Proposal for Better Troop Support

Listen to those in political office and many others who wish to capture some attention and the one constant is how much they love and respect the troops.  Everyone tends to favor veterans especially when it comes to getting face time in front of a camera but few every go further than that when the lights goes out and the cameras stop rolling.  That is except for the majority of those very same veterans who live by that military code daily.   That military code of leaving no man/woman behind.

We have individuals claiming to care about the troops while playing games with their benefits, denying their earn rewards and keeping them from even seeing a doctor.  These same lovers of the military speaks to a veteran about what he/she earned as if the assistance that they are seeking is coming directly out of their very own pockets.  Politicians are quick to smile for the camera along side of a veteran but are now where to be found when it is time to put your money where your mouth is. 

So I’m writing this proposal to those who carry the authority but lack the backbone to do the right thing, thinking that maybe someone will read this and make it happen in some capacity.  How about treating veterans like we treat politicians?  As reported in this article “A report on "Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress," prepared in November by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, outlines how pension benefits are calculated.  The key provision: no member of Congress is eligible for any pension unless he or she has served in Congress for at least five years. (Senators serve six-year terms; House members must seek reelection every two years.)  To collect, a congressman or senator must be age 62, or be at least age 50 with 20 years of service, or be any age with 25 years of service.  A three-term congressman (or one-term senator) who has now reached retirement age would be eligible for an annual pension of $17,588 for six years of work”.

My proposal is simple and goes like this.  Any veteran who serves six years or more gets this same amount as retirement pay.  This is not controlled by congress so it cannot be played with like the debt ceiling or suffers any games by political parties as an attack on the other.  If nothing else maybe hold that until they reach 50 and they did not serve during a “term of hostilities with a foreign country”, wouldn’t that be a serious jump from the kind of support that is being offered now?  Just my opinion, I could be wrong and if so ME CULPA.

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