Benefits at Risk fromtheeditor
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The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform proposed cutbacks to military health care programs, defense spending, and more in its recommendations to reduce the defi cit.
If you read just one story in this issue (other than this column, of course), you should make it “High Stakes,” page 80. This article speaks to the heart of MOAA’s mission. It’s about helping to maintain a strong national defense and representing members of the uniformed services and their families. The story makes it clear that in the coming years having a powerful voice in national aff airs is going to be more important than ever. If you’ve been following MOAA’s media,
you should have a fairly good understand- ing of the challenges ahead. We intro- duced the topic in the October 2010 issue of the magazine. The story “Dealing with the Defi cit” explained how decades of denial have led our nation to a sad state of fi scal aff airs. Budget and defi cit chickens now are coming home to roost. In typical fashion, politicians punted the problem to a special group, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. This commission was charged to make recom- mendations to address the defi cit problem by Dec. 1, 2010. So what’s happened since that Decem- ber deadline? As MOAA thought would be the case, the commission didn’t achieve the “supermajority” required to force an up-or-down congressional vote on the recommendations. But the report was en- dorsed by a bipartisan majority of the 18 commissioners — a greater-than-expected consensus. The not-too-surprising prog- nosis is that a combination of spending
cuts and revenue increases are needed to restore fi scal balance. Proposed cutbacks to federal health care programs, COLAs, defense spending (to include military re- tirement), and more are on the table. In “High Stakes,” experts from
MOAA’s Government Relations Depart- ment discuss specifi c commission pro- posals that would aff ect the uniformed services community. As usual, we ask you to stay tuned to MOAA’s publications for up-to-date reports and information about how you can help infl uence the action. Moving on to more pleasant topics,
I’d like to remind you that, as always, the March issue delivers a special section on retirement. Whether you’re close to that event or it’s still a distant milestone on your path, it’s never too early to make plans. In fact, considering some of the defi cit commission proposals, we all might have to put a lot more eff ort into planning for a secure retirement. Finally, balancing this issue’s cover-
age, we introduce you to another facet of current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the feature story “En- gendering Trust,” page 86, you’ll meet female U.S. servicemembers who are helping to solve some of the most vexing challenges combat commanders face on the ground. Enjoy the read!
— Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret.
*online: Check out past issues of Military Officer at
www.moaa.org/moarchive. 10 MILITARY OFFICER MARCH 2011
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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