As shutdown looms, President Obama could pay the troops with a stroke of a pen, just as Reagan and Clinton did. But he won't.

President Obama appears far more concerned with paying welfare recipients -- who receive checks during a federal shutdown -- than with our warriors serving around the globe. Because Obama is going to withhold military pay during the shutdown, something that neither Presidents Reagan or Clinton permitted.

During the last government shutdown, in 1995, troops continued to receive their paychecks...

...During the 1995 shutdown, the Clinton Administration followed the OMB guidance issued during the Reagan Administration. The Obama Administration, it seems, is tacking a different direction.

Let me be clear, the guidelines proposing to hold military paychecks are, according to the news reports, draft guidelines. It is possible the Obama Administration has abandoned these punitive guidelines. And, even if they implemented these guidelines, military personnel would most likely eventually receive their pay, once a budget agreement is reached. But, why even change the policy and subject our military to partisan political battles?

Why?

Because Barack Obama is a creature of politics, not leadership.

The President is withholding pay for our military while ensuring welfare recipients get their checks on time. Which is all you need to know.