That audio above is from the Hugh Hewitt radio show (he is a centrist, but on this issue, he’s pissed off).
The details were reported in the Military Times. (H/T The Federalist Papers)
Excerpt:
All of the pay and benefits trims were backed by the Pentagon and White House in an effort to slow the growth of personnel costs. The housing cuts and pharmacy co-pays were the final sticking points for lawmakers, with a compromise reached after nearly a month of behind-the-scenes fights.
The lower pay raise will be the most obvious hit for troops, who would be in line for a 1.8 percent raise based on anticipated private-sector wage growth.
For an E-3 with three years of service, the lower raise is a loss of about $195 a year. For an E-7 with 10 years, it comes out to $356. For an O-5 with 12 years of service, it’s $667 in annual salary.
Pentagon planners noted that move alone will save them about $3.8 billion over the next five years. Opponents argued that it creates a new wage gap between troops and their civilian counterparts, giving them less disposable income.
In addition, lawmakers approved trimming back the housing allowances paid to troops who live off base. The Pentagon initially sought to reduce the tax-free housing benefit by 5 percent by reducing the 100 percent of troops’ estimated housing costs that are covered now down to an average of 95 percent — in effect making troops pay 5 percent of their housing with out-of-pocket cash.
I am a Republican, and I support Republicans. But this vote really has me shaking my head. If Republicans stand for anything, it’s for a strong military to deter aggression. We should not cut pay and benefits for the military at a time where we lavish Social Security and Medicare on illegal immigrants. That is wrong. Why can’t they just delay this till next year and then pass a real bill that solves whatever problems they are trying to solve but without taking money from the military? Makes me sick.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
Disgusting! Yes, we will cut our troops to the bone, but we CANNOT touch welfare and entitlements?!? For fear that welfare queens, who won’t vote for us anyway, are going to still not vote for us?!? How about welfare and Social Security reform? Well, the important thing is that the losers our military are defending this country for have access to their pot.
So, the story remains the same. Democrats pursue their anti-Christian fascism while they are in power and when Republicans get into power, they play nice and compromise and forget about all of the violations of the Constitution. When a Republican is president, he is demonized by the Leftists in Congress. But, when a Democrat is president and a congressman (Mo Brooks – Alabama) stands up and tells the truth about them being socialists (I admit, “communists” would have been a better description), he is scolded – by his own party!
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If I might comment on this issue; I have fourteen years of service (army and army guard), one deployment and one call up (was sent home from the second one, it seems shattered vertebrae preclude one from combat duty). The issue of military spending and military pay is of course near and dear to my heart as it is how I put bread on the table. I believe that many people are misguided on how to save on military spending. Yes, we military folks are as a general rule over paid. At least in the office corps. Depending on the job, many of the enlisted are also paid more than their civilian counterparts (cooks, truck drivers, etc.). That being said, instead of attacking and defending pay and benefits, what people should be focusing on is spending, procurement, supply and equipment. While it is always nice to get new gear, look at how much the failed acu has cost the tax payers… Only to be replaced within ten years. And that’s just the tip of the ice burg.
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They need to vastly, vastly cut the civilian component of the armed forces. It’s a bloated bureaucracy. Privatize as much as they can.
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