The recent legislation which cuts military pensions Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) by 1% for retirees below the 62-years has been met with stiff condemnation by many Americans. Congress has received hundreds of thousands of communications from citizens expressing their anger at the underhanded nature of the law. It penalizes retired veterans for having the temerity to serve their country during war time. Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI), the bill co-author, with his tough love approach to any government payouts, tried to insinuate the cut is small and the funds would be used to support readiness. Ryan failed to acknowledge pensions are delayed compensation based on 20+ years of service and is not some sort of welfare program. When will he ever learn?
Once the COLA cut was made public many Military Advocacy groups quickly mobilized their base to raise awareness. These groups have worked tirelessly encouraging amenable Congressmen to fully repeal the cut. They are very active on social media updating their members. They have also countered bad media reports on the COLA cut impact. I applaud these efforts.
However, these same Military Advocacy groups have been subdued on other recent critical legislation that will have a huge impact on veterans of all backgrounds.
It was revealed during the recent debates on the Farm Bill approximately 5,000 active duty members and their families were participating in the food stamp program. In other words, very young service members dont receive enough income to support their families. The Farm Bill, which will become law, shaves $90 per month per recipient. How can these service members focus on their jobs?
I dont recall seeing a single Military Advocacy group confront Congress on this horrible cut. This was time for them to shine. It would have demonstrated to everyone "we do care for our own."
Then there was the refusal of Congress to extend unemployment insurance for the long term unemployed. This will have a chilling effect on vets. There are over 200,000 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans out of work.
These are families struggling to keep their homes and to feed their children because they lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Unfortunately, thousands of active duty members will be turning in their uniforms to look for work in our jobless recovery because the military is downsizing. If some do manage to find work they will find their income will be far less than what they were making on active duty. Yes, many of these heroes will be unemployed and we can count on Congress to turn its back on them at some point. That is who they are.
It never use to be this way. Well, as long as I have been around. Congress has always looked after veteran affairs. Deep down vets knew this so they did not have to worry. This was because Congress had a few "lions" who worked very hard on behalf of veterans. They could be counted on to get tough legislation through that mattered for veterans. We have a different Congress now. Many of them are very wealthy and see everything through a capitalist prism. They vote for war but dont have the stomach to call on their rich capitalist friends to pay for them. Now they want our warriors to cover the costs. That is pure callous and unfair.
We can no longer rely on Congress to actively care for veterans as they once did. Many of them see us as commodities that can be traded at a stock exchange to the lowest bidder.
That is why it is so important for Military Advocacy groups to re-look their charters and incorporate a broader representation of their veteran base. Maybe even consolidate the number of groups. All vets need strong a voice. Times have quickly changed and Congress only responds when they sense an impact to their own careers.
Fighting for entitlement programs is in everyones interest.