Every American should be alarmed at Barack Obama’s priorities, which are illustrated starkly and astonishingly in his cuts to national defense. Those of us with family members in the military, especially, cannot help but be shocked and disappointed by the Commander in Chief’s decision to cut our troops and the benefits they have earned. It’s amazing when you consider all the government waste and the fact that the compensation and benefits of politicians (including the President) only increase, never decrease.
In a recent newsletter, Congressman Allen West points out:
The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. As well, we are looking at cutting close to 130,000 uniformed troops, but cutting only 7,000 Department of Defense civilians.
In addition, the Obama administration is looking to create a BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) commission to examine changing the military retirement system. If you do the analysis, you find that less than one percent of the American adult population draws a retirement from serving in the United States Military. The idea of taking out the United States economy budget woes on our military is despicable.
The most alarming points about the healthcare plan include:
- Increases between 30 percent to 78 percent in TRICARE annual premiums for the first year. After that, the plan would impose five-year increases ranging from 94 percent to 345 percent. That's more than three times current levels....
- The new plan also hits active duty personnel by increasing co-payments for pharmaceuticals and eliminating incentives for using generic drugs.
- Veterans will also be hit with a new annual fee for the TRICARE for Life program, on top of the monthly premiums already being paid. In addition, some benefits will become “means-tested,” making them similar to the welfare system than as a benefit for Military service.
Congressman West is right. This is “despicable.” Instead of reforming our insolvent entitlement programs (which the President’s own debt commission recommended) and instead of taking a cleaver to all the waste, fraud, and abuse of our tax dollars perpetrated and perpetuated by the crony capitalism of the permanent political class in DC, this administration makes our brave men and women in uniform bear the brunt of our deficit woes. It’s shameful. The President’s actions are shameful!
For all his talk about slashing troops in the name of making the military “more efficient,” I believe Barack Obama will find these numbers will fall on their own. I predict our troops will cut their own numbers by not voluntarily enlisting at the levels we’ve previously seen or by getting out of the service as quickly as possible because of their Commander in Chief’s lack of support and lack of a clear mission for them.
After watching the administration “tsk-tsking” the conditions our brave men and women in uniform fight through everyday and listening to the apologizing for our troops’ actions in war zones, I stand amazed and impressed at our military personnel's loyalty to the office of the Commander in Chief. I understand and am thankful for that loyalty. They deserve better. They watch the President’s complacency as the media seems to forget our fallen by choosing to give more ink and airtime to a phone call the President makes to praise a 30-year-old college student’s “courage” in publicly speaking about her birth control desires than they’ve given to any of our recent soldiers’ ultimate courage and sacrifice on battlefields far from home. Has he made as great an effort to personally encourage the families of the fallen? His priorities are skewed.
For our courageous men and women in uniform and for the security of our nation, November can’t come soon enough.
- Sarah Palin
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