American service members will likely be in a worse financial situation next year because of soaring inflation, despite President Joe Biden authorizing a Pentagon-wide press increase earlier this week, a former Army Major General said on Wednesday.
John G. Ferrari, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox that ‘for Troops at the lowest part of the pay scale, the cost of gas and food may drive some deeper into debt, or they may rely more on food banks.’
On Monday Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass piece of legislation that sets the next year’s Pentagon budget.
This year’s spending bill included a 2.7 percent pay increase across both military and civilian Defense Department employees.
But Ferrari feared it may not negate the rising prices at the pump and the grocery store.
‘The situation is serious now because we have not seen this level of inflation in decades,’ he said.
Earlier this month the Labor Department released data that inflation had risen 6.8 percent in November from the year prior, a 40-year record high.
Soaring prices are hitting Americans hard in essential categories, with groceries overall up 6.2 percent in the 12-month window ending in November. Steak jumped 25.6 percent, bread rose 4 percent and fresh fruit prices were up 5.8 percent.
Regular unleaded gasoline soared 60.1 percent from 2020, and new cars and truck were 11.1 percent more expensive. The cost of used cars rose 31.4 percent.