from the president
Broken Promises
With our nation still at war, how could our elected leaders give the lowest pay raise in 50 years to currently serving personnel and pass a huge retirement tax on working retirees?
Though MOAA believes the U.S. defense budget should address the nation’s deficit and sequestration is no way to address government overspending, we do not believe passing a tax on the backs of working-age retirees is remotely sensible or fair. Passage of the COLA-reduction provision in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 goes against our strongly held position that DoD cuts must be balanced, keep faith, and not create a hollow force. The provision also violates the president’s and the Pentagon’s guidance that any future changes to the retirement system should be grandfathered.
The size of this egregious tax is a whopping $6.3 billion over 10 years. For an E-7, that equates to an average loss of $3,700 each year from ages 40 to 62.
So how could it have happened?
There is plenty of blame to go around, starting with the failed leadership of our government. The dysfunctional partisanship in Congress led both parties to cut a backroom deal, forgoing committee oversight created to oversee these areas. Congress also undoubtedly was emboldened by Pentagon leaders who repeated factually inaccurate forecasts of personnel cost growth, leading to a mantra of “we need to slow the growth.”
In targeting the earned benefits of servicemembers, Congress failed to understand the potential impact on readiness and the backlash they would receive from the military community and American people.
After the bill was passed, Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) held a news conference to voice their support and thank veterans’ groups like MOAA. They said many senators were embarrassed after they understood what they had done and underestimated the outrage that came from military families, who now have the ability to be very vocal on social media.
By being proactive with our facts and awareness campaign, MOAA created enough pressure (nearly 200,000 emails through Capwiz within a week of the bill’s introduction) to prompt many senators to say they would fight this provision in the bill when they returned in January.
We know changing a law is difficult but believe it is possible. We have strong support to help make the right things happen.
Regrettably, this is just the beginning. Senior leaders in the Pentagon signaled they want to further reduce military compensation and benefits in the years ahead.
We need your help now more than ever to grow the MOAA team. We will confront those who want to turn a blind eye to the commitment our nation made to those who wear, or who have worn, the uniform. See the results of our awareness campaign at
www.moaa.org/moaainthenews.
— Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret)
read more: For additional information on this issue, see
www.moaa.org/budgetdeal.
14 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2014
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