The cut in the COLA for military retirees, first agreed to in a Patty Murrary-Paul Ryan compromise, has been restored by Congress, and the bill heads to the President for his signature.
Frankly, it's a scandal that such a cut was ever on the table, given how bloated the rest of the federal budget is. Indeed, the welfare state is now larger than the GDP of 175 of the 190 richest countries, with more than 80 means-tested programs including (but not limited to) cash benefits, health care, social services, food, child care, training, and housing and utility subsidies.
As the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector has noted:
If converted to cash, means-tested welfare spending is more than sufficient to bring the income of every lower-income American to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, roughly $44,000 per year for a family of four.
In light of these figures, it is amazing that any elected official would deem it honorable -- or even thinkable -- to try to make up for out-of-control spending by breaking faith with those who have served our country and risked making the ultimate sacrifice.
There is plenty of spending to cut . . . but it shouldn't be at the expense of those who keep us safe and keep us free.
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