ObamaCare: The administration plans to cut the military pensions of those who served their country while giving public employees a break by exempting their ObamaCare subsidies from sequestration. On the heels of announcing that Army troop levels will be cut below pre-World War II levels, the Military Times has reported that the Obama administration is planning to reduce military pension costs by 10% by converting part of their retirement to 401(k)-like defined-contribution plans from defined-benefit plans. What makes this interesting is that it affects military retirees and members of the military who are non-union and therefore cant strike or engage in collective bargaining. Public-sector union employees will retain their defined-benefit plans. So, those who defend this country will be cut while those who feed at the public trough and whose union dues provide a ready supply of campaign cash will not. To cut the retirement benefits of the military after these genuine heroes have fought with honor and distinction for 13 years in Iraq and Afghanistan is unconscionable. Its particularly despicable to treat American military retirees worse than other public employees. President Obama has long defended defined-benefit plans, which, yes, do cost the government more and have pushed some cities and states toward bankruptcy. In a defense of public-sector unions and their benefits, Obama spoke forcefully to the National Governors Association at the White House on Feb. 28, 2011: I dont think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon. That cost-saving measures are to be applied only to the military and not to politically favored groups and programs is seen in the administrations quiet removal of the cost-sharing subsidies designed to help lower-income people cover some out-of-pocket costs imposed by ObamaCare from its list of programs subject to the sequester, eliminating the 7% cut for 2015. These low-income subsidies are paid directly to insurance companies that already have been promised that if they lose money because the risk pools ObamaCare is creating wind up with mostly the sick and the elderly — rather than the young and healthy ObamaCare needs — the taxpayers will bail them out. A group called the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which noticed the change, said the reversal would likely restore about $560 million to the subsidies — and require $560 million in cuts to other programs to make up for it. Cutting military benefits is one way to make sure the administrations redistribution of taxpayer money continues unabated. The Military Officers Association of America has calculated that the typical Army sergeant, as a result of pension and other benefit changes, stands to lose up to $5,000 in annual benefits under the administrations fiscal 2015 budget. The budget also calls for slashing subsidies for base commissaries, a 5% increase in the cost of military housing and a 1% cap on annual active-duty pay increases. The stress that your family goes through, that your body goes through in a 20-year career, it is tremendous, retired Army Maj. Karel Butler told the Washington Times. And for them to even consider reducing those benefits is a slap in the face. But apparently its only to politically favored unions and other groups that the commander-in-chief says, Semper Fi. Read More At Investors Business Daily: news.investors/ibd-editorials-obama-care/031414-693403-military-pensions-cut-obamacare-subsidies-not.htm#ixzz2w7V31C00 Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:23:46 +0000
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