Posted on 12/02/2013 3:48:59 PM PST by mandaladon
The Pentagon is floating a controversial plan to close all U.S.-based commissaries in 2015 as part of a massive cost-saving effort after more than a decade of war.
The commissaries are grocery stores that offer food and other necessities at a discount to members of the military, their families and veterans. But as Congress tightens the purse strings, the stores could get caught in the budget battle.
Budget cutters say they don't yet know how much money the plan would save, but there are 178 commissaries in the United States -- and 70 overseas -- which receive a total of $1.4 billion in government funds.
The Defense Commissary Agency, responsible for administering all commissaries worldwide, says military families and retirees save an average of more than 30 percent on their grocery bills compared with those who shop at regular retail stores. The agency says those savings amount to thousands of dollars annually per family.
But families could also lose jobs if the stores close. Thirty percent of the employees at the commissaries are military spouses. The director of the Defense Commissary Agency says that they have already cut their budget by $700 million since 1993.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
keep faggots and dykes oit of the military. huge cost-saver there.
Someone made the contrast of the money saved by closing commissaries to how much we give in aid to a**hat Afghans each year...among other wastes of our money.
winnah winnah chicken dinnah!
The 5% saving at ther commissary are not woerth it when 33% of the fruits and veggies spoil the day after you bring them home. Outsource both the PX and the commissary to wally world and give them the same tax exempt staus.
BS. The commissaries were around decades before any recent "decade of war". This is just one more example of how this regime will cut anything from the contributors, but have they announced any cuts to the trillion in annual welfare programs?
Years ago, commissaries and exchanges provided the only low cost shopping options that were available to military families stationed in isolated locations. Today almost every military base has a Walmart Supercenter and several other grocery stores right outside its gates -- all crowded with military shoppers. Those stores have found their way to military markets for two reasons:
1. Almost all military members now have their own cars to reach them; and
2. Military families have the money to buy from them.
On any large base today you'll find McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and Pizza Hut franchises; similarly, the need no longer exists to justify parallel supermarkets operated and staffed by highly-paid government employees. On-base shopping can be outsourced to any number of regional supermarket chains -- or in total to Walmart, whose nationwide logistical system would require only minor tweaking to meet the demand.
Subsidized military commissaries and exchanges needlessly and inefficiently duplicate what the private sector now already provides. They are no longer needed and no longer contribute to national defense, and therefore should be closed.
We need the $1.4 billion spent on commissaries to pay for the $2.3 billion spent on Obamaphones.
Why? As part of the deal you could still waive taxes.
It’s being done because AliBama HATES the US military and wants to inflict as much pain as he can. Not stopping the endless wars, closing foreign bases, and bringing troops home, just closing commissaries. The 1.4 billion that would be “saved” is pocket change. It would mean nothing. Just a slap in the face for those that are serving so that chicksh*t candy ass can live like a king.
Basically the only savings at the Commissary are taxes. Of course there is no mention of closing AAFES and the Naval Exchanges, which charge more than any retail store in the local area. Who’s making a profit off those inflated prices? What politician is is getting rich off active duty and retirees? I use to pay $5 for a loaf of stale bread in the Navy Exchange in Iceland and a quarter Stars and Stripes cost 50 cents. The only savings you could find on a base was the Class C store and now that’s a thing of the past. And what’s this BS of a carton of smokes costing almost as much as off base. It was only a few years ago that a carton of Class A cigs cost $25. Now they are three times that much. Generics are $50 a carton. Who’s getting the kickback?
bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.