Representative John Boehner is promoting a doozy of an idea!
Boehner proposes linking debt-limit hike to a restoration of recent cuts to military benefits
In case you hadn't heard, families like mine with a service member who has served his or her twenty years (career military you might say) or is just about to have finished serving their twenty, had their retirement benefits cut by Congress back in December. It was a pittance according to many, just 1% of COLA every year until age 62. And then Congress will give some of it back. Just not that $80,000 to $120,000 per family that would have accrued in between. Those same legislators conveniently forgot that military pensions are actually deferred compensation - a benefit earned while serving but paid after retirement. Those same legislators conveniently forgot that our career military sign a contract at 15 years specifically accepting that cut with a cash payment or refusing it and choosing to retain full COLA. Those same legilators conveniently forgot that these so-called retirees can be called back to active service at the President's discretion. They may be retired but they are not finished serving their nation.
These same legislators shed crocodile tears and lined up by droves to co-sponsor legislation that would fix the broken promise. Yet no legislation has actually come to a vote so it's very hard to tell who really supports reinstating full COLA and who is just trying to cover their ass.
And now, John Boehner might be a hero or he might be a pariah... depends on how you want to write the story. Mind you, we know that John Boehner has no desire to fix this cut:
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, signaled in a brief hallway conversation with The Associated Press that he would oppose a broader drive to repeal the entire pension provision, which saves $6 billion over the coming decade by reducing the annual cost-of-living adjustment for working age military retirees by 1 percentage point.
http://cjonline.com/...
Veterans have just become a pawn in the political game called The Debt Ceiling Hike.
So, do you believe, as does Rep Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio) that Boehner has come up with viable plan:
“Right now, Jesus himself couldn’t be the speaker and get 218 Republicans behind something, so I think Speaker Boehner is trying his best to come up with a plan that can get close to that,” said Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio), a longtime Boehner ally. “Whatever we move, there will be critics everywhere, but at the end of the day we still have to govern.”
It's an interesting assault - I know many in the conservative community who would love to see a default as it would mean an automatic and immediate cut in spending. And that probably includes some in the military community, even though the defense budget would probably take a huge cut as well. And we'd fall into recession again - that is, if you believe 'liberal' economists like Paul Krugman.
But since John Boehner has refused to bring any legislation that would mean a straight vote on the COLA cuts to the floor (like HR 3790), then this might be the only option with which we military families are left.
Excuse me if I don't break out the party horns and the confetti. I don't have faith in Congress, especially in the House of Representatives, to fix a damn thing. In fact, I look forward to the 2014 elections and the opportunity to help some new faces get elected to this body in hopes that we might see some actual legislating take place in the near future.