Why, sure.....if we take from the retired Veterans to give money to the Democrats so they can give that money to their base to buy votes, well, then, I’m sure the Democrats will respond in kind. Just like they did last time they took the COLA from the military and started handing out $500 checks to buy votes.
National Review articles will have to start with, “Once upon a time, there was an honest Democrat who put his country ahead of his party.....” I love a good fairy tale.
1. Retirement benefits are deferred compensation, not welfare. I.e. they are taking away money that has already been earned.
2. War is a young man's at the tactical level game. Very few folks over 40 have the stamina to deal with the exertion, stress, lousy diet, and lack of sleep that exists at the tactical level. A few sage folks that are capable of dealing with the stress at the operation & strategic level are required - we call them “generals” and they are rare individuals. Watching a 50 year old Captain try to keep up with the 18 year olds in the field (German Army) is not pretty or effective.
3. Patsy Murray and the Dems have maneuvered this fight to right where they want it - a circular firing squad in which the retired population is falsely presented as in a zero sum competition with the current force for readiness. This is a false choice. The Free Shit Army (FSA) is the real competition for current and past obligations to job #1 (...provide for the common defense...). Don't get sucked into the BS idea that those who gave need to give more while those that did nothing pay nothing.
4. Finally, we have played this game before in the late 80s with the”redux” retirement plan. The effects on retention ten years later were atrocious. However by then, the maximum # of CPTs and SSGs had already been created. Their exit weakened the pool for all future promotions the MAJ / SFC and beyond.