Proudly served 26 years in the United States Navy after graduating form Butler in 1973. Lived through the various pay raises and they rarely made any significant difference at all. Want to make a statement? Eliminate the requirement for income/state taxes, and eliminate the hassle in obtaining quality health care for retires and dependents. Just for starters....and don't only identify President Obama supporters. There is more than enough blame to go around within our governmnet. Now if we can somehow find a way to bring our military home ....