Guest Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) FYI ----- The Honorable Carl Levin Chairman, Committee on Armed Services United States Senate 228 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. Chairman: ----- The Honorable Howard McKeon Chairman, Committee on Armed Services U.S. House of Representatives 2120 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: ----- The Honorable Paul Ryan Chairman, Committee on the Budget U.S. House of Representatives 207 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: ----- The Honorable Patty Murray Chairman, Committee on the Budget United States Senate 624 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Ms. Chairman: ----- More contact information available via: http://www.congressmerge.com http://www.ita.doc.gov/ita_sec/Address%20and%20Salutation.htm Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk Edit: Holy crap tapatalk, pull it together. Edited January 9, 2014 by deaddebate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiefSlapahoe Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) FYI<br />-----<br />The Honorable Carl Levin<br />Chairman, Committee on Armed Services<br />United States Senate<br />228 Russell Senate Office Building<br />Washington, DC 20510<br /><br />Dear Mr. Chairman:<br />-----<br />The Honorable Howard McKeon<br />Chairman, Committee on Armed Services<br />U.S. House of Representatives<br />2120 Rayburn House Office Building<br />Washington, DC 20515<br /><br />Dear Mr. Chairman:<br />-----<br />The Honorable Paul Ryan<br />Chairman, Committee on the Budget<br />U.S. House of Representatives<br />207 Cannon House Office Building<br />Washington, DC 20515<br /><br />Dear Mr. Chairman:<br />-----<br />The Honorable Patty Murray<br />Chairman, Committee on the Budget<br />United States Senate<br />624 Dirksen Senate Office Building<br />Washington, DC 20510<br /><br />Dear Ms. Chairman:<br />-----<br />More contact information available via:<br />http://www.congressmerge.com/<br />http://www.ita.doc.gov/ita_sec/Address%20and%20Salutation.htm<br /><br />Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk<br /><br /> Please! Make it stop! Edited January 9, 2014 by ChiefSlapahoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waveshaper Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Is this real life? Good grief.Yes it's real and I forgot to add this video clip; It's good to be the king.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=StJS51d1Fzg#t=0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeHoler Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 So, last I heard, USAFA didn't count for retirement calculation. That part of the GO article is wrong.However to the fuzzy math question(s): The GO base pay is limited to somewhere around $11K/mo however the pay tables go up to somewhere around $20K/mo near the 40 years of service range. In the past, GO retirement pay was limited to a max of 75% * base pay when retiring at 30 years to 40 years, but the law passed in 2007 changed it to allow the full 2.5%/yr, meaning at 30 years it is 75% base pay and at 40 years it is 100% base pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1234 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 UFB. Most individual military members are not vocal with their congressional representatives, which does not bode well for us... Well, most military members don't ever pull down a retirement, either. Personally, I have no vested interest in what happens to military retirement, so I can understand why others don't care either. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTB Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Well, most military members don't ever pull down a retirement, either. Personally, I have no vested interest in what happens to military retirement, so I can understand why others don't care either.Yes, I get that most people won't see a retirement. However, the slippery slope aspect of this should concern everyone. As I said before, taking from those that have served is now on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magellan Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 http://www.legion.org/legislative/218182/take-action-against-cuts-military-pensions Is an article that has a link where you can easily reach out to contact your elected officials with a canned email/letter, which you can modify as you see fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pajaro Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Here´s the reply from my congressman. He´s an Army Guard Lt Col and he voted for the budget, but I´m happy with the answer that he´s co-sponsoring an amendment to undo the COLA change: Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns with the recent budget deal and military retirement. It is good to hear from you. As you know, Chairman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray negotiated a budget agreement to replace the automatic, across-the-board cuts of sequestration with targeted reductions in other areas. The agreement included a provision to reduce by one percent the cost-of-living adjustment for military retirees under the age of 62. It should come as no surprise that I did not agree with everything in this deal. If it had been my decision, I would not have included this COLA provision. Unfortunately, this was a take-it-or-leave-it offer, which is why I am a cosponsor of a bill that would repeal this provision and offset the increase in spending by eliminating a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to receive a tax credit. I believe there is a better way to reform military compensation and am glad these changes do not go into effect until 2016, giving Congress and the military community time to address this issue along with broader compensation reforms. However, doing so would not be possible without moving away from governing by crisis, providing much-needed certainty, and getting back to regular order, and that is what the Ryan-Murray budget allows. Putting Congress back in control of America's purse strings ensures that we will be able to take care of the men and women in our armed forces Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to keep me informed of the issues that are important to you and be sure to visit my website, www.womack.house.gov , for more information and to sign up for my newsletter. Sincerely, Congressman Steve Womack Member of Congress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarHeelPilot Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Great response, until this: "Putting Congress back in control of America's purse strings ensures that we will be able to take care of the men and women in our armed forces." Congress is the reason multiple useless bases remain open that the DOD wants to close. . . and then there's the RQ-4. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waveshaper Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Retired Generals, Admiral Embrace Pay Reductions.http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140113/BENEFITS05/301130026/Retired-generals-admiral-embrace-pay-reductions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homestar Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) Easy for a retired 4-star to say -- he's probably over 62 and pulls in six figures in retirement and is completely untouched by reality. None of the generals who issued the statement through the Bipartisan Policy Center would be affected by the change; all are older than 62. Edited January 14, 2014 by Homestar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbush Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-houses-massive-11-trillion-spending-bill-the-posts-guide/2014/01/15/74e7eabe-7e14-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html MILITARY VETERANS In a change to the bipartisan budget agreement, lawmakers agreed to restore a cut in the cost-of-living adjustments to the pensions of disabled working-age veterans. The fix is a victory for members of both parties who sought to quickly revive the funding, even as they try to reverse the pension cuts for all veterans, which is likely to occur next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/nominations-creedon-carson-laplante - Skip to 1:17:00 for discussion of retirement / compensation cuts between Sen King and Mr. Carson (nominee). Sounds like Sen King is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. How do I screw the troops but not look like an enormous douche as do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czecksikhs Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/nominations-creedon-carson-laplante - Skip to 1:17:00 for discussion of retirement / compensation cuts between Sen King and Mr. Carson (nominee). Sounds like Sen King is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. How do I screw the troops but not look like an enormous douche as do it? Do you just watch CSPAN all day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Do you just watch CSPAN all day?I set alerts for certain topics and various websites aggregate much of the data. Congressmerge.com is good, and one of several I track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akele Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/195587-dont-turn-away-from-reforming-military-retirement-benefits New article…same generals. Breaking faith with those whom have already served and those already in is simply wrong. I'm not saying screw the new people entering, but at least they will sign up knowing what their retirement will be and choose to serve while accepting those terms. Edited to add Air Force Times article about cutting TriCare to working age retirees. It just never stops. http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140117/BENEFITS06/301170020/CBO-Bar-younger-retirees-from-Tricare-Prime-save-90-billion Edited January 18, 2014 by akele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeloDude Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/195587-dont-turn-away-from-reforming-military-retirement-benefits New articlesame generals. Breaking faith with those whom have already served and those already in is simply wrong. I'm not saying screw the new people entering, but at least they will sign up knowing what their retirement will be and choose to serve while accepting those terms. Edited to add Air Force Times article about cutting TriCare to working age retirees. It just never stops. http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140117/BENEFITS06/301170020/CBO-Bar-younger-retirees-from-Tricare-Prime-save-90-billion Are you really that surprised? Working age retirees (more specifically to those who still continue to work in their 40's and 50's) will be able to get insurance from their employers under the Obamacare mandate, if they work for a business with more than 50 employees (though I'm looking forward to seeing how many businesses will opt out for the cheaper fine). And for those without employee mandated insurance, they'll be able to get on the exchanges. Congress already showed their cards in that they're no longer afraid/committed to not f'ing with military retirement--the horse is out of the barn. I doubt it will get better before it gets worse. Plan accordingly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitteEinBit Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Are you really that surprised? Working age retirees (more specifically to those who still continue to work in their 40's and 50's) will be able to get insurance from their employers under the Obamacare mandate, if they work for a business with more than 50 employees (though I'm looking forward to seeing how many businesses will opt out for the cheaper fine). And for those without employee mandated insurance, they'll be able to get on the exchanges. Congress already showed their cards in that they're no longer afraid/committed to not f'ing with military retirement--the horse is out of the barn. I doubt it will get better before it gets worse. Plan accordingly. HeloDude speaks the truth! This is only the beginning. I'm not saying stay in or get out. I'm saying if you decide to stay in, don't be surprised when your "retirement" gets f*cked with. Although I know the numbers are overinflated when they talk about "military pensions and benefits consuming more than 70% of the budget," there will be increasing pushes to change our retirement and pension system because of the rising costs of health care, drawdowns, modernization decisions, etc. Why don't we look at ways to not tie DoD's hands when things like healthcare cost increases consume more of our budget. My suggestion, since everyone loves to talk about different pots of money, is to just take the military retirement and benefits "budget" out of the DoD budget all together and make it its own entity in something similar to Department of Veteran Affairs all together that way you can monitor and control its growth without impact on the "active duty" budget. That way we aren't having to make decisions on modernization and operations on the backs of retirees and veterans. Defense cuts would simply mean cutting capability/changing strategy and not pensions and benefits. Edited January 18, 2014 by BitteEinBit 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akele Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Are you really that surprised? I'm not, I just find it sad at this point. I was shown a chart the other day displaying how sharply the number of veterans serving in congress have decreased over the years. I think that's really starting to hurt us on top of everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewdog135 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a concerted effort to end Tricare altogether before the end of this administration. Think about it, they are having a hard time getting young, healthy folks enrolled in Obamacare. What better way to get the numbers they need than to force a million generally young, healthy people and their families to the exchanges? Here's a stipend, log on and go. Retirees are just the first step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeHoler Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 The sad thing is that Tricare for Life is only a recent addition to military retirement benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herk Driver Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 (edited) The sad thing is that Tricare for Life is only a recent addition to military retirement benefits. Yes, TFL is a recent addition, but...only after the promise of "healthcare for life" was taken away and veterans sued. DOD and VA claimed no one was ever promised healthcare for life when they joined the military. Several old retirees produced documents that showed they actually were promised just that. Courts ruled in the veterans favor and TFL was born when Congress changed the law. Similar thing happened when Congress changed the retirement system in the mid to late '80's. REDUX or something similar was basically the "new" retirement. Veterans groups sued and thus was born the decision at 15 years to take 30K and a reduced retirement or to stick with the High-3. But High-3 replaced the final pay system that reigned previously. Those already in the system were grandfathered though, IIRC. Edited January 19, 2014 by Herk Driver 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azimuth Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I've heard a rumor that High-3 is going away and the new system will be High-5. So no more 36 months TIG to retire at that grade and get that pay in retirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I've heard a rumor that High-3 is going away and the new system will be High-5. So no more 36 months TIG to retire at that grade and get that pay in retirement. I heard a rumor is was going to High-30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panchbarnes Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) I'm not, I just find it sad at this point. I was shown a chart the other day displaying how sharply the number of veterans serving in congress have decreased over the years. I think that's really starting to hurt us on top of everything else. . It doesn't help when the president, secaf, and under secaf have not served in the military. Edited to add both parties have let down the military Edited January 20, 2014 by PanchBarnes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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