Posted on Canada Free Press-By Move America Forward-On May 27, 2011:
“In the latest and most outrageous move, the Obama administration wants to cut pay and/or benefits for our troops and their families, even those deployed overseas fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, in order to reign in budgetary spending.
It’s the classic game that the liberals play whenever they are in power – they are always quick to claim they support the troops, but the military is always first on the chopping block. Yesterday Secretary of Defense Robert Gates revealed that the Obama Administration was considering cutting military paychecks when he said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.
“The defense secretary said the strategic review could require politicians to look at other uncomfortable choices, including pay levels for service members, new approaches for retirement and pensions, or higher healthcare costs for working-age retirees.” - David Alexander, Reuters 24 MAY 2011
Thanks to the Obama Administration, the gilded age where America supported it’s troops in times of war may be coming to an end, and this commander-in-chief may be asking our troops to fight two wars while at the same time GIVING UP pay, and benefits both for themselves, their spouses and their children!
At Move America Forward we advocate on behalf of our troops and their missions in the war on terror, and that goes beyond sending care packages to the troops on the front lines. We will stand and fight the Administration on this because it’s unconscionable to ask our troops to take a pay cut while there are a million other places in the budget to cut. Our troops deserve fair and decent compensation, and they deserve for their families to be taken care of after what they sacrifice for us every day!
If you ever wonder about what our troops go through for our sake, just remember where they are serving – it’s almost June now, and these troops are out in the middle of the desert in Baghdad where temperatures reach blazing triple digits on a daily basis.
Afghanistan also reaches extreme temperatures, even worse because it has extreme highs in the summer and extreme cold snaps in the winter.
With Memorial Day coming up this Monday, we must show that we support our troops, and in high temperatures like these, our troops are going to need these care packages! Each care package comes with Gatorade to help cool off our troops and keep them hydrated in the hot desert sun!
MEMORIAL DAY IS ALMOST HERE! SEND A CARE PACKAGE WITH SOME GATORADE FOR OUR THIRSTY TROOPS NOW!
Can you imagine what it would feel like to be serving overseas, fighting the war on terror in Iraq or Afghanistan, far away from your family, and then you receive a letter in from your own Government, saying that your paycheck is going to get cut and the prescription medicine for your kid’s ear infection that used to get covered by your militaryhealthcare plan is now going to have to be paid out of pocket and there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re 6,700 miles away from home dodging bullets and trying to shoot back and kill these crazy radical Islamic terrorists!
It’s a slap in the face to our military for the Obama administration to be pushing for this, and it is despicable that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is doing the dirty work for President Obama and breaking the news to the troops who have served under him. What a horrid legacy to leave. He will retire next month on this weak note of failure to find a more suitable place to cut the $500 million that Obama has demanded the Pentagon cut.”
Source:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/36951#When:10:54:51Z
Note: The following article and/or blog post reveals that Gates is also targeting Veteran retirement pay and healthcare-You Decide:
Gates Targets Retirement, Health Care!-Posted on MOAA.org-On May 27, 2011:
In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute this week Defense Secretary Robert Gates reiterated his assertion that DoD needs to fundamentally change the way it does business. He said procurement overhaul already has produced significant savings, and identified force size and structure, military compensation, retirement, and health care as additional targets for budget cuts to achieve a planned $400 billion in DoD budget savings over the next 10 years.
Gates launched a comprehensive review of DoD’s future needs last week to identify specific recommendations. Among the specifics he cited were:
- Lowering military compensation in light of strong recruiting and retention numbers
- Eliminating the “one size fits all” military retirement system in favor of a tiered and targeted retirement system that weights compensation towards the most in-demand specialties
- Increasing health care cost-sharing for working-age retirees
Considering the staggering debt facing the nation, the reality is that anything the government spends money on is going to come under great pressure for cutbacks in coming years.
But it’s troubling to hear Pentagon leadership citing the same old arguments that led to short-sighted changes of the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s that ultimately caused significant retention and readiness problems.
Sustaining pay comparability – through good budget times and bad – is a fundamental underpinning of the all-volunteer force. We’ve spent the last decade recovering from the follies of the past. Cutting back on military pay every year we experience satisfactory recruiting and retention is a proven method to create future retention problems. It’s the equivalent of driving a car by looking only in the rear-view mirror. Sooner or later, you’re going to crash.
On the retirement front, the country should thank its lucky stars it has the current 20-year retirement system, because it’s the primary reason we’ve been able to sustain the force through the last decade of war. The last retirement reform – the REDUX system of 1986 that cut lifetime retirement value by 22% for subsequent entrants – had to be repealed after it caused retention problems.
Now DoD budgeteers envision saving money by cutting retirement even more than REDUX did – by making military people fund more of their own retirement, delaying eligibility for retired pay until age 57 or later, and changing the retirement contribution every year based on the shortage skills of the time. They propose making it “fairer” by vesting military retirement benefits after 10 years of service.
But this system would blatantly take money from people who serve a career to pay people who leave early, creating a retention and readiness time bomb.
If you had 10 years of service, were facing a fourth tour to Afghanistan, and were given the choice of separating with a pro-rata retirement or being required to keep serving until age 57 to earn a regular retirement (knowing the military will still want to push most people off active duty well before that age), what would you do?
Budget-cutters always focus on short-term fiscal needs, recognizing that any negative consequences will be their successors’ problem to solve. Their fatal flaw, from a national readiness standpoint, is that they plan for the best-case scenario, when a volatile real-world never follows that scenario (see the “Quote of the Week” sidebar in this legislative update).
While all military compensation programs are going to come under very close budget scrutiny, MOAA will focus on reminding Congress of the lessons (hopefully) learned from past ill-considered cutbacks.
Observing Memorial Day:
It goes without saying that this is a special weekend for all members of the uniformed services and veteran’s community. Memorial Day carries a particular significance for MOAA members and families when our Nation is at war. Please keep all service members, veterans, survivors, and their families in your thoughts.
If you’re traveling this weekend, please do so safely. Your family, your compatriots in uniform, and your country still need you.”
Continue Reading: http://www.moaa.org/action_update_110527.htm
Note: The following articles and/or blog posts relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
Push for Pentagon cuts tops Panetta’s agenda-Posted on Idaho Stateswman-By DONNA CASSATA - Associated Press-On April 27, 2011:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/04/27/v-print/1625708/push-for-pentagon-cuts-tops-panettas.html
The Plot to Destroy the US Military!-Posted on Canada Free Press-By Daniel Greenfield-On March 21, 2011:
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/34646
Wife of White House mouthpiece behind Petraeus attack: ‘Lee given new post to battle 'negative' reporting about president’-Posted on WND.com-By Aaron Klein-On May 25, 2011:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=303121
MoveOn.org Ad Takes Aim at Petraeus: “Ad From Liberal Activist Group Takes on Petraeus and the GOP Finds a New Talking Point”-Posted on ABCNews.go.com-By JAKE TAPPER-On September 10, 2007:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/story?id=3581727&page=1
Note: My following blog posts contain numerous articles and/or blog posts and videos that relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
The Military Pays the Price for Obama’s Agenda!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/the-military-pays-the-price-for-obama’s-agenda/
Veterans and members of our Armed Forces under attack!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/veterans-and-members-of-our-armed-forces-under-attack/
Rules of Engagement Killing Marines and U.S. Soldiers!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/rules-of-engagement-killing-marines-and-u-s-soldiers/
Treason in America: Move Over ‘Hanoi Jane’!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/treason-in-america-move-over-‘hanoi-jane’/
Is Pelosi Wrong On Defense Spending?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/is-pelosi-wrong-on-defense-spending/Is it important to understand the Marxist assault on the foundations of our system?
Note: If you have a problem viewing any of the listed blog posts, please copy web site and paste it on your browser. Sure seems like any subject matter that may be considered controversial is being censored-what happened to free speech?-You Decide.
Note: The following videos seem extremely appropriate this Memorial Day weekend and always. Please keep our troops and their families in your thoughts and prayers:
Angel By My Side (Song for Our Military Heroes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIyDOaQ-dI&feature=related
Farewell Marine:
http://00f2630.netsolhost.com/farewellmarine.html
Heaven Was Needing A Hero – fallen soldier tribute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJf9ZezTZE&feature=related
“I Honor Back” by Jon Kahn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVgY0wSk42M&feature=player_embedded
Note: As a retired Marine Corps Mustang Officer, I believe that our nation must do a better job of supporting and/or taking care of our men and women in uniform that have and/or are currently contributing their time, their sanity, their health, and, above all, their lives to the service of their country as a means of upholding the freedom that too many “Americans in Name Only” take for granted, as evidenced by these outrages actions by this President and his minions-You Decide:
“Food For Thought”
“God Bless & Keep Our Troops & Their Families Safe”
Semper Fi!
Jake
Comments
That Rat Bastard! You know that's a double cut, right? If the pay is cut means the moral is cut as well! We send our finest into harms way and now our Imperial Loser wants to hack their pay-checks? and don't forget the ranks are to start being filled with homo's as well.
What else can that White House coward can do to destroy our finest? This piss's me so bad I think I'm going to go out and drive my truck in circles! You know Jake, this is the only Tea Party that makes any statement about the military and even has their own Tea Party vets site! Whats wrong with our nation that Tea drinkers have to step up and carry the weight? Every man, woman and child should be angry with that White House of ours and be in the streets deminstrating!
Great, now I feel better for letting off some stream.