...should be marching on the Capitol.

Federal workers and military members are an easy target for the Right Wingers. I know there are plenty of other people getting screwed by the Right Wingers too.

"Base pay for a new soldier with a spouse and kid is around $20,000, just above the poverty line. Although that doesn't include housing or food allowances. The housing and food help put the income of an Army private with two years of experience a bit more than $40,000, the Pentagon says."

Maybe they should go get a job or something....

Do military bases still have commissaries, or are they essentially non-existent these days?

I grew up in the military back in the 50's and 60's. I have no idea what the actual price difference was at that time (shopping for food on base vs off base) but it seemed that it was significantly discounted from off base pricing.
Shopping at PX's and Commissaries for food and personal necessities was a given, along with military housing.

I recall hearing about commissaries being closed down in the early 70's due to budget issues vis a vis the significant cost of the Vietnam War. If that is the case, it makes sense that military families would require food stamps, might even be cheaper than running commissaries..

Just curious.. Can't imagine NCO "salaries" meeting "living wage" standards even now. ????

Nice showrooms for jewelry, electronics, too. Not saying they are all like that, but retired military spouses have taken me with them on their shopping trips.

They are nice and full of the people who are related to servicemen. My brother did 4 years of peace time service and when he left in the sixties and pursued a degree from his benefits and worked part-time while his wife stayed home to raise their three kids and the base exchange was a big heltp to the entire family.

His military service backed the purchase of his home. His first private job was okay, but in order to let his wife stay at home, he returned to working for the government and kept his 'exchange' benefits. She went to them all the time, for food, groceries and other goods.

Now long since retired as he left as soon as he could, they have government backed health insurance. But when he lives now, they don't have any of the stores.

Can't we just buy one less aircraft carrier and pay soldiers a living wage instead?

Always. They have always qualified and have always been used, and WIC too. There were always signs in the commissary saying they accept food stamps and WIC. This is not new by any means.

I'm not sure when that ended or greatly restructured maybe in the mid seventies. This is all part of the military budget, always has been. Apparently when food stamps came in to play, things got "restructured".

Not sure why allocation of food stamps to military personnel is considered bad, other than to point out what has always been forever true, NCO's don't earn a lot of money. Subsidized housing, medical, dental, Food. always has been subsidized unless some changes in that regard have taken place in recent years.

*So long as they are making money for the Neoncons

for those in junior enlisted ranks, anyway. I know, I lived it--my husband moonlighted for years until he became an NCO, so, three jobs between us. We never took food stamps or WIC, however. Just worked and juggled the bills and daycare and got through it. The pay actually did get better later on, no complaints (especially once he was commissioned an officer)--and you couldn't beat the benefits. But that first enlistment is tough if you have kids. I'd advise anyone against joining up if you have a family already, and/or having kids during the first enlistment or two--moving, deployments, no extended family to babysit...you're just asking for it, LOL.

Especially the moving - the civilian spouse has poor job options and you keep having to start all over again. The poor economy makes it much worse.

Military pay charts:

http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/militarypaytables.html

Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?

by NPR Staff
June 25, 2011 4:17 PM


[font size=1]Air conditioners keep tents cool on a U.S. military base in Iraq. The tents have been
treated with polyurethane foam to increase energy efficiency. Courtesy Steven Anderson[/font]

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion, according to a former Pentagon official. That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for damage from the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia.

"When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most isolated places in the world — escorting, command and control, medevac support — when you throw all that infrastructure in, we're talking over $20 billion," Steven Anderson tells weekends on All Things Considered guest host Rachel Martin. He's a retired brigadier general who served as chief logistician for Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq. He's now in the private sector, selling technologies branded as energy-efficient to the Defense Department. link

- This nightmare is of our own creation......

K&R

by the "big signing bonus" to enlist, but isn't a lot of money if you don't invest it and you don't do something with IMO. They see it as the only way to escape poverty and have a chance at a college education...why have we reached this point of desperation?

You get food, clothing and a place to sleep aong with a very good paycheck. Why would any soldier need food stamps? I guess if it is the soldier's family that is receiving food stamps, it must be because the wife or person that stays home does not work. When I was in the Army we could not even get married without our CO's permission and it was almost impossible for an elisted man to have their family travel overseas with them. It was with the "old" Army though and I am not familiar with how things are done now, especially with an "all volunteer" force..I am of the era where we actually needed liberty passes just to leave the base.

if you have a family at all.

Isn't an E-4's with year in base pay something like $2,400 a month?

And they move them a lot. So the spouse of the soldier might have to look for a new job every couple of years, which plays hell with moving up, and the weak economy just makes it that much harder. Around every base, pay scales are low for pick-up jobs, because they always have a captive audience of moonlighters and spouses.

Plus, a lot of the career places don't want to hire military spouses, because they know they'll probably invest in training and then lose the employee. It's different if you are more settled, but have you looked at deployment schedules lately?

PAY the military a living wage! Get HARRY to bring a bill to the Senate and let the Repugs vote against a living wage for the military! You wanna take back the House, Keep the Senate! This is the way to do it!

Only a soldier's basic pay is taxable income. BAH and BAS, which add over $1000/month in pay are not taxed and therefore do not figure into food stamp eligibility.

Many who get food stamps do not need them, but they like the extra dough.

This is coming from a vet.