Disabled Veterans to Be Exempted From Pension Cuts (Only Med Retired Early, Not VA Rated Disabled)

AP and ABC ^ | 8 Jan 14 | Andrew Taylor

[SkyPilot]

A massive spending bill taking shape on Capitol Hill is likely to repeal a recently enacted pension cut for disabled veterans.

Capitol Hill aides said Wednesday that the $1 trillion-plus omnibus spending bill measure will reverse a 1 percentage point cut to annual cost-of-living increases that was inadvertently applied to more than 63,000 veterans who have left the military due to injury or disability.

But the controversial pension cut included in last month's budget agreement would continue to apply to other military retirees. It would save about $6 billion over the coming decade, money that's being used to ease cuts to the Pentagon budget this year.

The pension cuts have drawn fierce opposition from veterans groups and lawmakers in both parties, but it's unclear whether the entire provision will be repealed. The aides required anonymity because the spending bill isn't complete and they aren't authorized to discuss it publicly.

Some lawmakers originally claimed, incorrectly, that the pension cut in last month's budget bill would not apply to disabled veterans. When they discovered that it did, they immediately promised to correct it. The upcoming budget measure is the first available vehicle.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., recently defended the pension cut in an op-ed in USA Today, saying he stands behind "responsible reforms of military compensation."

Service members are permitted to retire at half pay after 20 years in the military, which means they can claim their pensions as early as age 38, a generous benefit that defenders say helps retain servicemen and women. He says a typical serviceman who retirees at 38 would receive a $1.7 million pension over his lifetime instead of a $1.8 million benefit and that most military retirees go on to second careers.

[Theodore R.]

We’re a disgrace as a nation.

Been that way for a long time and will continue unabated. The American people are too uninformed to take action.

[driftdiver]

cmon man, the election is over, you won.

[BykrBayb]

Well, I’m afraid I may have to put him in a nursing home, because as a military veteran he’s not qualified for the same benefits as a welfare whore.

[lodi90]

Notice Murray is not defending this steaming pile. When the issue first hit she just said: “I don’t know ask Ryan”

It’s been the Dem game plan since the day after the election to pick divisive issues, divide and demoralize GOP voters for 2014. Yet these buffoons in the beltway GOP continue dancing to whatever tune the Dems play. Unbelievable.

[USNA74]

I’m for responsible reforms to military retirement too, but only as long as they’re the exact same adjustments to our bloated government civil service retirement. If they want to apply a 1% reduction to all currently retired military then the same 1% reduction should be applied to all currently retired civil service — and that’s not what they did. The reduction only applies to currently serving civil service who later retire. How is that “responsible”, or fair?

[NKP_Vet]

Along with Ryan being dead, how about the entire cowardly republican party, who daily cower down to Obama like a dog in heat. What burns me up is not even 1% of Congress have ever served a day in the military, and that includes pandered cowards like Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Rubio and the rest, and Vietnam draft-dodgers like John Boehner and Harry Reid. All are a bunch of chickehsh*t cowards that never served a day, but now want to cut the pay of disabled veterans that went off and did what they didn’t have the common decency to do, which is serve their country. They all make me sick to my damn stomach.

[Arkansas Tider]

I joined in FEB 86 when the high three retirement system was in place, in AUG 86 it changed to the 40% system, I got in just under the wire and retired last year.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

You enlisted before 1986 so the terms of your original contract were still in place. If you had enlisted in 1987 it would have been a different story.

My husband enlisted in 1978 so he got the 50% at twenty as well. My cousin enlisted in 1988 so he did not.

[SkyPilot]

From today's headlines:

Hagel: COLA cuts won't impact disabled vets

The problem is, Hagel is fudging the facts. His DoD only wants to exempt those who were medically retired earlier than 20 years, even for a non-combat injury condition.

Hagel does not want to count VA Disabled veterans who served their 20 year commitment, even those with Purple Hearts who are 100% disabled.

The news media is swallowing this obfuscation hook, line, and sinker. ABC and Military Times are all running stories meant to convince the gullible public that "disabled vets" are taken care of and won't have their pensions cut. It is a lie.

Moreover, if what Ryan and Hagel have been saying is true, and the pension cuts are so "minor" as to not even be noticed, then why is he wandering the military hospital wards with media photographers and reporters in tow, making a big show of who compassionate he is to allow them to escape the pension cuts?

[NKP_Vet]

The drunk talking to a lesbian. Hagel is the most unqualified Sec of Defense in the last 100 years. A RINO yes man for Obama. A tongue-tied rum head that shouldn’t be allowed to lead a cub scout troup on a half-mike hike, much less the DOD.

[Repeat Offender]

Silly serfs, did you really think the million vet march on DC to tear down the barrycades would go unpunished?