serve our nation each and every day at home and in operations across the world deserve our full support. At a time when more than 90,000 service members are in Afghanistan and 47,000 are in Iraq, it is crucial that Congress act to make sure these brave men and women receive their hard earned pay. Any disruption in pay would cause significant financial strain on military families, damage morale, and negatively impact military readiness."

The administration has indicated that members of the armed forces would not receive paychecks in the event of a government shutdown:

White House: "They will continue to earn money during this period of time, but given that we don't have any money to pay out, they will not be paid, they will not receive their paychecks, until we have money again and Congress appropriates" said a senior administration official. Politico, April 6, 2011

Department of Defense: "But in all seriousness, based on some stuff I read this morning, if the government shuts down starts on the 8th and goes for a week, you'd get a half a check. If it goes from the 15th to the 30th, you wouldn't get a pay check on the 30th but you would be back paid for all of it. So that's the deal and I'm, you know, frankly, I remember when I was your age I did a lot of living from pay check to pay check and so I hope this thing doesn't happen." ABC News, April 7, 2011

"We expect a significant number of civilian DOD employees will unfortunately be furloughed if the government shuts down," a senior administration official said today. Christian Science Monitor, April 6, 2011


S. 724, the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011 is cosponsored by:

Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH]
Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]
Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA]
Sen. Coats, Daniel [R-IN]
Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Sen. Corker, Bob [R-TN]
Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC]
Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Sen. Hagan, Kay [D-NC]
Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND]
Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Sen. Johanns, Mike [R-NE]
Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI]
Sen. Kyl, Jon [R-AZ]
Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Sen. Lieberman, Joe [ID-CT]
Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]
Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID]
Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]
Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Sen. Tester, John [D-MT]
Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Sen. Toomey, Pat [R-PA]
Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Sen. Mark Udall [D-CO]
Sen. Jay Rockefeller [D-WV]
Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WV]

Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011 assures that, in the event of a Federal Government shutdown, our nation's men and women in uniform would continue to receive their military pay and allowances.

This bill not only protects all active duty men and women, but also those who serve in the Coast Guard and Reserve Components. Additionally, a provision is included to give the Secretary of Defense the discretion to allow those who serve as DOD civilians or contractors in support of our men and women in uniform to continue to be paid as well.

Watch: Sen. Hutchison's floor speech (http://www.senate.gov/cgi-bin/exitmsg?url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DeX_e9igpYqY)

Read: Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act Press Release (http://www.hutchison.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=519)

[Miss Foxy]

Oh heck no!! They better not even do that to our troops and to the families of our troops!! My children personally would be impacted!! :angry: They better pay and I am glad this bill has been presented!!

[KENTUCKYREDBONE]

Good luck getting the left to vote for it!

[Miss Foxy]

Good luck getting the left to vote for it!

True! Figures those hags in California aren't on there!! :angry:

[DonnaMaria]

Do the Senators get paid if the gov shuts down? Or do they get paid regardless?

[Crisco]

Is there any pork in the bill?

[rockdawg21]

I'd like to know if the government funded abortions will stop for that day?

[KENTUCKYREDBONE]

I'd like to know if the government funded abortions will stop for that day?

Obama would rather do that than fund our troop's! If I understand what I heard on Hannity tonight Obama threatened to veto the bill to fund the troop's!

[rockdawg21]

Obama would rather do that than fund our troop's! If I understand what I heard on Hannity tonight Obama threatened to veto the bill to fund the troop's!
I know it already had 43 people supporting it. It only needs 50% of the Senate and House to override Obama's veto right? I couldn't imagine that even enough Dems would go against it.

[County Mike]

Do the Senators get paid if the gov shuts down? Or do they get paid regardless?

Yes, they still get paid. Total BS! If their paychecks were on the line, I'm betting they'd be a little more eager to get the budget signed.

From my understanding, the Republicans want to cut some wasteful spending and the Democrats don't want to cut anything. That's the cause of the disagreement and neither side has enough votes to get their budget passed.

[DonnaMaria]

Yes, they still get paid. Total BS! If their paychecks were on the line, I'm betting they'd be a little more eager to get the budget signed.

From my understanding, the Republicans want to cut some wasteful spending and the Democrats don't want to cut anything. That's the cause of the disagreement and neither side has enough votes to get their budget passed.

TOTAL BS!!!!!!!!:angry: Unbelieveable!!!!!!!

They shouldn't be able to go home until this is done!!!!!! Last time the gov. was shut down for 21 days!!!! One day is unacceptable!!!!!! :angry:

[rockdawg21]

Yes, they still get paid. Total BS! If their paychecks were on the line, I'm betting they'd be a little more eager to get the budget signed.

From my understanding, the Republicans want to cut some wasteful spending and the Democrats don't want to cut anything. That's the cause of the disagreement and neither side has enough votes to get their budget passed.
Luckily, there are a couple Senators who have a brain, but there's still arguing about the past occurring:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20051698-503544.html
April 7, 2011 10:55 AM
Senator Joe Manchin: Don't pay us if government shuts down
Posted by Brian Montopoli

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/03/27/congress_109892474_620x350.JPG
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) sits by himself in the House of Representatives on March 9, 2011 in Washington, DC.
(Credit: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Updated 5:12 p.m. Eastern Time

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is circulating a letter today asking his colleagues to return any pay they receive during a government shutdown. If a deal is not worked out soon, a shutdown will begin Saturday.

"While millions of American families will be impacted by a government shutdown - whether they are serving our country's military, whether someone in their family is furloughed or whether they are unable to use critical government services - elected officials are the one group who will not be impacted," he wrote. "Just the opposite, in fact: we still get paid. How does that make any sense?"

Manchin called on his colleagues to pledge to either donate their salaries to charity or return them to the Treasury until the government reopens. Senators are paid $174,000 a year.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Communications Director Brian Walsh derided Manchin's appeal as "pure political posturing by multi-millionaire Joe Manchin to cover up for the fact that he and his fellow Washington Democrats have failed to do their jobs." Walsh complained that Manchin missed important votes in December to attend a Christmas party and said that if he is serious he should return his pay from that period as well.

In his letter, Manchin preemptively rebutted some of the criticism, writing: "some in Washington will deride this as an empty gesture. To those naysayers, I say that the American people expect more of us. They expect us to lead by example and share their pain until a budget resolution is reached that reflects our values and priorities as a country."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday he agrees with Manchin and pledged to return any shutdown pay to the Treasury.

The Democrat-led Senate passed a bill on March 1 mandating that members of Congress not be paid during a government shutdown, but the GOP-led House did not take it up.

House Speaker John Bohener, who backed the successful effort to institute the 27th amendment, told ABC News Wednesday that members should not be paid during a shutdown. The 27th amendment mandates that laws changing compensation for members of Congress cannot go into effect until the following Congress begins.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told troops in Baghdad Thursday that they can expect a temporary halt in their pay.

UPDATE: Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has cosponsored a bill mandating that members of the military get paid on time during a shutdown, made a similar pledge Thursday afternoon.

"Unfortunately, current law prevents our military men and women from receiving their paycheck on time if government services are interrupted," she said. "Because of this discrepancy between the pay of our troops and Members of Congress, I will personally be donating my pay to a non-profit organization serving our military families."

[rockdawg21]

UPDATE from Kay Bailey Hutchinson's Facebook:

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (http://www.facebook.com/kaybaileyhutchison)
Will be on FOX Business in a few minutes to discuss the Military Pay Act! Now have 60 Senate supporters!

Go Kay Go!!!! :punch:

[Crisco]

The big arguement is the funding for planned parenthood. The government is saying that planned parenthood offers more then just abortions for people who need healthcare.. But my question is isn't that what Obamacare is suppose to do?

[County Mike]

Is birth control covered under medical insurance? Planned parenthood does offer free birth control. That's a good thing.

[NateR]

The government has shut down before and there was never an interruption in military pay. This really just seems like a lot of political grandstanding on the part of Democrats to try to paint themselves as the heroes in all of this.

[KENTUCKYREDBONE]

Is birth control covered under medical insurance? Planned parenthood does offer free birth control. That's a good thing.

PP is pretty much all about abortion! Anything else they do is just a sideshow! They claim that cutting thier government funding will cause Women to not get mammograms but theirs 2 things wrong with that claim!

1-PP does not provide mammograms!
2-Medicare,medicaid and probably most insurance do cover mammograms!

Later I may post an article I read about PP!