Quote Originally Posted by DaveStewart View Post
The Bipartisan Debt Reduction Task Force is recommending drastic increases in the price we retired military veterans pay for health care...for me it appears their formula would raise my payment around 400%. They also want to reduce our benefits under Tricare for Life which is the copay benefit we have for when we have to do Medicare...not that far off for me.

What is a real nightmare is what they want to do to the military retirement system for those on active duty now...it is so bad that I am not gonna put it up here..they should be ashamed of themselves.

We retirees have not had a cost of living raise in last two years...ain't gonna get one this year either. They say it doesn't cost any more to live now than it did 3 years ago...all tied to the CPI....obviously they don't shop in the same grocery stores that I do.

I know many folks in this country are in hard times....but you know, I made a whole $78 dollars a month when I joined the Marines...fed a family on 250.00 a month as a Sergeant....qualified for food stamps when I was a Gunnery SGT but would never have taken them....I think we veterans paid our dues....as have our families....I have never been one to brag about my service to country..but I can tell you this...I earned what I have...I deserve better and so do all veterans...I think it would be prudent of both of these bought and paid for political parties to remember that we old veterans and those that are becomeing new veterans everyday are the only reason they are not speaking German, Japanese, or Russian. Just keep pushing us ol veterans around..I have not forgotten how to fight nor have my brothers and sisters.
The government is going to have to do some painful things to bring the disgraceful budget deficit under control, but this ain't it. They're pissing away our money at unprecedented levels, but to target military retirees as one way to curb that is just plain wrong. We voters need to remember that.

I heard the president calling for extending unemployment benefits beyond the current 2 years or whatever it is now. I'm all for helping out, but come on now.

If we'd just vote smarter the blatant political pandering wouldn't always work so well.

They are going to have to make major changes in Social Security and Medicare to really make a difference. I say eliminate Social Security ASAP. Give me back just half the money I've paid in and take the other half (that the a-holes have already spent BTW) to pay those in the system now.

Cut the federal government by 50% and eliminate those 110k annual salaries. Dissolve Homeland Security, Dept of Education, the IRS, every czar of anything, and funding for PBS to start with, then work from there. Foreign aid..gone, federal grants...gone, lifetime congressional benefits...gone, discretionary spending...gone...etc...

Ratify a constitutional amendment making it illegal under any circumstances to waive paying before spending like those crooked morons always do. Paygo or nogo period.

No easy answers...spending us trillions into debt is what got us here.