Let me be clear: There is nothing more important to myself or this great nation than supporting the men and women who make up our armed forces.

So that's why I'm supporting a 1 percent military pay raise instead of the extravagant 1.8 percent you were going to get.

Now, I support the troops unequivocally. I even show it, like buying girl scout cookies, and I had my secretary put one of those purple ribbons on her car. But we have to be realistic. A 1.8 percent pay raise would bankrupt our country. We just can't afford these exorbitant salaries any more.

We need to make some hard choices, and that means cutting the pay of members of Congress and other government officials.

Oh, excuse me. That's a screw-up. I meant only military members.

Now look, I know you're probably going to be upset about this. Believe me, it was rough on me too — I had to make the hard choice to cut your pay and then release the news on the Friday afternoon of a Labor Day weekend so the media wouldn't cover it. It almo…