washingtonscene
LEGISLATIVE NEWS THAT AFFECTS YOU Super Slap
Failure of the super committee to fulfill its deficit-reduction task means servicemembers and their families likely will suffer disproportional penalties through automatic, across-the-board cuts.
P
undits and spin doctors are rac- ing to parse the potential impact of the so-called congressional super
committee’s abject failure to meet its task of coming up with a package of recom- mendations to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. The blame game is in full swing as each party tries to deflect blame to the other for this sad example of how political partisan- ship stymies reasonable legislative action. But there’s no spinning away from the
reality that the super committee’s abso- lute refusal to put America’s needs ahead of partisan dogma will impose a double punch to the defense budget. And that’s very bad news for members of the military community. It means a sequester will kick in to im-
pose $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts, starting in January 2013 — with half of that total coming from the defense budget. Added to the $450 billion in cuts al-
ready imposed on the Pentagon, that’s a trillion-dollar cut that will devastate weapons and people programs alike. It will mean massive and stupid man-
power cuts that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has acknowledged will hollow the force and undermine national security. And while VA health care and other
programs are protected from sequestra- tion, military health care programs are not. Draw your own implications for what that likely means for military beneficiaries of all ages.
In effect, by declining other options, super committee members are saying they’d rather hit the military community — which already has borne 100 percent of the nation’s wartime sacrifice — with a new round of unfair and disproportional sacri- fices through force cuts, more family sepa- rations, pay and benefit cuts, and more. It’s an appalling and a disgusting abdi- cation of their collective responsibilities for rational governance.
Times Prints O
MOAA Op-Ed Ryan blasts military cuts.
n Nov. 23, 2011, the Washington Times printed an op-ed piece by MOAA President Vice Adm.
Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., which called out those in government who praise the sacrifices of the military community — and then propose penalizing them through dra- matic cuts to their compensation package. Having just returned from a trip to Af-
ghanistan, Ryan observed, “The contrast between our troops in the field, with their courage, loyalty, and commitment, and our leaders at home is stunning. Our country has serious financial problems that war- rant bold action. But targeting our troops and their families first — by slashing their health care and retirement benefits — is a callous, hypocritical, and shameful foul.”
JANUARY 2012 MILITARY OFFICER 31
Back in the COLA Hole • The 2012 COLA is 3.6 percent. For the month of October, the CPI decreased 0.1 percent from the FY 2011 COLA index baseline, largely driven by falling gaso- line prices. This marks the fourth consecutive year the first month’s COLA figure has started the new fiscal year in the red.
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