President Obama To The Rescue When It Comes To Military Death Benefits

Editorial/Commentary:

When it comes to the partial shutdown of the United States Government, the powers that be are trying to make it hurt as much as possible. With a recent tactic, this has become very clear.


Recently, the DoD [Department of Defense] were refusing to pay the death benefit payments to the families of fallen soldiers. They are saying that due to the shutdown, they can not appropriate the funds right now to make the payments.

President Obama then quickly was able to make a deal with Fisher House, a non profit organization, to pay the death benifits and the Government will pay them back when it becomes fully funded.

Here is why I think this is only a ploy  by President Obama to look like a "hero" in this and show he really cares about the people effected by this.

Just hours before the "shutdown", the House passed the "Pay our Military Act", which was approved by the Senate and then signed into law by President Obama. This was signed into law, military hours before the "shutdown" took place.

In that bill, all pays and allowances will be paid. One of such parts of pays and allowances is the death gratuity.

Now, the White House has come out and said that it is in deed on the list, but the Pentagon is refusing to pay it, saying they do not have the authority due to the shutdown.

Now, there this is where I call bullshit. The Pentagon is part of the Department of the Defense. The Department of Defense reports to the Executive Branch. The President is in charge of the Executive Branch.

With all that being said, everyone knows or should know the President of the United States is in charge of the Executive Branch of Government. The Obama administration has said that the death gratuity is part of the pays and allowances, which is covered under the Pay Our Military Act. But, the Pentagon is refusing to make the payments.

But don't you fear, the Obama administration has come to the rescue by reaching a deal with Fisher House for them to make the payments until the United States government is fully funded.

And this is where the arguments falls a little short.

If the President is the head of the Executive Branch and the DoD reports to the Executive Branch, does that mean they are defying you? Are you saying they are refusing to follow an order from the Commander and Chief by refusing to make the payments?

This is where their argument falls flat. Even the Republicans have come out and said they made the bill broad enough to cover all pays and allowances.

And now, President Obama can show he is the hero and those evil republicans are the bad people making people not get the death benefits. Even though it was Republicans who wrote the Pay our Military Act bill.

To the Democrats credit, Rep. Ron Barber, D of Arizona introduced H.R. 3274: Fallen Heroes and Families Assistance Act, which make is obviously clear that death benefits are included.

But the Obama administration had come out and said their work is not necessary since they already made a deal with Fisher House [click here for the that article]. In other words, he is telling everyone that he already saved the day and their work is not needed.