A symbol of freedom & federal government credibility

USMC Okinawa, 1980

 

Google:

60 billion in DOD contracting fraud

& see where savings are available to pay for healthcare fees earned by people who volunteered to go to far away places and maybe never come back again.

 

Politicians figured out that ending the draft & pretending to honor The Troops for a few moments at major sporting events would make it all good.

 

Traditional DOD military healthcare benefits used to entice people to stay for multiple tours in Iraq should be written in stone. 

 

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta-

“But let me be clear that even after these increases, the cost borne by military retirees will remain below the levels in comparable private-sector plans.”

People who volunteer to go to far away places & maybe never come back again will pay less in fees for healthcare than people who stayed home.

Welcome Home Troops

 

Doublespeak-

“Panetta told reporters that defense officials “are going to protect the benefits that are provided to our troops and their families.”

But that doesn’t preclude changes to future benefits packages, or even cost-saving changes to current health care benefits and housing stipends.”

 

“Of the planned $450 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, more than half would come by having retirees pick up more out-of-pocket healthcare and drug costs, and by reducing or changing the military retirement system going forward.”

Thanks for the VIP photo-op featuring handpicked attendees- but how does that help the military family that hung in for multiple tours in Iraq & can now look forward to paying more for their healthcare benefits?

Here’s an idea to help military families-

Stop using tax money for ongoing National Guard deployments to distant lands– absent any military emergency, draft, or declaration of war.

More room for savings here:

Report: U.S. wasted $60 billion in contracting fraud, abuse

Another source here:

US Military Paid $1.1 Trillion to Contractors That Defrauded the Government

More savings available here:

Obama Proposes $2.4 Billion in Aid to Pakistan

More room for savings:

Afghan army to cost US $4 billion a year after 2014 withdrawal 

 

Madam First Lady, What is your position on raising healthcare fees for 20 year veterans?

Thanks for prodding a daytime TV audience to spend more time appreciating The Troops.

Perhaps less Americans are buying into the idea that overseas military operations are somehow connected to American rights and freedoms.

Perhaps some question a departure from the old tradition of a formal congressional declaration of war prior to sending the troops into combat.

Perhaps some see that Post 911 efforts to keep terrorists from visiting the homeland- still are unable to keep illegal drugs out.

Some may have come to the point where they just think of it as a Fake War on Terror.

 

 

“…$70 billion worth of cost overruns by the Pentagon were caused by management failures.”

This is the same DOD that says they are running out of money to pay for the healthcare benefits that were used to entice people to reenlist for ongoing, undeclared wars in distant lands.

 

‎“Sporting events have become the domain of worship of the military and its actions. It isn’t possible to watch a high school, college or professional sporting event without being subjected to flyovers from fighter jets, drill teams, or marching bands. Anyone who simply wants to watch their favorite football team on a Sunday afternoon cannot do so without the now required greetings from uniformed troops in Camp Liberty, or Camp Freedom, or Camp Patriot in Iraq or Afghanistan.”

 

My concerns are not specific to any political party or personality.

Here’s the Republican position Re: making good on healthcare benefits for The Troops:

“Pulling the TRICARE Prime idea from a recent Congressional Budget Office report, McCain said forcing retirees under 65 to use TRICARE Standard, the fee-for-service option, or health insurance from civilian employers, or space-available care at base clinics or hospitals, could save DoD medical accounts up to $111 billion over the next decade.”

 

Both major parties move in a pro-war/anti-liberty direction.