On Wednesday, the US government came together to celebrate itself for spending another $45 billion of taxpayer money on the war in Ukraine. The pomp and circumstance, regardless of one’s view on whether we should be spending that cash or not, was nauseating.
You’d have thought Nancy Pelosi had just personally liberated Crimea as she kissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while holding up a Ukrainian flag on the floor of the House. What a hero, right? Spending other peoples’ money and taking all the credit while Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities. Politicians in Washington live in a completely different world.
That’s being illustrated again following the Senate and House passage of the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill Thursday and Friday, which included that new appropriation for Ukraine. While the elites patted themselves on the back, including Mitt Romney providing a video confessional of why he voted for it, National Guard troops are being left out in the cold.
According to The Post Millennial, which obtained a letter explaining the situation, there is a delay in pay to the troops originating from the federal government.
You are probably already tracking there are pay issues. Many soldiers were due pay today. They received LES but did not receive funds.” An LES, or a Leave and Earning Statement, is simply a pay stub, but it was not accompanied by funds.
The letter revealed that this is a “nation wide” issue, and that this issue “seems to be at DFAS [Defense Finance and Accounting Service] and is related to the CR.”
“NGB [National Guard Bureau] is currently working the issue with DFAS time now,” the letter added, stating that “we would hope the issue is rectified today or tomorrow.”
“This is unfortunate and can cause serious issues and aggravation across the formation which are understandable. Especially 2 days before Christmas,” the letter stated. “I think the messaging is important that it’s understood the issues are at the highest levels and that everyone in the Division and State are pushing for immediate resolution.”
This appears to have happened due to the timing of the old continuing resolution expiring. Because Joe Biden has not signed the newly passed omnibus yet, the paychecks are being held up. Even if he does it on Saturday, because Christmas is on a weekend, direct deposits likely won’t go through until the next business day.
In other words, our government is so dysfunctional and so unable to abide by the normal procedure that they screwed National Guard just before Christmas, likely without even realizing it. This would not have happened had congress met its late September deadline to pass a budget, something Rand Paul pointed out recently. Instead, we got this latest round of Kabuki theater, pretending we needed to ram through a massive $1.7 trillion boondoggle that no one has read just before congress left town.
All the while, the elites put on giant, self-aggrandizing spectacles. Is it any wonder there’s so much discontent and distrust toward the federal government? They get rich while their most basic obligations aren’t even met, and they want you to thank them for it. Our government is a joke.