This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Congress sucks

  • Senate GOP fails to restore vet pension cuts

    In their final attempt to help the president keep his promise to not balance the budget on the backs of veterans, the Senate Republicans tried to shore up veterans’ pensions last night. However, Democrats were dead set against it, according to Fox News;

    Ahead of the final vote, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., tried unsuccessfully to use a parliamentary tactic to force a vote on the amendment, which he wrote to undo the cuts for military retirees.

    A provision in the already House-passed bill would cut retirement benefits for military retirees by $6 billion over 10 years.

    Sessions wanted to instead eliminate an estimated $4.2 billion in annual spending by reining in an IRS credit that illegal immigrants have claimed.

    He and fellow senators argued the bill unfairly sticks veterans and other military retirees with the cost of new spending.

    “It’s not correct, and it should not happen,” Sessions said on the floor.

    “By blocking my amendment, they voted to cut pensions for wounded warriors,” he said afterwards. “Senators in this chamber have many valid ideas for replacing these pension cuts, including my proposal to close the tax welfare loophole for illegal filers, and all deserved a fair and open hearing. But they were denied.”

    According to the Washington Beacon, disabled veterans won’t be exempt from the cut in cost-of-living allowance adjustments;

    “It has been asserted that the controversial change to military retirees’ pensions affects those who are ‘working-age’ and ‘still in their working years,’ with the clear suggestion being that these individuals are able to work,” Sessions said in a statement. “That’s why I was deeply troubled when my staff and I discovered that even individuals who have been wounded and suffered a service-related disability could see their pensions reduced under this plan.”

    “It is unthinkable that this provision would be included in a deal that spares current civilian workers from the same treatment,” he said. “An equivalent amount of savings and more can be easily found, and I hope the Senate will move to address the unbalanced treatment of our servicemembers before considering the legislation any further.”

    Gee, who could have predicted that Democrats would want to screw veterans while leaving the welfare queens relatively untouched? Oh, that’s right, I did back in 2008. Of course, the Democrats couldn’t have done it without the support of House Republicans who are more than happy to sell veterans down the river so they can look like they’re willing to compromise.

  • Concerned Veterans for America; Budget Bust

    Our friends at Concerned Veterans for America send us this video in regards to the Defense budget bouncing around in Congress today;

    Arlington, Va.—A new video ad produced by Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) criticizes the recent Congressional budget deal for slashing retirement pay for military veterans while avoiding needed reform to reduce runaway government spending and debt.

    The 30-second ad notes that the spending deal agreed to last week by Republican and Democratic budget leaders in Congress fails to address the nation’s unsustainable spending and towering $17 trillion debt. At the same time, the deal finds only marginal savings by reducing payments to military retirees.

    According to a December 16 Washington Post report, the budget deal “would reduce cost-of-living adjustments for working-age military retirees by 1 percent starting in December 2015.” The report adds that the move would save only about $6 billion, while the overall budget deal ignores rampant overspending and needed reforms in other categories—like entitlement programs and the tax code.

    The ad is currently running in Washington, DC on Fox News Channel, CNN, and MSNBC and will run through this week.

    “Given our more than $17 trillion debt, there’s a broad consensus that Washington cannot continue spending at the current rate,” said Pete Hegseth, CEO of CVA. “Unfortunately, instead of making the tough choices to get spending under control by tackling areas where spending is rampant and unsustainable, Congress decided it would be easier to take money out of the pockets of the men and women who have fought and served in defense of our nation. Not only does this deal not address America’s spending addiction, it egregiously breaks faith with America’s military veterans.

    “The deal shows a stunning lack of respect for the contributions of America’s heroes, and reflects the dispiriting reality that our leaders in Washington remain unwilling to tackle the long-term debt that poses such a serious threat to our nation’s future,” Hegseth concluded.

    The ad concludes with a call for viewers to contact their senators and demand real spending reform.

    There’s also an amendment to the budget from Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, calling for a restoration of our full benefits. The link was sent to us by ROS;

    “These proposed cuts represent a broken promise to those who have voluntarily chosen to serve our nation in the military,” Senator Roger Wicker said. “This is not a matter of nickels and dimes for our retired and active-duty troops. It is unfair to ask the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States to shoulder the full weight of these cuts. It is not too late for Congress to keep its promises to our military personnel. I urge my colleagues to join us in passing this amendment without delay.”

    “Our men and women in uniform have served admirably during some of our nation’s most troubling times,” said Senator Lindsey Graham. “They deserve more from us in their retirement than this agreement provides. Simply put, it doesn’t do enough to protect those who have spent their lives protecting our nation.”

    “America’s servicemembers have already sacrificed so much on our behalf and Congress should not put additional burdens on them even as it spares federal civilian workers from the same treatment,” said Senator Jeff Sessions. “Certainly we should instead scour the federal budget for other available savings. Removing this unbalanced treatment of our military retirees ought to be one of the key actions we should take before this legislation moves forward. In fact, greater savings than this can be achieved by passing a legislative fix recommended by the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury that would stop the IRS from improperly providing tax credits to illegal aliens.”

    “Under the Obama Administration, our military has borne the cost of Washington’s fiscal recklessness time and time again,” said Senator Jim Inhofe. “The Ryan-Murray budget deal cherry picked once again from our men and women in uniform to strip away from the retirement benefit they have earned by their service. Last year Congress established the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission to provide a comprehensive review of opportunities for meaningful pay and benefit reform. That Commission was told they could recommend any option as long as it grandfathered those who currently serve and those who are currently retired. Congress should keep its promises and should do everything possible to maintain the sacred vow our country has made to those who have honorably served our country.”

    “This amendment addresses our continued concern with further cuts to benefits for retired and active duty military personnel,” said Senator Thad Cochran. “There is no justification in first turning to those who have served or are serving in the military and asking them to make new sacrifices.”

    From the Washington Post; the VSOs are on the job;

    The Military Officers Association of America and other groups are not waiting. As of Friday, MOAA said it had generated more than 92,000 messages to Capitol Hill. The Senate is prepared to take up the measure this week.

    The Veterans of Foreign Wars on Friday called on its “nearly 2 million VFW and Auxiliary members and veterans advocates everywhere to voice their opposition to the COLA proposal by connecting with their senators,” according to a VFW news release.

    “Although Iraq is over and the war in Afghanistan is winding down, we can’t allow Congress to dismantle the programs they created over the past 12 years,” said VFW National Commander William A. Thien.

    Other than increasing benefits over the years, the military retirement program has been unchanged since World War II.

    So, what’s the big hurry now? Well, other than the fact that veterans are a smaller demographic than the total of the Democrat constituency? And Republicans don’t mind selling veterans down the river to look like they’re compromising.

  • Defense budget screws vets and troops

    You know that anything draft dodger Harry Reid supports isn’t something that is vet friendly, but he’s praising the defense budget that was hammered out last night. It saves some the defense expenditures, but it reduces future pension and pay increases for Cost of Living Allowances (COLA) for the troops, while preserving the COLA increases for federal employees. From Stars & Stripes;

    Democrats decried the fact that the deal does not extend unemployment benefits, which expire Dec. 31, and that federal workers hired after Dec. 31, 2013, will have to contribute 1.3 percent more to their retirement funds.

    Military advocates are left wanting, too: Veterans who retire from the military before age 62 will see a reduction in their annual cost-of-living benefit increase. Retirees 62 and older, and those retired on disability, would not be affected.

    “It was a compromise,” Reid said. “We didn’t get what we wanted. They didn’t get what they wanted. But that’s what legislation is all about, working together. ‘Compromise’ is not a bad word.”

    But, in this case, the “compromise” screwed veterans (a traditional Republican voting base) while preserving the support for traditional Democrat voters. So yeah, compromise is a bad word, since it’s about preserving a voter base, rather than doing what’s right. As it is, the bill reduces the COLA allowance for military retirees and the troops to less that the Consumer Price Index (the measure for inflation), while it doesn’t affect the COLA for retired government employees.

    To give you an idea how that affects military pensions, the first month I retired from the Army, my pension was less than $12,000/year, today, twenty years later, it’s $18,000 from COLA increases. I didn’t get rich, but my money kept pace with inflation, and it was something that my family could depend on in a tough job market. It’s better as I head into my retirement than it was when I retired from the military. But, Congress would rather that I retire at my pension twenty years ago at two-thirds of the current purchasing power.

    I can only guess that the reduction in COLA won’t affect Congressional pensions, either.

  • Hagel to cut in his own office

    Stars & Stripes reports that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that he’s going to cut his own office’s budget by 20% to save tax payers a billion bucks over the next 5 years. He claims to be reducing his staff by 8%, mostly contractors and civilian personnel;

    Hagel said the staff cuts are designed to occur primarily through workforce attrition rather than layoffs, but a DOD fact sheet distributed to reporters indicated that more abrupt cuts might be necessary if the Congress’ sequestration budget framework remains in place.

    I’m pretty sure that he can cut deeper if he really tries, and the folks in the field won’t miss that staff, because that’s what they really want to do, right? I mean they’re pitting retirees against active force readiness in these draconian cuts to the Defense budget – you know cuts, that no other group of retirees would accept.

    Speaking of which, Army Times, in a link sent to us by Chief Tango, reports that Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., an Iraq and Afghanistan Navy pilot veteran, is proposing that DoD cut COLA payments to retirees as a way to save money. To be fair, he’s also proposing cuts to cost of living allowances to Social Security and Federal employees as well. That only insures that his proposal won’t pass, unless he only makes the pain felt by military retirees.

  • Hunter: We must slash compensation for military

    Chock Block sends us a link from Breaking Defense which reports that Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, probably the most stalwart defender of the troops, wants to slash future compensation of military members who haven’t joined yet;

    Career soldiers can retire at 42, get a great deal on Tricare health insurance, take home a pension, and get paid a good private-sector salary on top of that. That can’t continue to be the norm for the military and Congress must create a two-tier pay system, says Rep. Duncan Hunter, Marine Corps reservist and member of the House Armed Services Committee.

    “It’s time for Congress to look at this,” Hunter said at the inaugural Defense One conference. The message must be sent that, “If you join tomorrow things are going to be different.”

    Hunter was careful to argue that those currently in the military should still get the benefits promised them, but the next group must receive reduced benefits, because growing compensation costs will eat up a majority of the defense budget should they go unchecked. If a servicemember retires and gets a good private sector job — say as a defense contractor — then they don’t need Tricare, Hunter said: “You should have to buy into [private] healthcare and stop being subsidized by the American taxpayer.”

    I hope you millionaire retirees are happy that you’re responsible for busting the budget. While I appreciate much of what Hunter has done for the military members over the years, I don’t see him recommending cutting the compensation for retired members of Congress or suggesting that their healthcare “stop being subsidized by the American taxpayer”. Reducing the compensation of servicemembers will only affect retention as evidenced among our comments when these stories roll in and the military will begin to bleed experience.

  • Senate votes for death benefit

    One of our ninjas send us a link to CNN which reports that the Senate has voted to approve the death benefit for troops’ families that need it;

    The move came at the insistence of Republican senators who said they wanted a legislative fix to fund the benefits despite a plan finalized by the Obama administration Wednesday to have a private charity–Fisher House–cover the cost of the benefits until the government shutdown is resolved.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the push by Republicans was “unnecessary” because benefits were now flowing, but he said he would not block a unanimous consent agreement proposed by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican.

    “This issue is largely moot. It’s clear the action on this legislation is just for show,” Reid said.

    Yeah, it was moot earlier when Congress approved paying the entire Pays and Allowances Table, which included the death benefit, but the partisan Department of Defense decided not to pay it in order to make an issue that didn’t exist and then the White House could swoop in and save the day by making Fisher house pay the benefit. Of course, Fisher House wouldn’t be reimbursed unless Congress had authorized the payments – which they did in the original bill that was passed earlier this week.

    I guess everyone gets a chance to act like they’re doing something to fix a problem that didn’t really exist. But, at least, Hagel can’t hide now.

    In other stupid news, “Tears” Boehner has announced that he’s ready to cave in to the president on the debt ceiling;

    After meeting with his caucus, House Speaker John Boehner said Republicans want substantive talks with President Barack Obama and Democrats on reducing the nation’s chronic federal deficits and debt in return for removing the immediate threat of default.

    Sources said the House GOP measure would extend the debt ceiling until November 22.

    Boehner said the proposal that could be voted on by the House as soon as Friday would offer the temporary increase in the debt ceiling.

    So we can through all of this shit again over Thanksgiving. Yay!

  • Troops’ death benefits delayed by shutdown bullies

    ROS and Parachute Cutie sent us a link to Defense One which reports that the Pentagon won’t be paying death benefits to the families of those four troops who were killed in Afghanistan this past weekend until the shutdown ends;

    “We’ve had a number of people die recently and we will be able to pay them, but not until the lapse of appropriation ends,” Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale said in a phone briefing Friday to explain Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s interpretation of last week’s Pay Our Military Act. “We’re trying to be helpful through aid societies and others to the family members who are involved in these tragic circumstances. But unfortunately, we don’t have the legal authority to make those payments.”

    Lawmakers hastily assembled the bill to keep military paychecks coming despite Washington’s shutdown — and to show Congress and the White House’s commitment to America’s troops despite their mistrust of one another. But the measure’s vague language has sown widespread confusion among active duty military and their families as to what the law does and does not cover.

    And, of course, unwilling to let a good excuse to go unused, the Veterans Affairs Department is blaming the shutdown on the backlog of claims – even though that’s been going on for years. Chief Tango sends this link to Stars & Stripes;

    The number of veterans claims pending for more than 125 days rose by 239 in the first few days of the government shutdown, which began Oct.1. In the previous 10 days, the backlog had dropped by more than 16,000 cases.

    The backlog peaked in March at more than 608,000 overdue claims, and now sits just under 419,000.

    VA officials had warned last week that the government shutdown could “reverse progress” with the claims backlog, since a number of case processors were furloughed and mandatory overtime for others was halted as a result of the budget fight.

    “Due to the government shutdown, this clear progress for veterans and their families is at risk,” the department said in a statement, which also blamed Congress for a “failure to act” to prevent the problem.

    I hear the shutdown also caused 9-11 and the Vietnam War.

    Also from Chief Tango, a link from Army Times which reports that the VA bought a $562,000 piece of art in the days leading up to the shutdown. Of course, Shinseki hasn’t responded to Congress’ inquiries on that purchase.

    So, it’s beginning to look like the shutdown is being shouldered by veterans and the military as well as balancing the budget.

  • Government shut down stuff

    I’ve been shutting down my portion of the government this morning. It’s harder work than my real job. But some of us got this nice letter from the President; Message from the President to U.S. Government Employees-2. basically none of this is his fault – you know that’s real leadership.

    The House passed a funding bill that was rejected, so the compromised – you know that cryptic term, that no one on the liberal (in the neo-liberal sense) side of government understands and the compromise was shot down. But somehow Republicans are “the party of “no”” according to my liberal friends on Facebook. And, oh, yeah, it’s all about race, too.

    Republicans only wanted to do the same favor for individuals and families what the administration has done for employers – give us a break on the Affordable Care Act for a year. And, the administration was so prepared for the launch of that healthcare beast this morning that the website for signing up is down for four hours.

    We’re in this shut-down mess because Congress hasn’t passed a budget since 2007 – when Democrats took control of the House and the Senate. I listened to Harry Reid call conservatives “anarchists” this morning. And he said that conservatives are doing the same thing over-and-over which caused this. I submit that the Democrats have been doing the same broke-dick things over-and-over for fifty years.

    Reid forgot that for two years that the Democrat Congress’ only focus was defunding the Iraq War – a vote they took over-and-over again instead of passing a budget. Who knows what their excuse is now, other than the fact that they don’t want to do their job.

    Me? I’m doing fine – I have three months of money stashed in my checking account since this budget mess started. Now I’m going to take a nap.

    ADDED: From MCPO NYC USN (Ret.), apparently computers don’t trust the Affordable Care Act either;

    Untrusted