[Vision2020] Defense Cuts in Benefits and Personnel Proposed

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Monday 01 March 2010 05:59:42 Tom Hansen wrote:
<snip>
> A Senate committee looking to hold down federal spending is being
> advised to consider cutting the size of the military, ending careers 
> short of retirement and reducing post-service benefits for          
> veterans.
<snip>
> Williams, formerly a defense analyst with the nonpartisan
> Congressional Budget Office, sug­gested lawmakers could:
>
>    Save money on health care by increasing enrollment fees,
> deductibles and co-payments for the military's Tricare program.
>
>    Cut long-term health care costs by allowing fewer people to
> stay in the military until retirement.
>
>    Pay working-age retirees not to sign up for Tricare and
> instead get health insurance from their post-service employer.
<snip>
> Adams said he foresees no sce­nario that would require major ground
> force deployments for counterinsurgency or stabilization missions,
> and suggested that future force planning should examine the
> opportunities to limit force growth or even reduce num­bers to
> reflect this declining requirement for ground forces. He also
> recommended a defensewide rebalancing of com­bat and non-combat
> billets so more people are available for com­bat missions.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> This is absolute BULL SH*T!

I realize that these expenditures represent an income source for you, 
but from a government-wide, macro-economic perspective, these kinds 
of expenditures are ripe for consideration during any discussion of 
fiscal restraint. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes 
that defense is a rapidly growing share of the federal budget, while 
domestic appropriations have shrunk. 

"Funding for defense and related areas has been growing far faster 
than any other part of the budget, much faster in fact than Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  Moreover, defense remains the 
fastest growing area of the budget even if one excludes the costs of 
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terror."

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=125 


Ken