Military Retirees Get Pay Cut

Military Retirees Get Pay Cut

Smallest Pay Raise For Military Since 1962  

Rhetoric, Administration and Congressional bashing aside, this past December the President and Congress passed the 2011 budget which impacted both active duty and retired military. 

The first impact was to the active military who were given the smallest pay raise since 1962, smallest raise in almost 50 years.  The raise they received was 1.4%, which was a raise, but was also the lowest amount allowed by law.  The other impact was on the military retirees, who for the first time in almost three decades were not given an annual cost of living raise.  

At this point I could say that’s the story and it ends there, but it doesn’t. This week a notice was sent to military retirees, myself included, stating that due to new changes in the tax laws we will see a decrease in our retiree paycheck.  That’s right, a pay reduction.   

The combination of the first no cost of living increase in almost thirty years and a tax increase resulted in military retirees receiving a pay cut.  For myself it’s a $53 pay cut, which may not seem like much to some people, but my issue is not about money, it’s about honor, integrity and honesty. And by the way, Social Security recipients got the same deal, except for them this is the second year in a row they did not get the cost of living increase,  also a first since the cost of living raise were implemented in 1975, thirty years ago. 

I think most of us remember a presidential campaign and the promises of spreading the wealth, no increases in taxes if you make less than $250,000 a year, and all the other promises.  We also remember in December the so called compromise to not repeal the Bush tax cuts, which in theory should have meant that everyone’s taxes would not change. 

So if the President promised not to raise taxes, and he also compromised to not get rid of the Bush tax plan which should have left current taxes unchanged, why is everyone seeing a tax increase  (yes, everyone)? 

The answer to the question I leave up to you, but maybe, just maybe, you’ll decide to can answer it in November 2012.

We the people are the rightful masters

of both the Congress and the Courts - not to 

overthrow the Constitution but to 

overthrow men who pervert the Constitution... 

Abraham Lincoln