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World Trade Center
conspiracy? Read
What Patrick Garcia
thinks (here)
Pictures of Iraq that the
Major Media
does not use
(Not graphic enough?)
The sign the kid is holding
says:
"Thank you very Much
Mr. Bush"
Who
says there is no
Gratitude??
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This article is from The Air Force Times online
www.airforcetimes.com/sto...501558.php
November 22, 2004
Congress to take look at pay for lower-rated disabilities
New law requires two studies on payments to retirees
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
Two studies of service-connected disability pay ordered by Congress
could help determine whether military retirees with low-rated
disabilities get more money from the government.
The studies, required by the 2005 Defense Authorization Act, will
compare benefits for disabled service members with what is available in
the private sector and compare military benefits with those provided by
federal, state and local governments to their civilian employees.
The Defense Department is responsible for the private-sector comparison,
with a report due to Congress in about six months. The Government
Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, will make the
comparison with other government programs, with a report due Nov. 1,
2005.
Both reports are part of an effort by Congress to see if the government
pays enough to service members injured on the job. They could help
determine whether lawmakers decide to provide extra pay to military
retirees with service-connected disabilities rated at less than 50
percent that are not linked to combat or combat training.
Under
pressure from disabled retirees, Congress recently ended a practice
stretching back more than a century of reducing military retired pay
dollar-for-dollar by any amount received in veterans’ disability
compensation.
So far, however, only those with combat or combat-related disabilities,
and those with noncombat disabilities rated at 50 percent or more, are
getting extra money. Those with lesser disabilities have been
excluded, in part because some lawmakers believe the government is
being overly generous in providing lifetime benefits to people with
minor disabilities.
The Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office
have proposed eliminating benefits for veterans with minor disabilities
as a money-saving move — suggestions that have so far proven politically
unpalatable.
“Nobody is prepared for cutting out benefits for disabled veterans,”
said a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee aide.
Two years ago, however, the Bush administration briefly toyed with the
idea of denying disability benefits to veterans whose conditions
originated while they were in the service but were not directly tied to
military duties. That could have reduced the number of new disability
claims by 30 percent or more, according to estimates prepared by the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
After military and veterans’ groups complained, the overhaul of military
disability benefits was delayed until a bipartisan commission could
study the issue.
The commission, created almost a year ago by
the 2004 Defense Authorization Act, still has not begun its work because
of delays in naming its 13 members. After the commission starts work, it
will have 15 months to issue a report.
The decision to ask for two reports in addition to the blue-ribbon panel
is “perplexing,” said a representative of a military association, who
asked not to be identified.
In addition to ordering the studies, lawmakers have made a change in how
disability retired pay is calculated for National Guard and reserve
members who become disabled while mobilized.
Their disability retired pay will be determined based on the average
monthly basic pay for their grade and time in service for the previous
36 months. Previously, retired pay was based on the previous 36 months
of actual active service, which could have come years earlier — and at
lower rates of pay
Wesupportthevets will be on top of this report, the committee and the
congressmen that will comprise the committee.
We will publish anything that we
can obtain
*Release No. 10-21-04
Oct 31, 2004*
*President signs bill which eliminates SBP offset*
*President George W. Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2005 on Thursday. *
*One of the key provisions of the bill is elimination of the Survivor
Benefit Plan (SBP) age 62 offset over a period of three and a half
years.*
*The offset reduces the SBP annuity from 55 percent to 35 percent when
the annuitant reaches age 62 and becomes eligible for Social Security
based on the retired members work record. *
*Members of the Air Force Retiree Council, retiree councils of other
Services, and numerous military related organizations have long
supported the offset elimination which will be accomplished by
increasing the annuities paid to survivors of military retirees who are
62 and older from 35 percent of retired pay to the following
percentages:*
** for months after September 2005 and before April 2006, 40
percent;*
* * for months after March 2006 and before April 2007, 45
percent;*
* * for months after March 2007 and before April 2008, 50
percent;*
* * for months after March 2008, 55 percent. *
*Details on the bill's other provisions affecting members of the
military retiree community as well as more information on the SBP
portion will be released later.*
click on logo
Here is a very important program in the making!! This is one
that will make you proud to participate in with fellow vets. This group
is organizing a program that will provide PDA's to disabled vets that
will help them with their appointments. No--its not a scam--the vet pays
nothing as I understand to participate. Look at the website and get
involved.
"Geezers" (slang for an old man or woman) are easy to spot:
At sporting events, during the playing of
the National Anthem, Old Geezers hold
their caps over their hearts and sing without
embarrassment. They know the words and
believe in them. Old Geezers remember
World War I, the Depression, World
War II, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy
and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age,
the Korean War, The Cold War, the Jet Age
and the Moon Landing, not to mention Vietnam.
If you bump into an Old Geezer on the sidewalk,
he will apologize. If you pass an Old Geezer
on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to a
lady. Old Geezers trust strangers and are
courtly to women. Old Geezers hold the door
for the next person and always, when walking,
make certain the lady is on the inside for protection.
Old Geezers get embarrassed if someone curses
in front of women and children and they don't like
any filth on TV or in movies. Old Geezers have
moral courage. They seldom brag unless it's
about their grandchildren.
It's the Old Geezers who know our great country
is protected, not by politicians or police, but by
the young men and women in the military serving their country.
This country needs Old Geezers with their decent
values. We need them now more than ever.
Thank God for Old Geezers!
These colors don't run!!
Since May
2003. Thank you veterans and patriotic Americans!!
 
Fox News
always Fair
and Balanced
With O'Rielly
"May I have your daughters phone number??"
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
click here
Darlene Druyun the Boeing Dragon
Lady and Michael Sears are back in the courts and the news
 William
Gast
USN (ret) DAV
Editor-
Contact at;
editor@wesupportthevets.com
Join the discussion (anytime) on the new Q&A section of
Wesupportthevets--leave us and your pals a message on our Blogg
CLICK HEREQuestions &
some Answers
This week's outstanding
cartoons and quotes
Take a look at
http://www.optruth.com
This is a
new vet web by some vets that decided they wanted to tell the
real story
of what goes on
in the sand pit. Most of the
content is apolitical and
factual
as far as we have seen so far.
One more new website for
veterans that
we believe will
become a very important
activist group --take a look
at
This new site
NEW VETERAN WEB
Veterans Institute for
Security and Democracy
(Click on flag for link)
Last DC-2 Flys final
mission from Long Beach California
See
infosheet
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