MILITARY.COM
By Brendan McGarry
12/13/2013
It would be paid for in part by scaling back pensions for working-age military retirees.
"This bill is a firm step in the right direction," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, said on the floor before the vote. He crafted the budget deal with his Senate counterpart, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Separately, the House also voted 350–69 in favor of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, which outlines military policy goals and spending targets for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
The Democratic-led Senate is expected to vote on both measures next week.
Marion Blakey, chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries Association, an Arlington, Va.-based trade group representing defense and aerospace companies, welcomed the financial predictability the agreement gave the industry.
The pension change could decrease veterans' retirement benefits by nearly 20 percent in some years, according to Michael Hayden, director of government relations at the Military Officers Association of America, an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit representing some 380,000 current and former officers.
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Beirut, 1983 |
MOAA has vowed to fight the provision and already started a letter-writing campaign to lawmakers, Hayden said.
"This was a backroom deal that was made by a committee that doesn't have jurisdiction over armed services," he said.
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"HA HA! Fuck the military!" |
Retirees would see a roughly 10 percent decrease in retirement pay by age 61 -- and the cumulative effect of the cost-of-living adjustment would decline even more over time, according to Kevin Brancato, a defense analyst at Bloomberg Government in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, the defense policy bill would reduce troops' pay raise in 2014 to 1 percent from 1.7 percent this year. The change means the average enlisted member would receive a monthly pay increase of $26 instead of $47, according to Pentagon budget documents.
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Obama on NAVY SEALS: "I don't take these folks too seriously"
“I
don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther
who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary,” Obama
told The Virginian-Pilot. “You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election.”
“This kind of stuff springs up before election time,” Obama said. Read more at http://clashdaily.com/2012/08/obama-scoffs-at-navy-seals-attack-video/#q1uZLW70o6fOE3h1.99
“I
don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther
who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary,” Obama
told The Virginian-Pilot. “You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election.”
“This kind of stuff springs up before election time,” Obama said. Read more at http://clashdaily.com/2012/08/obama-scoffs-at-navy-seals-attack-video/#q1uZLW70o6fOE3h1.99
“I
don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther
who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary,” Obama
told The Virginian-Pilot. “You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election.”
“This kind of stuff springs up before election time,” Obama said. Read more at http://clashdaily.com/2012/08/obama-scoffs-at-navy-seals-attack-video/#q1uZLW70o6fOE3h1.99 |
The legislation supports existing law, which stipulates a 1.8 percent military pay raise to keep pace with civilian wages, but -- more importantly-- gives the president flexibility to make exceptions by executive order, according to a press release from McKeon's committee.
The lower raise for military personnel was "a tough decision" for Pentagon leaders, but it allowed them to not have to thin the ranks "by thousands of additional troops on top of the drawdown already planned," according to budget documents.
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Take heed: The U.S. military is closer to mutiny than any other time in the history of our Republic |
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