The decision by Congress to cut the Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) by 1% for military retirees in the 2013 bipartisan budget (back-room) deal certainly came as a surprise to many. After all, Congress has had done a great job over many years in honoring their obligations to vets funding many programs to help veterans to get back on their feet and to stay there. The GI BILL, Veteran Hospitals, TRICARE, etc... have allowed many veterans to pursue life-long dreams.
However, the COLA cut was a deal that goes to the matter of contract integrity and is a major shift in how Congress has attended to the affairs of veterans.
When a business is in a contract arrangement, contracts are sacrosanct. Case closed. Its next to impossible to back out of the deal. But for some in the media and in government, it is OK to change the terms of the contract when it involves an individual or groups of people, like military pensioners. People like Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, would have you believe the COLA cutto military pensioners is really not breaking a contract at all. Not a big deal according to him and others in the media. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Those in government and in the media who favor cuts of this magnitude must understand contracts cannot be tossed aside because suddenly they are inconvenient.
The Ryan/Murray bill which is now law cuts to the heart of a value/meaning of a contract.