Conference repair::reserve_forces

195.0. "Peace by Default?" by GJO001::REITER () Sun Apr 11 1993 18:29

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE AIMS AT RESERVISTS:

In its annual report listing ideas for reducing the nation's budget deficit, 
the Congressional Budget Office listed several proposals that would affect 
the Reserve Components.  The report, required by law, provides Congress with 
proposals for bringing the federal budget under control.  This year, there 
are three proposals aimed at Reservists.  They are:

* Reduced drill pay because Reservists receive more pay per day [than]
active-duty pay.

* Eliminate Reserve retirement, using bonuses to keep people with critical 
skills, while letting others leave.

* Stop paying Reservists who work for the federal government while on their 
annual two weeks of active-duty for training because they continue to 
receive their government salaries at the same time. 

The CBO said the three Reserve proposals would save $450 million in 1994 and 
$2.1 billion over five years.

[in other news...]

There will be no pay raise for active duty people or Reservists next year 
under President Clinton's economic package presented to Congress in 
February.\

Of the 110 new members elected to the House of Representatives in the new 
Congress, only 19 have had military experience.  Of the 12 new Senators 
elected, only three have served in the Armed Forces.\

[source: Naval Reserve Association News, April 1993]

The balance is my opinion:

For those of you who cast your vote for the Clinton-Gore ticket in the hope 
that change would sweep the land, your wish has come true.

For those of you who thought that the average American, let alone any 
elected official, gives a damn about your past or present military service, 
let these proposals, and a thousand others just like them, or worse, serve
as testimony to the level of appreciation that accompanies your sacrifice. 

When a highly-decorated senior-ranking combat veteran is told by an official 
of the Clinton White House that they "don't deal with the military", that 
person is speaking for an entire class of people who would just as soon see 
the entire military/veteran establishment dismantled as acknowledge your 
existence.

This is the legacy of Somalia, Kuwait, Panama, Grenada, the Mayaguez, Viet 
Nam, the Suez, Korea, Europe, the Pacific, the trenches of Belgium, and 
countless lifetimes spent in preparation and in waiting for the next 
opportunity to go in harm's way in obedience to our nation's orders.

Be sure to commemorate Armistice Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, 
Independence Day, and all of the other silly days whose meaning has lost its 
signifance in today's world (and I am sure this phenomenon is not limited to 
the U.S.A)... because the politically corrected 1994 calendar may not even
have them on it. 
\Gary