Levin won't back Ayotte bill to repeal military pension cuts (Illegals win, Veterans lose)

The Hill ^ | 7 Jan 14 | Jeremy Herb

[SkyPilot]

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday that he cannot support Sen. Kelly Ayotte's (R-N.H.) bill to repeal $6 billion in cuts to military pensions because of the way it offsets the costs.

Levin initially told reporters Tuesday that he would back Ayotte's bill, providing a big boost to the effort to reverse the military retiree cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reduction included in the last month’s budget deal.

But a Levin aide said that the Armed Services chairman endorsed Ayotte's bill before realizing that it restored the cuts by preventing illegal immigrants from claiming a child tax credit.

"Sen. Levin would support legislation to repeal the military pension cuts if such an amendment didn’t endanger underlying legislation and if he supported the offset," the aide said. "He doesn’t support the offset in Sen. Ayotte's legislation, so he couldn’t offer support for her legislation."

Levin's reversal on Ayotte's bill highlights the difficulty that lawmakers have in reversing the military pension cut.

While one-in-three lawmakers support restoring the $6 billion cut to military retirement benefits, there is no bipartisan agreement on how the offset would be paid for.

Levin, for instance, would back a measure from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to offset the cost by closing overseas corporate tax loopholes. But that's a non-starter with Republicans.

Republicans have coalesced around Ayotte’s legislation and a companion measure in the House, which pays for the $6 billion by preventing illegal immigrants from claiming a child tax credit.

Republican lawmakers are also pushing the appropriations chairs to include the proposal in the omnibus spending bill that could be released as early as Wednesday.

[SandRat]

Typical of Karl Lenin, as we used to call him.

[Norm Lenhart]

To put it another way, Crap like this is one of the reasons I rail so much on the whole lesser evil thing and those that push it.

Dems do not need help. They have a good grasp in how to screw everything up. They don’t need a farm team in the form of lesser evil handmaidens.

It didn’t take Nostradamus to forsee that a guy that would set aside his supposed principles to campaign alongside Obamacare’s daddy, a man who gave ud his own cash to kelp kill babies via Planned Barrenhood wasn’t someone to trust.

And lo and behold, he proved the predictions of many correct on this, gay marriage ect. People can make every excuse they’d like. But the truth is self evident.

[RKBA Democrat]

Sen. Ayotte done good. This time. But she wouldn’t have had to if the vichy gop in the house, lead by marshal petain ryan, had not voted to screw over vets in the first place. I guess it all boiled down to priorities. And sending more money to the families of illegal aliens was a higher priority for the kakistocrats.

Getting my voting addiction under control might turn out to be easier than I thought. One Election At A Time.

[TADSLOS]

Who has more influence and clout with the political class in DC- military veterans or LaRaza? The answer is pretty clear. Social justice for a voting block trumps honoring a committment to those have served defending the nation.

[Norm Lenhart]

Well they ‘are’ listed as potential terrorists by the Govt..... And we dont negot’...oh wait.

This fiasco is so wrong on so many levels, Alynski had to be the author of it.

[SkyPilot]

Sen. Ayotte done good. This time.

I will give her this: she was one of the few who went before the media and spilled the beans in December about what an injustice it was for Paul Ryan and Patty Murray to have sold our military, military widows, wounded military, and disabled veterans down the river.

[Yogafist]

Because she voted for this budget which included these cuts. As John F’n Kerry would say, she was for cutting military benefits before she was against it. Is she stupid, or just incompetent?

[Yogafist]

Never mind, I am wrong, she did vote against this one.

[Rome2000]

Any congress creature that votes for tax credits for illegal aliens needs to be indicted, prosecuted, and jailed.

This is criminal behavior.

[foxfield]

...I misread the article.

Don't feel bad. When I first saw the headline, I thought it meant Mark Levin. I thought WTF. I think it's called putting one's mouth, or in this case one's keyboard, into gear before the brain is fully engaged.

[silverleaf]

illegal child tax “credits - si
Veterans cola - no

gracias, Carl Levin.
save $6 billion over 8 years on the backs of our vets..., and ignore the fact that social security sent $108 billion to dead people in 2012

[chiefqc]

It all started with backstabber ryan and his “intervertent mistake” of doing nothing about the removal of the mistake, so he says, from the bill.

I hope he is sleeping well at night knowing that it is all a lie. but then again people like him affirm that the people who are elected are nothing but liars who think the voters are stupid.

[ObamahatesPACoal]

Im surprised so many RINO’s are behind this. This is complete opposite to the gang of 8 bill that made sure they expanded every freebie and deleted every penalty.

It was a stupid move by Paul Ryan to let Jeff Sessions use this issue to pound his team (Luis Guiterrez and co.).

[ObamahatesPACoal]

Ayotte and Rubio thought they were get future deals if they caved to Democrats.

Where does the Club for Amnesty and Grover Norquist and other fiscal groups stand on this bill?

[SkyPilot]

It all started with backstabber ryan and his “intervertent mistake” of doing nothing about the removal of the mistake, so he says, from the bill.

Ryan and Murray lied when they said they "never intended" to included military widows and disabled retirees in the pension cuts.

The truth is, they did want them cut, and are only back tracking now, saying it was a "mistake" because for some incredible reason, they are completely shocked that the public is outraged that military heroes were singled out for massive cuts to their pensions while TANF welfare, Food Stamps, SS Disability, Medicaid, Section 8 Housing Vouchers, 37 Duplicate Federal Job Training Programs, etc were protected and had no cuts.

Moreover, even the proposed "fix" they are talking about will only cover those who were medically retired before 20 years. Some of those were combat injured, but many were not. You can be medically retired for almost anything. But combat wounded, the maimed, and Purple Heart heroes who stuck it out for 20 years after their injuries, fought the VA for a disability rating are SCREWED, even if they were maimed and they have a 100% disability rating - their retirement pensions will be cut, regardless.

Nice, huh?

[zerosix]

Yep, Levin says, "Screw those military vets, including those maimed protecting my a$$ from Islamic terrorists but don't you dare think you're going to rob those kind, decent folk who just want to have a job and take care of their families, with a little help from America. Taxpayers!"

[zerosix]

I think if you look real close, you will find more than a few RINOs either voting in favor or maintaining these illegal tax refunds to illegal aliens, or declining to vote and thus allowing this raping of American taxpayers!

[Mr Rogers]

My son-in-law has verifiable (CAT scans and X-rays) damage to his brain, neck, shoulders, back and knees after 2 combat tours in Fallujah. He is on disability. He is not medically retired. He would not be covered by Ryan’s proposed fix.

[SkyPilot]

My son-in-law has verifiable (CAT scans and X-rays) damage to his brain, neck, shoulders, back and knees after 2 combat tours in Fallujah. He is on disability. He is not medically retired. He would not be covered by Ryan’s proposed fix.

That is correct. Ryan, Murray and Hagel are deliberately conspiring to narrow the proposed "fix" to only those who were medically retired before they served 20 years. As I have said, God bless those men and women, many of them were combat injured or incurred a disease they didn't ask for, but you can be medically retired for almost anything. The combat wounded or those injured by direct service related impairment are screwed. The "fix" will still rob from their retirement pensions.

A military member could have been severely wounded and is now 100% VA rated disabled, it does not matter.

There are some bills that have been proposed by some GOP Congressmen from the House that would cover your son-in-law, but it looks like someone (probably Hagel) is blocking them. They don't want that legislation coming up for a vote, because it denies the DoD the chance to screw more retirees over later on things like disability payment, retirement, and healthcare. At this point, it is all about the screwing the throw away veteran. He is no good to the DoD anymore, so the attitude is F^&^ them.