With the SuperSpecialCommittee of Special Superness almost ready to announce their failure to reach agreement, major cuts to defense spending are becoming an increasingly likely reality. Even if an agreement is reached, the ones that will feel the pinch the most are the men and women of the services and their families.
How Republicans can justify their unyielding stance protecting tax breaks for the super wealthy while promoting increasing the cost of health care and decreasing the value of retirement for the military is mystifying. Almost as mystifying as the failure of the Democrats to successfully challenge this ideology and protect the well being of those that protect ours.
If we still live in the land of the free, the time has never been more crucial to support the brave.
Details of what you can do to help and some video goodness beyond the croissant...
Frequent readers will already be aware of the slew of recent proposals to cut military benefits, poignantly detailed earlier this month by angelajean here.
History has shown us that when cuts in government spending in the realm of defense are demanded, the first area that gets hit is personnel. And today those reductions are taking shape through proposals for higher health care costs, lower retirement benefits and reductions in forces. These changes have been tried before, and we what happens. The 'Peace Dividend' reductions in the 90's led to huge inadequacies that took years to overcome.
Military Officers Association of America is launching an effort to make Congress understand that the path they are considering is not the right way to overcome our deficit problems.
Here is the video that launches the action campaign:
To help get involved, you don't have to have served in the military. You just have to care about our fellow citizens that have made the choice to sacrifice on your behalf.
(full disclosure, although I am an employee of MOAA, I am not a part of our government relations or marketing departments - I'm just a civilian who has paid too much attention to what is happening to not share this information and ask for assistance)
For more details, visit the campaign main page here.
And send a message to your elected officials on one of the key issues here.
Stacy Bannerman's excellent quote can not be restated enough, so I'll restate it.
“A nation that does not take care of its veterans has got no business whatsoever making new ones.”