They may have to wait until the afternoon of January 20 to find out.
Posted on 12/03/2016 9:16:13 PM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
Bonuses and student loans to be forgiven in most cases
In October, I reported that thousands of California soldiers in the National Guard soldiers were being forced to repay over-paid enlistment bonuses and student loans. Many of these brave men and women were struggling financially to meet the repayment terms.
Shortly after the Department of Defense took a substantial P.R. hit once the details behind this travesty became widely known, Secretary Ash Carter announced he was suspending this program.
Lawmakers have formally hammered out a compromise agreement that allows the Pentagon to forgive bonuses and benefits that were improperly awarded.
The agreement, included in a defense bill due to be voted on by the House on Friday and the Senate next week, seeks to strike a balance between the Pentagon’s concerns about fraud in the bonus system and lawmakers’ attempts to resolve a scandal that has hurt thousands of military veterans and sparked a public furor.
The compromise calls on the Pentagon to forgive the enlistment bonuses and student loan benefits unless the soldier who received the money “knew or reasonably should have known” that he or she was ineligible for it.
The provision stops short of requiring the Pentagon to forgive debts owed by all California Guard soldiers as long as they fulfilled the terms of their enlistment contracts and did not commit fraud — a far more sweeping waiver that members of the California delegation had proposed.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers from the state of California are pleased with the terms.
“This largely meets the needs of the soldiers who accepted their bonuses in good faith, as the vast majority of them did,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat. “It should give these soldiers peace of mind during the holidays that the Pentagon won’t claw them back.”
“This is an important fix that ultimately does the right thing,” added Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican.
Perhaps Donald Trump’s announcement that retired Marine General James Mattis is his pick for Secretary of Defense may have something to do with this final compromise.
After all, the military won’t need the extra money to fund transgender training sessions and battle-ready climate change measures.
I would like to share this Mattis quote: “No war is over until the enemy says it’s over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.” Hopefully, this nation’s bureaucrats will no longer wage a fiscal war on our military personnel.
Good.
Good but what about those that had already taken out loans and paid the money back?
They should get it all back with interest. This isn’t a “mistake” or “new-guy training problem”, the government made them an offer, paid them, and then reneged on the deal. If they can throw $400 billion dollars at a bank bailout, they can throw a couple million at this. Use the funds that were supposed to go to a new Military Personnel Command building to pay for it. Gonna pull a scam like this? Then you lose a new building. Too bad, so sad, bye-bye.
I had not thought of that.
Why is California the only state involved in these over payments?
I dug a little:
Here is the story of why http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html
I don't like that. I don't like that at all. So now will some judge or bureaucrat get to decide whether or not the soldier “knew or reasonably should have known”?
That wording can only lead to more stress and uncertainty. If the soldier did his hitch, forgive any over-payment. Period.
See the link to the article I posted above. Doesn’t look like any of the beneficiaries of these bonuses had any way to know these were overpayment. It was Guard recruiting that screwed them, and people went to jail for this. The enlisted men look like total victims to me.
To elaborate: it appears that the bonuses were earmarked for certain positions, but were offered more broadly ten years ago. Soldiers were told that if they re-enlisted (for 6 years in the examples) they’d get these bonuses and tuition assistance - whether or not they in fact actually qualified. They signed up, were paid, served their tours, and afterwards their eligibility was determined. As described, 5-8 years later.
At least one example is a demand for over $50k, to apparently be repaid immediately on money long since spent. Some are paying large monthly installments.
So you concur, they were not just screwed they were royally screwed.
Based on that article, definitely. One can’t turn around and say ‘the deal is void, here’s your six years of service back.’
I worked in personnel in the Army.
Finance was right beside us (had been same department until shortly before my time).
This stuff isn’t brain surgery.
Does anything today, have consequences?
Read this: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html
There were consequences. People went to jail. Enlisted men and women got royally screwed by people in personnel.
There is the right thing to do, and forgiving back payment is the right thing to do. These men and women were defrauded by people in personnel.
The rules are widely published, every document involved carries a disclaimer and yes, the enlisted folks are required to know what they are signing. As a former enlisted type with a recruiting tour , I know that both the recruiter and the recruited have a liability for what they offer and sign for. of course, while this sounds so unfair etc, these Soldiers knew they have responsibility- both the career counsellor/retention folks and the trooper. It would seem to me that there was some level of awareness of the rules/regs and results by all. I hold the career counsellors and commanders who were offering and signing as the approving officials, they should be held fiscally liable, but also the Soldiers who signed up for deals that were suspect or too good to be true.
Bonuses and other incentives were not a new thing, they have been in the program for the longest....
Responsibility and culpability goes a long ways in my book.
They may have to wait until the afternoon of January 20 to find out.
Love the graphic
Good.
Let them keep the money.
Illegals, terrorists, and welfare deadbeats get enough government money without having to pay it back.
It’s time some citizens got the same benefit.
Thanks for the article but it still begs the question of why only go after California veterans when the article says that all the states had some get this bonus. I realize that California was truly abusing the system while, I assume, other states may have been more critical when giving them out. However, they were still giving them out.
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