Should military commissaries be phased out in order to cut defense spending? At least two U.S. Senators say no. Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss have introduced legislation that, if enacted, would prohibit Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s proposed funding cuts for military commissaries in the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget. According to various news reports, the Defense Department budget is calling for reducing commissary subsidies by about 70 percent by the year 2017. Warner said in a statement, “These cuts to commissaries are an unfair burden on many of our military men and women. Especially for young military families, retirees, and reservists who are trying to make their tight budgets work, these cuts represent real money as much as $3,000 in grocery savings per year. A nonpartisan commission already is reviewing the value of commissaries in the context of overall military pay and benefits, and I think it is reasonable to wait for the commission’s report recommendations before making arbitrary cuts like this one.” Chambliss said in a statement, “Many Georgians have served with honor in our military, and those who put their lives in harm’s way in defense of this nation should not be disproportionately targeted as a result of excessive government spending.” I have heard from military friends over the years that commissaries offer military personnel and their families the ability to purchase food at low costs in order to feed themselves and their families. Why shouldn’t military personnel get this break? Instead of shafting the military personnel, why doesn’t Congress enact legislation to cut down some of the bureaucracy at the Pentagon? Cutting down Pentagon bureaucracy makes more sense than cutting military personnel compensation and benefits and even veterans benefits. Maybe Arkansas Congressman Tom Cotton had a point when he said on the “Fox and Friends” show on Thursday, “I think if we had more people in the Congress who were veterans, Congress might be a little more respected, like our military is.”
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 09:42:42 +0000
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