Our brave troops have answered the call of duty, as they always do. They do not deserve to be cut off from being paid if there is a government shutdown. Yet that is precisely what their Commander-In-Chief has threatened to do.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a contingency continuing resolution that would have ensured funding of the military for the rest of this 2011 fiscal year, as well as continuing to keep the rest of the government open for another week to permit more time for negotiations. In essence, the House protected our troops from financial harm if there is ultimately a shutdown of the government over the budget impasse. President Obama’s response was a veto threat.
Although significantly escalating the war in Afghanistan and beginning another war in Libya without congressional authorization, Obama is showing his ingratitude and disrespect for our troops’ sacrifices by threatening to veto the House bill protecting their pay for the rest of this 2011 fiscal year.
The administration issued a statement that characterized the financial lifeline to our military men and women as a
distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise for funding the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 and avert a disruptive Federal Government shutdown that would put the Nation’s economic recovery in jeopardy… If presented with this bill, the President will veto it.
