Shouldn’t America ensure that its military personnel and their families continue to receive paychecks, regardless of whether budget negotiations result in a deal or a federal shutdown? Barack Obama apparently doesn’t think so.
As bargaining continued yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R – Ohio) introduced legislation that would keep the government open one additional week and maintain military funding through the end of 2011 so that members of the armed forces would continue to be paid. The House quickly passed that bill, including 15 Democratic votes. Obama, however, grotesquely promised a veto, bizarrely labeling it a “distraction.”
Frankly, this entire debate wouldn’t be necessary if the preceding Congress overwhelmingly controlled by Obama’s own party had simply passed a 2011 budget. But for the first time since the inception of the Budget Act, they simply abdicated that basic responsibility. Regardless, our military is stretched thin across the globe, and many families live paycheck-to-paycheck. This obviously isn’t of paramount concern to a president who clearly seems to welcome a government shutdown.
This is one of the most shameful and pathetic episodes in an already shoddy presidency.
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