The Senate passed S.25 by a wide margin, 95-3. It repeals the unfair COLA cut to "working-age" military retirees below the age of 62 which Congress hastily pushed through in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. To save face, Congress let stand veterans who first became a member of a uniformed service on or after January 1, 2014 would still face the 1% COLA reduction.
The passage of the bill could be considered a "win." Veterans got what they wanted. I think I can safely speak for other veterans and their families: this was no "win" but a reversal of a bad policy pushed through by one man -- Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI).
It became clear over the last month and a half as Americans of all backgrounds asked Congress why was it targeting veteran retirees to pay for wars prospectively. What unfolded was Mr Ryan single-handedly wrote the provision into law in a back-room deal without consulting anyone from the Senate Armed Service Committee. Only closed, communist style governments legislate in this manner.
Putting aside Mr Ryans attempts at legislation, there are several take aways from this episode. To move Congress in a certain direction, you must have strong lobby groups that are willing to engage fight Congress. The military does not have unions so members rely on lobby organizations like the American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, and many others to engage Washington decision makers to encourage them to make the right policy decision for the service member. These organizations worked tirelessly in getting the word out on the unfairness of the COLA cut. They also countered false media representation of the facts. This actually proved to be important. In my opinion, I noticed a marked improvement in the reporting and we retained some allies in the process.
What is also important to have is a simple message. In their messaging to Congress, veterans, their spouses, the media and others took to Twitter to tell members of Congress, regardless of party affiliation, to #KeepYourPromise. The #KeepYourPromise hashtag was premised on the fact Congress was changing the rules for veterans who already "paid for" war sacrifices without "grandfathering." We wanted the COLA cut repealed without pre-conditions. The tweets to Congress were relentless and effective. Many Congress members understood the stakes and joined in and tweeted their hope the cuts would be undone. A $6 billion savings (the cost of the COLA cut) in a $17 trillion deficit was looking petty.
Watching the voting on S.25 yesterday was a slow, painful process. It seemed like it took for ever to get the bill voted on. Each part of the bill was announced separately in the Senates usual slow parliamentary fashion. Then the each part of the bill was voted on. But this is the way a democracy should work. Everyone knows, or should know, whats at stake before voting. What we dont want is the rush to push bad legislation through like Mr Ryan did in the Bipartisan Budget Act 2013. Bad policies leads to bad outcomes. Luckily, Congress put an in end to this bad law.
Finally, Congress is still a capitalist minded function of government, where all proposals must be paid for. Well, not too long ago they were not this way. In early 2000s, Congress voted to go to war without the means to "pay for" it. In other words, Congress borrowed trillions of dollars to fund two wars. Those same members of Congress who are now so virtuous about deficits cut blanks checks worth $4 trillion dollars (and counting) to fight the wars and added it to the deficit. This is probably the most reprehensible American policy ever. People like Mr Ryan try to ignore his bad decision making and are trying to push war costs onto the most vulnerable of society.