{"id":1366,"date":"2013-12-18T18:16:02","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T23:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2014-07-31T14:10:58","modified_gmt":"2014-07-31T18:10:58","slug":"veterans-doing-our-part-for-the-country-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1366","title":{"rendered":"Veterans, doing our part for the country&#8230; again."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/WeThePeople.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-188\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/WeThePeople.jpg?resize=300%2C208&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"We The People....Not we the Lobbyists\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/WeThePeople.jpg?resize=300%2C208&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/WeThePeople.jpg?w=349&amp;ssl=1 349w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Who would have thunk it?\u00a0 It&#8217;s looking like those &#8220;good for nothings&#8221; in Congress are actually; get ready for this&#8230; are actually going to pass a <a href=\"http:\/\/budget.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/bba2013summary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">budget<\/a>!! When was the last budget passed, I erroneously stated 2009 in an earlier post, but what they passed was actually a combination of bills lumped together.\u00a0 The last, bipartisan bill was passed in 1997. Yep, you heard me right &#8211; 1997, when Slick Willie (for the record, I like Wild Bill!) was still in office. I look forward to actually having a budget &#8211; now if we could just get a surplus going and knock down this debt; but I digress&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not going to go into any detail regarding each and every <a href=\"http:\/\/budget.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364040\" target=\"_blank\">cut in the budget<\/a>, as there are other blogs and persons to do that.\u00a0 My goal here is to address one small item in the budget that seems to have folks up in arms.<\/p>\n<p>There has been a lot of hype over this budget deal, especially from the conservative crowd yelling about how the military retirement is getting cut.\u00a0 I have to disagree.\u00a0 I have served my country, along with many of my friends who are going to disagree with me on this; but the fact remains &#8211; our retirement has not been reduced.\u00a0 What the federal government is reducing is the cost of living allowance (COLA) adjustments that retirees receive. For those of us retirees under age 62, our COLA will be reduced by 1%.\u00a0 Once a retiree reaches the age of 62, they&#8217;ll receive the full COLA amount.\u00a0 My feeling is, if that&#8217;s what it takes, I&#8217;ll do my part.\u00a0 I do have one question though: is that welfare recipient getting their adjustments reduced also? \u00a0 I have no problem &#8220;taking one for the team,&#8221; provided the pain is spread evenly among all citizens of this great land.<\/p>\n<p>Click this link for a quick <a href=\"http:\/\/budget.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364051\" target=\"_blank\">Q &amp; A<\/a> on the budget.<\/p>\n<p>I would like to take this moment to disagree with <a href=\"http:\/\/budget.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364048\" target=\"_blank\">Mr. Ryan<\/a>\u00a0 on a couple of points regarding retirees:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Military Healthcare &#8211; it is not free.\u00a0 The only time I, or any other veteran I know received &#8220;FREE&#8221; healthcare was while on active duty or when being treated at a VA center. TRICARE comes in a couple of different flavors, and the standard plan (think PPO) acts similar to any other healthcare insurance, there are deductibles and co-pays.\u00a0 For the deluxe &#8220;Prime&#8221; plan (think HMO), there is a (granted heavily reduced) monthly fee that non-active duty members pay.\u00a0 Prime; while inexpensive does not apply to all situations; for example &#8211; it doesn&#8217;t meet my family&#8217;s needs, so we use standard.\u00a0 Neither are &#8220;free&#8221; healthcare.\u00a0 They are more like an insurance plan.<\/li>\n<li>Commissaries \/ Exchanges &#8211; The prices are often higher than you&#8217;ll pay at other local stores, say Target.\u00a0 I think most people I know that continue to shop at the commissaries and exchanges (including me) do it out of some feeling of duty.\u00a0 While overseas or in other remote locations, the commissary and exchange may be the only places available to a service member or their family; so it is important to keep those facilities in operation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think it is imperative that we pass a budget, and it is reassuring to me as an Independent to see both sides complaining.\u00a0 When both sides complain, usually the middle wins; and it&#8217;s <em>about time<\/em> the middle of the road folks get a win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who would have thunk it?\u00a0 It&#8217;s looking like those &#8220;good for nothings&#8221; in Congress are actually; get ready for this&#8230; are actually going to pass a budget!! When was the last budget passed, I erroneously stated 2009 in an earlier &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1366\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,16],"tags":[50,65,56],"class_list":["post-1366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rants-raves","tag-america","tag-military","tag-stupid"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15061,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/15061","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":0},"title":"In-Decision 2024 \u2013 Presidential Election 2024","author":"DR D","date":"October 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, my cat was telling me to start writing again.\u00a0 So, to shut him up; I\u2019m stealing the name of a segment from the \u201cDaily Show,\u201d as I\u2019m sure you\u2019re aware, it sums up this year\u2019s election cycle quite nicely. As you all know, one of the primary purposes of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/2013-11-05_08-28-25_109.jpg?fit=688%2C689&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/2013-11-05_08-28-25_109.jpg?fit=688%2C689&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/2013-11-05_08-28-25_109.jpg?fit=688%2C689&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":825,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/825","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":1},"title":"Mail Bag &#8211; Freedom and Liberty Hijacked","author":"DR D","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Good morning Boys and Girls.\u00a0 This is the first reader who has written using the \"What's on you mind\" link.\u00a0 Here's what he(she?) had to say: Our Freedoms and Liberty have been Hijacked. I'm tired the fruits of my labor are being stolen by \"the state\". When being robbed by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":882,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/882","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":2},"title":"Sequester&#8230;Does that include Congress?","author":"DR D","date":"March 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Some very good friends of mine recently took a 20% pay cut - thanks to the doofs in Congress. Yep, that's right, they were fur-lowed one day a week when the sequester was enacted.\u00a0 Since $85 Billion in cuts were mandated.\u00a0 It appears that the only people being screwed and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":940,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/940","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":3},"title":"What\u2019s a Poor Congressman To Do?","author":"John Sweeney","date":"April 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"My congressman sent out an e-mail in which he was inexplicably whining about some backlash he\u2019s gotten from his constituents over some recent political decisions.\u00a0 He appeared genuinely perplexed at why we would be upset, and went on to wonder if compromise and \u201cgetting along\u201d would ever be possible in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AoM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AoM","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/rants-raves\/aom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":814,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/814","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":4},"title":"How do you organize your bills?","author":"DR D","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok...I admit it; I have a problem. No, it's not what you think, there is no 10 step program that will fix this. I have \"ma\u00f1ana\". I'm not sure when I contracted it, but I have it bad. It has begun to interfere with my home life. The boss lives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Household&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Household","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/household"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/silas-and-wine-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1149,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1149","url_meta":{"origin":1366,"position":5},"title":"An experiment in Timesharing: 2013 Timeshare Journey \u2013 Final","author":"DR D","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may have noticed, I haven't updated this in awhile. Well, this exercise in timeshare management has finished. I came in at $1000 below budget (not including the associated fees of a timeshare)! Proving that it is possible to stay full time in a timeshare for less than a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Timeshares&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Timeshares","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/travel\/timeshare"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dan's Timeshare Journey","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/USA-DanTJ-251x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1366"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions\/1513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}