See related article and briefing from Foreign Policy.com.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/29/defense_budget_implosion_vii_
kiss_those_retirement_bennies_goodbye

According to the author of the article:
"Check out this Pentagon briefing on how military retirees are overpaid and overbenefitted":

http://dbb.defense.gov/pdf/DBB_Military_Retirement_Final_Presentationpdf.pdf

Thanks for the read. That briefing does not bode well for current active duty personnel. I'm sure they will get around to us old timers as well.

Man... that didn't take long. Now the TRICARE markup by the Armed Services Committee is being put on the Aution block. As I said earlier, just eliminating cost overruns would save Billions.

At least I will die knowing that I kept my word, even if the govermnet can't keep theirs.

The basic problem is that we no longer have government, we have politicians. The time has come to impeach them all and change the words back to "We the people" instead of "We the government" Let's bite into Medicare, Social Security and Domestic Military. When and by whom did the USA get appointed as the worldwide hall monitor anyway. If you want to cut the deficit, stop playing patty cake with every country in the world that has an earthquake or rebel uprising, stop handing out money like a dish of candy at Halloween, bring the troops out of the foreign countries, fortify the homeland, stop immigration, decrease unions, start manufacturing in the USA again, Create jobs and become the world power that we once were. Or we can just have the Traffic control folks work without pay and let the lawmakers go on summer vacation with full pay and benefits. I agree with your latter comment Rick. At least I to will pass on knowing that I kept my word and never waffled. God Bless the America we once knew so well.

I read the briefing created by an advisory board chaired and co-chaired by individuals who never served in the military and was not surprised by its content. Only six members out of 19 had any military service, of which one is a retired major general. All were officers. As a retired E6 who accepted low pay compared to my "civilian counterparts" in exchange for "guaranteed" retirement benefits I can say that unless you wear the shoes you cannot walk in them, no matter how hard you try. This group of Harvard and Yale businessmen (and one woman), managers of investment groups, insurance companies and realty organizations have no idea what it was/is like to live as an enlisted member of our armed forces. If, in the future, we have another recession and all of our "retired" military have their pensions crash with it...what then? Will these individuals be around to stare that veteran in the face who has surmounting medical bills, mortgage and car payments and say they thought it would be better this way? I seriously doubt it. Our retirement benefits are not tied to the Pentagon's budget. All benefits are separate line items and under different budget bills than the defense funding for the military. Annual funding alone for the DBB is a cool $750,000,000.00 plus 6 full-time equivalents. Nice job if you can get the work.

I would be a pretty p.o.'d petty officer if my expected retirement was slashed to 37.5% after serving a 15-year career. I really don't see how we can allow our government to do these kinds of things. Things changed a bit from the time I joined until retirement, but not this drastically.

ref:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/07/military-dod-panel-calls-for-radical-retirement-overhaul-072511/

Although I don't usually participate in these discussions on the message board, I thought this letter from MOAA put everything into perspective without all of the spin that comes from other media sources. The most important sentence I took from this entire letter was this "Although military retired pay, Social Security, and Medicare beneficiaries are protected from these cuts it could leave TRICARE and Medicare providers extremely vulnerable." - Jim

Debt Deal: What You Need to Know

After months of tense negotiations Congress agreed to a last
minute debt reduction deal and raised the debt ceiling - a
Congressional limit on government borrowing - just in time to
meet the Treasury Department's August 2nd deadline to avoid a
potential government default.

The agreement, signed by the President on Tuesday, sets a course
for future reductions in federal spending. But the compromise is
remarkably short on details and relies largely on the budget
cutting recommendations of a soon to be formed Congressional
"Super Committee." In many ways the deal reflects the inability
of Congress to come to terms with spending cuts.

Here's what we know about the deal:

Enacts $900 billion in federal spending cuts over 10 years
Cuts include $350 billion in savings from the base defense budget
already agreed upon earlier this year
Authorizes the President to increase the debt limit by at least
$2.1 trillion, eliminating the need for further increases until
2013
Establishes a Congressional bipartisan Joint Committee, often
referred to as the "Super Committee," tasked with identifying an
additional $1.5 trillion in debt reduction, including
discretionary (e.g., pay raises, procurement, etc.) and direct
(e.g., Social Security, TFL) spending; the Committee will also
consider tax revenue measures
Requires $1.2 trillion in cuts if the "Super Committee" fails to
reach an agreement, or Congress fails to pass the committee's
recommendations by December 23 Cuts would be divided between
defense and non-defense defense spending
Ensures a vote on a balanced budget constitutional amendment by
December 2011

Now that the deal is done all eyes will turn to the Congressional
"Super Committee" made up of 12 members of Congress, six from
each chamber, and six from each party. Their debt reduction
recommendations are due November 23, 2011. Congress is required
to vote on their recommendations without amendment by December
23, 2011.

The Super Committee is authorized to look at both discretionary
and direct (mandatory) spending meaning that military retirement,
TFL, Social Security, etc., are on the table for cutting.

However, if the Committee cannot reach an agreement on how to cut
an additional $1.5 trillion from the debt or if their recommended
cuts fail to be adopted by Congress, an enforcement mechanism
(sequestration) will trigger automatic, draconian spending
reductions starting in 2013. The cuts would be split 50/50
between domestic and defense spending (defense spending cuts
would be about $50 billion per year). The severity of this
process is intended to force Congress to act and prioritize what
reductions should be made.

If sequestration is employed Social Security, Medicare
beneficiaries (but not providers), federal civil service
retirement, military retirement and low-income programs will be
exempt from mandatory cuts.

MOAA is especially concerned about the prospect of sequestration
if Congress fails to reach a $1.5 trillion deal by December 23.
These automatic cuts would rely heavily on defense spending
reductions. Although military retired pay, Social Security, and
Medicare beneficiaries are protected from these cuts it could
leave TRICARE and Medicare providers extremely vulnerable. The
magnitude of these cuts may prevent a "doc fix" this year which
would deeply hurt access to care.

And this is only the beginning of several years of successive
budget reductions. Both the right and the left are looking to
reduce defense spending and the quickest way there is cutting
manpower and compensation.

I'll believe that when I see it enacted into law Jim. Otherwise, they will cut the low hanging fruit... that being those who can least defend themselves. See link...

Might be smarmy economics as the "Debt Deal" didn't cut anything! It only reduced the amount of future increases in spending.

Bait and switch by the "535" and the "Organizer" in the White House!

Never trust a politician to tell the truth folks. You'll be disappointed every time!

Know how to tell it a politician is Lying? His mouth is moving!



Russ