Are the pay raises being proposed by the Bush Administration and the Democrats for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan illegal? Arlen Parsa of online news site, The Daily Background, thinks so.

Jesse Russell spoke with Parsa about his findings.

Parsa said according to the Defense Authorization Act of 99 troops are required a raise of 3.8 percent not the 3 percent or 3.5 percent being floated by the President and Congress.

[Parsa1:] Basically the law says it has to be 0.5 percent more than the average increase in civilian wages. So the average increase for civilian wages for 2006 was 3.3 percent.

Parsa also pointed out that the average salary for males age 25 and over in the United States is more than $39,000. Many soldiers now serving in Iraq earn less than that even with “imminent danger pay.” Parsa referred to Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana who traveled to Iraq and upon returning to the states compared an Iraqi market to being as safe as a typical summer market in his home state. Many troops in Iraq make less than police officers in Indiana.

[Parsa2]: The average salary of the people over in Iraq who are in this situation is $35,000. The average salary for an Indiana police officer is over $45,000.