Cut all public pensions in half - now.

[cbc58]

We need to cut all public pensions in half and reduce benefits now. Work for the taxpayers and don't like it?... there are plenty of people to fill your job. Retired military collecting a nice pension? thanks for your service to our country but we can't afford to pay you... not with a 1.5T yearly deficit.

 

[ILUVRP]

We need to cut all public pensions in half and reduce benefits now. Work for the taxpayers and don't like it?... there are plenty of people to fill your job. Retired military collecting a nice pension? thanks for your service to our country but we can't afford to pay you... not with a 1.5T yearly deficit.

I was in the military 13 yrs, working for 1/4 the pay and 60 hrs a week. I don't get retirement ( need 20 yrs ) , i was in 5 gifferent countries , no complaints. I loved it. Missed my family.

I love people that think the military has it made , go out and drive around the military bases/posts and see how they live, 1/4 of them would qualify for food stamps.

They give up a lot to serve the country, i would add they are the ONLY ONES SEARVING THE COUNTRY. Not the rotten congress members.

You want to save 1.5 trillion a year, do what Ron Paul says---close down hundards of overseas bases--get the hell out of the middle east---close down many goverment dept's, thats just a start.

If the military has it so good with the retirement they get , why don't you join ?

 

[cbc58]

no disrespect, but you didn't have to stay in the military that long and many go there because they don't have other options. i love it when folks in the military say they worked for 1/4 the pay... factor in housing, food and medical and it's not near that and i have relatives in the military so know the story.

sorry, but we just don't have the money anymore. do you expect taxpayers to go out and borrow money to pay military pensions and put more debt on us and future generations? that's what it boils down to.... ain't no money folks.

closing the bases will only go so far but it's sure a start.

 

[krazy kaju]

If you want to reduce military spending, cutting pensions won't even make a dent. Most "defense" spending goes towards bloated contracts for high-tech gadgets. If you really want to reduce military spending, then you can start by cutting all of this useless "R&D" spending. Then you can remove all of our soldiers from overseas conflicts and stop recruiting as many soldiers (since obviously we wouldn't need as many soldiers in the absence of war). We'd end up with a much more professional, elite military with better battlefield skills (due to the absence of fancy gadgets).

 

[Todd]

no disrespect, but you didn't have to stay in the military that long and many go there because they don't have other options. i love it when folks in the military say they worked for 1/4 the pay... factor in housing, food and medical and it's not near that and i have relatives in the military so know the story.

sorry, but we just don't have the money anymore. do you expect taxpayers to go out and borrow money to pay military pensions and put more debt on us and future generations? that's what it boils down to.... ain't no money folks.

closing the bases will only go so far but it's sure a start.

What ILUVRP said is closer to the truth. Start closing the bases, cut defense spending, stop borrowing money, and get the domestic spending under wraps and the federal positions will go away. You don't start slashing individual benefits that people are already dependant on.

If you want to reduce military spending, cutting pensions won't even make a dent. Most "defense" spending goes towards bloated contracts for high-tech gadgets. .

What he said...^

 

[cbc58]

we need to cut both.

You don't start slashing individual benefits that people are already dependant on.

Yes we do. There is no money. Sorry, but those are the facts. You may not like it but THERE IS NO MONEY. Not a popular viewpoint but necessary. And it is even more necessary if defense programs get slashed because that just puts more people on unemployment and welfare.

 

[ILUVRP]

If you want to cut defence spending , after closing overseas bases and getting out of the middle east , the very best thing the defence dept could do is make all contracts fixed fee. No more cost plus. I worked in defence plants after my mil time, they love cost plus contracts, that's where they make the big bucks, through mistakes.

I don't want to get into military bennie's , they have earned everything they get.

Yesterday's news about Bell, Ca , city manager $750,000/yr,---police chief $475,000/yr--asst city mgt $450,000/yr, ---city council members $100,000/yr part time

All the above retire at 75% of salary.

Tell me again about the military retirement. Why not just put the defence up for bid , we could just hire Blackwater guns at $150,000- $200,000/yr each plus retirement.

If the goverment needs money, stop fighting wars w/o paying for them. Just wait until we start up with IRAN, you haven't seen anything yet.

 

[cbc58]

everyone who's been in the military thinks ex-military earn every benefit they get. that may be true but THERE IS NO MONEY.

all those things you mention should be taken care of and fixed - who better to do it than someone who knows what's going on. instead of letting it happen we need to get proactive and fix things and speak up. that's what I'm doing and it's sure not popular but deep down everyone knows THERE IS NO MONEY. don't blame me for pointing this out - blame the freaking polititcians, banksters and scumbags that spent our future away.

put together a swat team and go take out every fat cat and oligarch that sucks the life out of the working man/woman.

 

[TonySutton]

everyone who's been in the military thinks ex-military earn every benefit they get. that may be true but THERE IS NO MONEY.

You are advocating cutting pensions for the military in half. Please tell me, how much does the US spend on military pensions annually. I do not think this is the right place to start tightening purse strings. These people contracted with the US government for pay and benefits. Your plan would violate this contract. Are you in favor of violating contracts?


There are plenty of places where we can cut spending before we look at breaking contracts.

 

[cbc58]

These people contracted with the US government for pay and benefits. Your plan would violate this contract. Are you in favor of violating contracts?

What contracts? The same contracts that private sector companies had with their employees and then cut in half or eliminated all together? Or the the company went belly-up because it could no longer remain in business and wiped out everything. Is this so called contract to pay them valid even if the country is broke?? (which it is). THERE IS NO MONEY ! People may not like this idea but.... THERE IS NO MONEY. You can't pay someone something if you don't have it.

 

[ILUVRP]

A good start would to put a tarrif on ALL things imported into the US by American companies that outsoursed the jobs. American jobs pay taxes.

Also tax the hell out of US companies that move operations/hqd overseas to avoid US taxes.

I really don't need to hear that our corps are allready over taxed.

All companies should pay taxes on the income they report to stock holders. That is their real income, its not what they report to the IRS. Just google up --the real tax rate of American companies.

I would add nothing is taken for granite in the military , i have many people RIF'ED ( reduction in force ) and RIR ( reduction in rank ) , i have seen people rifed because there was not a slot for them . Its called UMD (unit manning document ), when things ever slow down , if ever, a lot of people in the service will be kicked out. I have seen people kicked out with over 15 years active time.

Why does everyone want to protect big business in America , when is the last time they have ever hired anyone, protect small business, they -- hire people--don't outsourse --pay taxes to America .

 

[TonySutton]

These people contracted with the US government for pay and benefits. Your plan would violate this contract. Are you in favor of violating contracts?

What contracts? The same contracts that private sector companies had with their employees and then cut in half or eliminated all together? Or the the company went belly-up because it could no longer remain in business and wiped out everything. Is this so called contract to pay them valid even if the country is broke?? (which it is). THERE IS NO MONEY ! People may not like this idea but.... THERE IS NO MONEY. You can't pay someone something if you don't have it.

You should be a politician. I asked you a pretty simple straightforward question and you failed to answer it.

 

[cbc58]

o.k. - what contracts? and...if there are indeed contracts (which I'm not sure there are)... are they valid if the country is broke? let's start there because it's not just military... it's all govt. employees that are paid with taxpayer dollars.

 

[ILUVRP]

o.k. - what contracts? and...if there are indeed contracts (which I'm not sure there are)... are they valid if the country is broke? let's start there because it's not just military... it's all govt. employees that are paid with taxpayer dollars.

I don't know what the goverment civil service retirement is , i do believe everyone except the military should be required to work until 65 years old to get retirement.

I would also go along with requiring enlisted mil people to stay 25 years , now its 20 yrs, to get 50% retirement, stay 35 years, now 30 years, and get 75% retirement.

 

[TonySutton]

o.k. - what contracts? and...if there are indeed contracts (which I'm not sure there are)... are they valid if the country is broke? let's start there because it's not just military... it's all govt. employees that are paid with taxpayer dollars.

When I enlisted and subsequently when I re-enlisted, each time I signed a contract. It is a standard form used by all of the services.

You asked if the contracts are valid if the country is broke, that would be a case for the courts or possibly legislators to decide. You assume since the country is in debt that they can no longer pay their bills but this is not true. No different than a person who has debt can keep going until they get to the point where they default.

Congress could pass legislation to raise money tomorrow, they could also pass legislation to cut spending. Of course I do not expect them to do anything soon, which is why I am preparing.

 

[cbc58]

so you want the country to keep going into more debt to pay your pension... yet you are for RP who promotes fiscal conservatism. you want less govt., but you want govt. to support you.

i for one would cut all public pensions in half - tomorrow. i don't beleive in borrowing above your means or buying things you can't afford - and we can't afford to keep paying out benefits like we're doing.

 

[Stary Hickory]

Well let us not forget the fact that people made decisions based on retirement. People gave away 20 years of their lives, based on this. Can you give them back their lost years? The decisions they might have made had there not been a retirement?

This sort of thing may occur, but let's not forget someone who invested 20 years in the military instead of another job based on an expected compensation is also a victim in this. Would you say the same about Social Security? Just cut their SS checks in half, after they lived their entire lives and planned them based around SS.

When push comes to shove I support removing all of it but lets not forget the broken promises and the victims who have wasted years of their life being deceived.

 

[LibertyRevolution]

No need to cut pensions. Just print more money.
It has the same effect and is easier to swallow.

 

[cbc58]

i've paid into the SS system for over 30 years and don't expect one penny from them. can you imagine how great this country would be if we lived within our means???

 

[andrewh817]

These people contracted with the US government for pay and benefits. Your plan would violate this contract. Are you in favor of violating contracts?

Tell me, did you ever sign a contract agreeing to be the citizen in a citizen/government relationship? Did you ever sign away your rights to the government? Are contracts that were never signed by one contractual party valid?

Government uses these so called "social contracts" to violate everyone's rights and property. Military contracts are only possible through theft.

If you really believe it's unjust to violate military contracts, then you're acting like a fence who no longer has any thieves selling good to him.