http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100714/pl_nm/us_usa_pentagon_budget
As a taxpayer, it's my belief that our troops should be paid before the hired mercenaries. Odds are though that's not the way it works
The Pentagon said on Wednesday it may be forced to take extreme measures -- like not paying salaries -- if the Democratic-led Congress fails to pass a $37 billion defense spending bill before lawmakers begin an August recess.
A senior Democratic aide said lawmakers would find a way to get it done. "We will pass it this work period. We have to," the aide said.
Tensions are growing in the Pentagon about the fate of the bill, which has languished in Congress despite repeated pleas for action by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who needs to fund a 30,000-troop surge for the Afghan war.
The White House has added to the drama, threatening to veto the bill over $800 million in education spending cuts that were added by the House of Representatives.
"While we hope and expect the Congress will get this done, we also are obligated now to begin seriously planning for the possibility that they don't," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
He noted that "absent more drastic action" certain Army and Marine Corps spending accounts would run dry in August.
