Posted on 12/14/2013 3:25:15 AM PST by SkyPilot
Edited on 12/14/2013 4:31:16 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Editor's note: Rebekah Sanderlin is an Army wife, Military Spouse of the Year finalist, and a writer who focuses on military issues. She, her husband and their three children are stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. She is an advisory board member of the Military Family Advisory Network.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I would accept the 1% cut to help out but I think Congress and all other entitlement programs should do the same. One other option is to give each new military retiree a lump sum retirement versus a lifetime pension. It would save the government a ton of money and it would allow the military retiree an opportunity to invest or become an entrepreneur. I would have jumped at the chance! I believe the average retiree will collect well over $1,000,000 over the years. A quick $250,000 should do the trick.
Yes, they signed up for the obligations. The pay and benefits were part of the deal. What kind of @$$hole says military personnel should meet their obligations and then be stripped of their pay and benefits?
And because of that, they do not have the luxury of purchasing a home which would normally be paid off by the time they retire. Instead, they are either forced to rent housing on base or off base........
You are absolutely correct!
Allow me to be first in line to bash, HarleyD. You simply are not thinking clearly. The military promises are based on a request for those to step forward who will put their lives, their freedoms, their place of residence, and their opportunity to be with loved ones on the line.
To pretend that the government hasn't entered into extensive research to determine exactly what levels of compensation must be offered to get qualified men and women to volunteer for the military is self blindness to reality.
The offers they have made are real.
Moreover, the excuses of Ryan are incredible deceit. He knows that the government had to increase compensation in the early 2000's to bring military pay up to par with civilian counterparts.
Therefore, any claim that military benefits have grown faster than other areas is totally disingenuous. Of course it has a steeper growth curve. It was intentionally increased to bring it back in line with civilian pay.
The lies of these people are breath-taking.
And your failure to admit that these men and women have been in combat zones for the last 23 years straight is an omission about which you should not be proud.
You ask people to die, then you better not complain about the deal you made to compensate them.
I take it back. This is not a "bash", HarleyD. This is an expression of serious disappointment in you.
A few years back IIRC someone made an assertion that the following would provide all the nutrients necessary: milk, brown rice, red beans, bananas, and a 5th item I can't recall just now. I'd throw in some bread, peanut butter, and gubmint cheese. And formula.
The able-bodied could sweep streets and pick up trash for anything more, although they should be working.
Every Tuesday I drive by a free food distribution warehouse, 80% of the cars parked there I couldn't afford, and the other 19% are in decent shape. Certainly, if they can make payments on a Cadillac CTS they can buy their own meat.
Republicans will face intense pressure over unemployment benefits
BY GREG SARGENT
December 11 at 12:24 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/11/republicans-will-face-intense-pressure-over-unemployment-benefits/
[snip] The imminent expiration of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for 1.3 million Americans is mostly being treated as a fait accompli in Washington... (Dems have created an interactive map showing how many people in each state stand to lose benefits.)... This strategy includes placing Op ed pieces by Democrats in papers that serve the districts of top Republicans, such as this one by Rep. Sander Levin in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the largest paper in John Boehner’s home state. The game plan is granular: One Democrat points out to me that stats are available on how many would lose benefits on the county level, and that Dems are trying to push these numbers into the coverage, because it is tangible for people in local communities. [/snip]
Last year the "Obamaphone" program spent $2.2 Billion.
The morons in Congress aren't going after the low hanging fruit.
Thank you Chaplain.
“Veterans Hardest Hit” is the new propaganda campaign the left is going to use to go after the military vote. It will be tied to any legislation the republicans are suckered into passing by the democrats. It will be tied to natural disasters that can be blamed on republicans refusing to acknowledge global warming. Are you against abortion? Veterans Hardest Hit! Do you support a balanced budget? Veterans Hardest Hit!
Food prices, gas prices, medical care, cats and dogs fighting, broken nails, you name it, Veterans Hardest Hit will be proclaimed by every media outlet every time the republicans so much as pass gas.
Great Ideas, we cannot go on spending what we don’t have.
Military Retiree, willing and able to accept up to at least a forty percent cut to save the Republic, but all must be willing to have the same “skin in the game”. Across the board means something.
I am going to make everybody here mad with this but the Military Compensation Package must be cut.
It part of my job to look at the numbers for DOD contractors and I have very good info that we paid real money for not the result of some shill for one cause or another.
The Facts are stark. The Military Compensation Package has always been the largest component of DOD spending and this percentage is rising at a very alarming rate due to the compounding of pay increases during the GWOT and medical costs. The slice of the pie that is discretionary consists of two parts, Procurement and Research and Technology. Due to the way Washington allocates money these two are lumped together it is a true zero sum. Until 2024 the CAGR of this slice of the pie is only 1.9%, in budget dollars but with inflation this is actually has a negative real growth rate.
If everybody was not mad at me before the will be now; but the casualties for the GWOT was remarkably light. I say this despite the fact that I lost two close friends early on. I live, they are gone.
The reason they were so light is unarguably due to the equipment and technology that provided a overwhelming technological advantage, or force multiplier to our commanders. This suite was enabled by investments in systems procured and R&T done before the conflict.
What this means in real no BS terms is that we are truly facing a Hollow Force similar to the Carter Years in the very near future. This was a very bad time for us in the military, I know I was there.
We did not even have hot water on base, though more the more enterprising of us disobeyed orders bought and installed small hot water heaters so the golden boys could have a hot shower after a long flight in a single seat fighter, if you get my drift.
My whole point is which is more responsible for us to do now? Slow down the growth in personnel costs now or pay for it later with the blood of a group of kids that are still in grade school?
This is not rhetoric but fact based on US History.
I went into retirement and found out the paradigm...
“If you aren't a doctor, lawyer, or accountant or someone with cyber skills (excludes grunts all around), it was "What can you sell?”
23 year infantry careers don't prepare you for sales... You have to re-invent yourself and become someone that people “like”... You are too serious and regardless of how hard you try “sucking up” to get a sale and a commission you still scare people.
I found a place but it took years and I ended up back working with the military. The fact that you become a professional at managing violence just doesn't read well on a civilian resume so you word it to conform and still end up in sales. Bottom line... without a good retirement benefit a military career is not worth the sacrifice. Once your uniform is off you are just another guy starting at the bottom of the food chain only you are middle aged.
Neither. I signed up although I will admit my first tour was for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to go to college and the only way I could afford it was on the GI Bill. Once my first enlistment was over, I went to college and went back in as I enjoyed the military life. I resigned my commission after the second four years due to other issues. But I’ve always appreciated the military life.
You are right, slow down the growth with a new retirement plan and change the rank and retirement system as recommended in 2006. What you do not do is go after those who have fullfilled their contractual obligation in anticipation of a retirement compensation. Make changes now and you will see real savings in 10 years. People can scam any system, the 10% exists everywhere in life. You do not punish the 90% who are simply asking for what they were promised. By the way, the courts ruled years ago that it was not legal for congress to pass a law that prevents double dipping on federal retirements. Anybody who works their ass off deserves what they EARN. I earned my retirement, it is not an entitlement.
1. The reason casualties are fewer in the recent wars has been the smaller enemy forces as compared to WW II, Korea and Vietnam and the much less aggressive tactics because of the worries about political fallout.
2. The compensation packages are barely sufficient to support the volunteer manning requirements, which more often than not include families, even for first-term enlistees.
Research, Testing, Development, and Engineering (RTD&E) is important, even vital but funding in those areas is squandered on dead ends, pet projects, GOBIs (General Officer Bright Ideas), and vendor "bright shiny objects". It doesn't help that the majority of the Pentagon leadership are no-military-experience civilian appointees and general officers without any technical education. Reforming RTD&E would vastly improve our future and save money - but it isn't very likely.
The primary weapon in our nation's inventory is its people and we if can't afford them, we won't exist very long as a nation.
Pay up, or learn Mandarin.
Not all. We purchased a home and sold it for double the purchase price.
I joined because of my heritage. My dad was career and was in Saigon for Tet. I graduated from high school two years after he got back and then the lottery machine spit my number out at 17. Knowing I was going, I went to the enlistment office joining for crypto repair, although my first choice was for turbines but the schools were closed. Went to Monmouth for a year and then off to Tehran (STRATCOM). We had several run-ins with the MKE and a Colonel down the street was assassinated coming out of his house. The sad thing is that we were there under a no display of force but we all carried private. After 18 months there went to Ft. Huachuca with the Electronic Proving Ground.
I decided to quit once I realized all the work and travel of testing new stuff was for naught when we gave failing marks to a thing called the Parkhill but learned they had bought it anyway. Piece of crap never got beyond a 60% intelligibility in the best environment. Imagine being a forward observer with a 60% reliability that target call-ins.
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