…the government wienies have decided to place the burden of the coming fiscal cliff on the backs of military retirees.
This will effect all military retirees, and those that intend to retire. This will in all likelihood hurt recruiting and retention efforts across the board as well.
Write the morons that represent you and let them know in no uncertain terms, that putting the fiscal cliff on our backs is not how it’s supposed to work. Tell those morons to do their damn jobs and stop screwing us over.
Avoiding the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ May be as Painful as Going Over It
Terry Howell
This week Tom Philpott reported that the Congressional Budget Office has put a red “laser dot” on future pay raises, TRICARE, and future retirement benefits.
In their report, the CBO says annual military pay raises have exceeded civilian wage growth over the last 10 years. In fact the CBO estimates that military pay increased by 52 percent from 2002 to 2010 while civilian wages rose only 24 percent.
The CBO says that any impact reducing pay increases might have on recruiting and retention can be mitigated by offering larger enlistment and reenlistment bonuses. The CBO pay cap option would mean military pay would lose nine percent to private sector wage growth over the five-year period.The CBO also suggests an option to raise TRICARE enrollment fees, deductibles or copayments, actions also proposed by the administration last April. For working-age retirees, those under 65, fee hikes should be phased over five years and use a “tiered approach” so that senior-grade retirees would pay higher fees than lower-ranking retirees.
Truth, Lies and In Between 