Mullen Says Pay, Benefit Cuts 'On the Table'

[funkfool]

PAY CUTS NECESSARY & VETERAN & ACTIVE SERVICES TO BE CHOPPED $1/2 TRILLION



Posted by Jeff Scism (http://www.the912project.us/profile/JeffScism) on April 19, 2011 at 7:07pm in Elections, (http://www.the912project.us/forum/categories/elections-issues-news/listForCategory)UPDATE: June 6, 2011(D-day anniversary)


Mullen Says Pay, Benefit Cuts 'On the Table' (http://www.military.com/news/article/mullen-says-pay-benefit-cuts-on-the-table.html)
The Pentagon's top officer said Thursday that service members will likely see cuts in pay and benefits as the military plumbs its budget for nearly half a trillion dollars in savings over the next 12 years.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen warned against taking the "relatively easy" choice of cutting hardware while maintaining the increasing costs of paying and providing ongoing health care to troops and retirees.

"Two of the big places the money is, is in pay and benefits," Mullen told defense reporters at a June 2 breakfast meeting in Washington. "And so when I say all things are on the table, all things are on the table.".....

Read more at:
http://www.military.com/news/article/mullen-says-pay-benefit-cuts-o... (http://www.military.com/news/article/mullen-says-pay-benefit-cuts-on-the-table.html)


Healthcare Cuts Loom For 130,000 Vets, doctors and nurses and services pending cuts.

The House Bud­get Com­mit­tee recently announced plans to cut $6 bil­lion from VA Health­care for 1.3 mil­lion vet­er­ans who are in Pri­or­ity Group 7 and 8. Roughly 10 per­cent of these, some 130,000 vet­er­ans, will be forced out of the VA sys­tem with no avail­able alter­na­tives. Vet­er­ans from Group 7 & 8 have either a 0 per­cent service-connection or no service-connected rat­ing. While this does not mean the vet­eran is fit as a fid­dle, it does imply they do not need the amount of care needed for other vets. These vet­er­ans [already] pay co-pay and have incomes over $32,000 and net-worth under $80,000, depend­ing on geog­ra­phy. In other words, they aren’t dirt poor but cer­tainly not wealthy, either.

The Con­gres­sional Bud­get Office believes the U.S. can save $62 bil­lion over the next 10 years by remov­ing ser­vices for these vet­er­ans alto­gether. Accord­ing to the agency, 90 per­cent of the vet­er­ans in ques­tion have access to some form other health­care other than VA funded. How­ever, the CBO does not com­ment on whether the alter­na­tive health­care is afford­able.

Read more at Military.com

http://tinyurl.com/3jhx3au (http://tinyurl.com/3jhx3au)



Great... on D-Day anniversary no less...
Mods: Should we have a place for "Military Issues" or something?

[Scanker19]

Glad I'm exiting this cluster fuck of a military when I am.

[Ronin13]

Glad I'm in the 50%+ group of DVs... but still this is BS. Pentagon officials and law makers always lobby for us to not "leave our veterans behind" with that always shameful reminder of what happened to our Vietnam vets, but then they go and pull some really shady stunts while trying to hide from the public eye. Such as the "shutdown" that nearly happened back in April (VA would have shut down too)- no pay for the troops, but God forbid if Congress and Mr. Obamie stopped getting paid. Mullen of all folks should know that if you stop raising military pay to meet the civilian sector, all their service members are just going to leave and get employed by private companies or start their own. It's already crummy enough pay for enlisted, let's not make it worse.

[Pancho Villa]

$41.3 billion a year for the next 12 years, on a budget that tops $700 billion, not counting supplementary spending for Iraq/Afghanistan.

I think they are being exaggerated to stir up opposition to any cuts.

Also: who wants to bet me $100 that the "cuts" are like the Paul Ryan "cuts" - ie, the military's budget will be growing less fast than planned?

Edit: Also, remember what I said some time ago about everyone having a piece of the pie? The budget isn't going to be balanced without major cuts to the military, or simply dumping everything else the govt does outside of the FBI and federal courts. Claims to the contrary are fantasy.

[sneakerd]

How about cutting pay and benefits for all of the elected TRASH in Washington with their big houses, limosines, drivers, office staff, etc?

[trlcavscout]

Complete BS! They are the last people that should take cuts. Let's cut welfare and all the county and state programs that breed obese unemployed people. Cut pay from all the politicians and their bs spending. Quit giving money to everyother country in the world save America!

[Ronin13]

I hate to interject with the leftist hippie view, but maybe now, more than ever, would be the best time to legalize industrial hemp- I'm not saying make marijuana legal, I'm saying use hemp for other uses than for the THC... plenty of jobs would be created, new textile plants, construction, even clothing. It would boost the economy and really help us so we don't have to take $1/4 of a Trillion to balance the budget. And stop giving money to countries we have no vested interest in- sorry to say it, but if you can't afford to feed yourself and your family, you shouldn't try to feed your neighbor.

[Guylee]

Glad I'm exiting this cluster fuck of a military when I am.

Glad I'm just entering this cluster fuck of a military. [Bang]

Oh well, it was never about the money...

[Irving]

How about cutting pay and benefits for all of the elected TRASH in Washington with their big houses, limosines, drivers, office staff, etc?

Because there are only hundreds of well paid politicians.

[cebeu]

"Oh well, it was never about the money..."

I grossed $7,683 dollars in tax year 1984. Signed-up for a green suit in mid 83’, DEP’d in early 84’ and worked “for Sam” for 10 months that year…made fuckin’ $7ish grand...BBBWWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Did my 4 active and 6 total and ETS'd (worked my plan). Spin forward a quarter of a century (~28 years in my case) and...best motherfuckin' decision / move I ever made. I'll just say this...life is good...the money will come.

Re: entering the service today, any branch, nope, I'd rather do 4 years in Pelican Bay than tolerate the current social experiment called "the military." In my case its that generational "dumb-ass disconnect thing though" I'm sure but...the world really has changed. To you I say "Do well."

[jerrymrc]

My first full year in the military I grossed $6968 in 1981. [Beer] I made $24082 in 1978 as a GM line wrench.

[Bailey Guns]

If I recall correctly my base pay when I enlisted was around $490 per month in 1979.

Fortunately, Mullen will have very little say in this. I doubt congress will go for it.

[theGinsue]

They had better not screw with retiree pay. While they can sit there and say "you were never promised free healthcare for life if you stayed in and retired", they can NOT say that we weren't promised 50% of the average of the "high 3" after 20 years.

My annual retiree pay, after 20 years of regular family separations including going alone on a remote assignment for a year at a time, constant sacrificing through the years for "the sake of the US Air FOrce", etc - it about $18k...before taxes, Congressionally mandated survivor benefit plan deductions, TriCare fees, etc.

Now, I'm in the 50%+ range of VA service-connected disability and I still need to go back and get re-evaluated for my sleep apnea (MEB'd for this with "moderately severe apnea..."service connected, 0%")that is now so bad that I'm falling asleep @ work and on the drive home from work - before crashing on the couch totally exhausted every day.

They sure do have a funny way of showing that they actually believe the cr@p they spew about "the people are our most valuable resource".

Yeah, I'm not buying it and refuse to drink their kool-aid.

(BTW: Coming into the USAF as an E2, I received ~$500 - $530 extra one month after arriving @ my first duty station. I questioned it repeatedly and was told it was legit. They took it all back a month later and for the next month I got to live on $38. So, I guess my months pay was somewhere between $538 - $568. Yup, livin large!)

[Ronin13]

They had better not screw with retiree pay. While they can sit there and say "you were never promised free healthcare for life if you stayed in and retired", they can NOT say that we weren't promised 50% of the average of the "high 3" after 20 years.

My annual retiree pay, after 20 years of regular family separations including going alone on a remote assignment for a year at a time, constant sacrificing through the years for "the sake of the US Air FOrce", etc - it about $18k...before taxes, Congressionally mandated survivor benefit plan deductions, TriCare fees, etc.

Now, I'm in the 50%+ range of VA service-connected disability and I still need to go back and get re-evaluated for my sleep apnea (MEB'd for this with "moderately severe apnea..."service connected, 0%")that is now so bad that I'm falling asleep @ work and on the drive home from work - before crashing on the couch totally exhausted every day.

They sure do have a funny way of showing that they actually believe the cr@p they spew about "the people are our most valuable resource".

Yeah, I'm not buying it and refuse to drink their kool-aid.

(BTW: Coming into the USAF as an E2, I received ~$500 - $530 extra one month after arriving @ my first duty station. I questioned it repeatedly and was told it was legit. They took it all back a month later and for the next month I got to live on $38. So, I guess my months pay was somewhere between $538 - $568. Yup, livin large!)

Run!!! Here comes the big green weenie again! I remember my base pay as an E1 in the Army was barely enough to afford a beer at the end of the month after car, insurance, and cellphone bills were paid, and that all included military discounts and reduced %'s... oh did I mention, this was 2006/2007? Now I'm out with over 50% service connected disability and will probably require reconstructive surgery on my shoulder- deny me that and make me live with excruciating pain they say I'll be going through in less than 2 years and you bet I'll raise hell. Everyone who served isn't owed the world by the government, but they are owed care for whatever injuries, illness and conditions they received while in, and that's law.

[Hoosier]

The Military budget does have to shrink.

I just can't imagine that cuts need to go to the troops. FFS, how many billions of dollars have we spent on projects which are subsequently cut? I get the feeling that we throw hundreds of billions to the defense contractors, while paying enlisted troops jack shit.

I mean, the income is tax free, and you get access to the PBX and other benefits, but still nothing near equitable compensation to even low paying jobs in the private sector, right?

How many 35 year olds in the military make six figures?

H.

[SAnd]

Military retirees pay is at the whim of congress.

They don't need to "cut" retirees pay. Congress chose not to approve any cost of living adjustments during the double digit inflation of the 1970's and early 1980's. That cut the buying power of the retirees.

Another way that military budget can indirectly hurt retirees is closures. When it was first proposed shutting down Fitzsimons Army Medical Center it was pointed out that over 250,000 military retirees decided to retire in metro Denver because of the availability of Fitz. Losing Fitz hurt a lot of retirees. The same goes with VA facilities.

[Bailey Guns]

I mean, the income is tax free, and you get access to the PBX and other benefits, but still nothing near equitable compensation to even low paying jobs in the private sector, right?

Base pay is not tax-free. Some allowances are tax-free.

[Hoosier]

Base pay is not tax-free. Some allowances are tax-free.

Really? So the government pays you money, and then taxes it?

@!$#$@^$#$%&$!!!

H.

[BushMasterBoy]

The problem is mismanagement at the highest levels of Government. Obama playing golf while troops are dying overseas. Fascist Congress controlled by the corporations. Cabinet members (Hillary Clinton) appointed because of nepotism. 14 trillion dollar national debt...I could go on ad nauseum.

The purpose of the government is to protect the people, but it seems to care more about the corporations i.e. the banks. Quantitive Easing by the Fed helped only the banksters, not John Q. Public. Was anybodys home saved from foreclosure? I don't read too many good stories about stimulus effects.

God knows how many trillions of taxpayer dollars went into Iraq and Afghanistan. Turns out the bastard that started it all was hiding in Pakistan. I figured the wars were really over hydocarbon resources anyways. There were not any weapons of mass destruction that the west need fear. The western world just needed a excuse to invade these foreign countries and it found one.

Screwing with military pay and benefits will only breed contempt from those serving and those that have served. Fertile breeding grounds for a coup de' tat and I am surprised it has not happened already. The people keep electing Commanders In Chief that have never served.

I wish I had known what I was getting into when I enlisted in Little Rock, Arkansas that summer of 1976...would I do it again? No way!