This copied from my email today. As every war winds down,
the yellow ribbons tatter, the "welcome homes" stop, and
we get this....
MOAA Boos CAP Halloween Report
On Halloween, the Center for American Progress (CAP) released yet
another report that is anything but a Halloween treat -- calling
for huge cuts to military pay, retirement, and health care
benefits.
Titled "Rebalancing Our National Security," the report's task
force opposes the across-the-board cuts of sequestration, but
suggests shifting more spending from the Defense Department to
the State Department and Homeland Security. In CAP's
terminology, the intent would be to move from "offense" to
"prevention" (non-military international engagement) and
"defense."
As part of that process, CAP recommends capping military pay
raises, cutting troops assigned permanently in Europe and Asia,
and scaling back military retirement and health care benefits.
Their retirement reform proposal is a retention-killing
combination of the Defense Business Board and 10th Quadrennial
Review of Military Compensation recommendations. It would put
new recruits under a 401K-like retirement system, and would
grandfather only part of the current force.
Troops with 10 or more years of service could choose the existing
plan or opt-in to the new 401K. Those with less than 10 years
would have to choose the new 401K plan or be converted to a
much-reduced retirement benefit that would provide 40 percent of
basis pay for 20 years' service...with payments delayed until age
60.
As if this doorstep gift bag were not sufficiently aflame, CAP
would also cut back dramatically on TRICARE for Life coverage,
imposing a $500 deductible and capping TFL coverage at 50% of the
next $5,000 in annual health costs.
MOAA believes such attacks on career service benefits are
reckless and misguided in the extreme.
They ignore that the current package of retirement and health
benefits is the primary incentive to induce top-quality people to
endure the extraordinary demands and sacrifices inherent in a
20-30 year career in uniform.
They also ignore that a far less-drastic retirement change
imposed on new service entrants after 1986 had to be repealed
after the Joint Chiefs of Staff complained it was undermining
retention and readiness.
These kinds of trick-or-treat proposals would be ludicrous if the
threat they'd pose to readiness weren't so serious.
Boo.
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