Tea Party After My Groceries Too!
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...y.html?hpid=z4


well not really...but this article is very informative. Whether you want me to pay the same prices as you do at the grocery store is up to you. But the article does demonstrate the decline of wages and benefits in the private sector.

actually a gallon of milk is cheaper at Walmart than the commissary.................
maybe that makes you feel worse.

We do pay 5% on the total of what we purchase....i.e. if you spend $100 you have to pay $105 at the register during the final check out.

"Many active-duty personnel and retirees contend that their compensation and benefits are well-deserved, given the risks and strain associated with a military career. “We’re not overpaying these folks by any measure. We’re not giving them a sweetheart deal on health care,” said Norb Ryan, a retired vice admiral who runs the Military Officers Association of America, a 380,000-member organization that lobbies on behalf of active and retired personnel. “We owe it to them because they’ve put in decades of extraordinary sacrifice on behalf of our nation.” "

Ummmm..................................

I'm going to stick my neck out here.

We owe them everything from a twice monthly check for life to healthcare for life to cheap groceries for life? Who else gets anything even close to that? Not to mention the attitude that if you suggest reducing any of these costs or cutting military costs in any way that you're "weakening America", you "hate the troops" and a whole list of other insulting, derogatory catch-phrases? When are these people going to realize that "We the People", who PAY for all of this have NO SUCH SWEET DEAL from our employers. Nobody. Not even the hated UAW or public unions.......... Heck, our bosses don't get this.

Yes, Admiral, you DO get a "sweetheart deal". So, shut up.

Dave

Sorry if I pissed you off, Robbin. But, that is how I see it. We pay for all of that stuff and most of us don't mind. But, as you have noted, it demonstrates the decline of the private sector. Perhaps the honorable Admiral should speak out against what's happening out here, before he starts reminding us of what we "OWE" him?

Dave

:DIs that avatar for me brother?;)



actually the retirement check is once a month....active duty as you well know is twice a month.

I fully support having commissaries for soldiers and their families in foreign countries. I don't support it here.

For the record, I'm an Army brat who lived on or near Army bases through high school, both here and abroad, and was a Department of Army Civilian overseas for 8 years with commissary privileges. Commissaries are somewhere between helpful and essential overseas, depending on location. They're nothing close to a necessity here.

No, it's not for you.

And, I stand corrected on that singular point.

But, do you understand what I'm saying? And, NO, it's not "jealousy". It's the truth, IMHO.

Dave

BTW, I also like the idea of separate retirement packages for those who have served in combat units verses those who never even faced a potential danger in a single instance, in their entire career.

Why do we pay the same benefits to career military bureaucrats and others serving in non-combat roles as we do combat veterans?

I know a such a person. In 24 years he never once served in a combat role. The vast majority of his time was spent stateside. And, yet the first thing out of his mouth when someone mentions military pensions is a bunch of BS about the "sacrifices" he made.......:confused:

Dave

you never piss me off Dave....

I posted the article because it is in the news. And yes Americans without health insurance and pension plans are subsidizing the MIC.

Am I going to voluntarily give up the Commissary? Hell no!

This makes perfectly good sense as well.

Dave

I know where you are coming from...and I totally disagree.
Many in Iraq were killed who did not have "front line" infantry positions.
In the rear with the gear is not always safe.

I respect your desire to protect that which has been accrued.

Even though I do not necessarily sympathize.

Dave

They were in "potential" danger, just being in Iraq.

What "potential" danger are storeclerks sitting in a warehouse in Maryland facing?:confused:

Dave

Well they could show up for work on Monday and told to be in Afghanistan on Wednesday....

that is what your obnoxious friend is probably referring to as sacrifice

You do, of course, realize that they were compensated with hazardous duty pay at the time of their service in the voluntary service.

I do not want to mention the TSP Finnbow....

Wait a sec. Ex military get commissary for life?

No. But retired military do.

What about it? As a CSRS retiree, the government did not pay any matching funds whatsoever.

Yep, though only career retirees. Same goes for medical care, BTW, if they live near enough to an Armed Forces Hospital to make it worthwhile.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h.

If you want to play that game, anyone who is registered for the draft or could be recalled to duty because of attrition in a truly horrendous war is "owed" all of these things.:rolleyes:

I'm thinking that unless you were actually shot at, bombed, tortured or at the very least in immediate danger of facing these things at some point in your career, you are "owed" nothing more than any federal civil servant receives.

I'm guessing my use of the word "potential" was a mistake.

Dave

My sister gets VA medical care with 8 years of service. But anyone with less than 20 years must prove financial hardship in order to get it. You have to have no other options.

Indeed. The highest risk for many REMF's (rear echelon Motherf......) was getting the clap or drinking themselves to death.;)

Yeah but I think one could still participate in the various options of the TSP?
or am I wrong?


Even if you are not near a MTF retirees use Tricare to cover costs....

plus any veteran with an honorable discharge can be seen by the VA....

I can actually be seen by the VA and the military hospitals since being retired I am also a veteran

I could pick any of the fund options (G,C,F and balanced L funds), but the government did not contribute anything.

This only indicates that it's worse than I thought. I see no reason for providing medical care to honorably discharged veterans other than those with service-related illnesses/disabilities. Am I to understand that if you're a desk jockey at Fort Riley, Kansas for 4-5 years and have an honorable discharge, you get VA care for life? No wonder we're in debt.

http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/586/...a-health-care/

maybe not as easy as I mentioned, but the VA certainly is not discouraging veterans from finding out if they are eligible

No charge? What if you have a job with healthcare after your H/D? Nevermind, just read your link.

I have always been under the assumption that VA health benefits were part of being honorably discharged.....perhaps I am mistaken. But check out the VA web page.

Better you not complain about something that hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of happening, Robbin. It just pisses off the civvies who fund it.

I am not complaining.
I want to go to the Commissary like everyone else.
But if it goes away it goes away.

Pretty darn so************************t if not almost communist organization the gov't is running......

I'm betting you go just to look at the snack-bar queens in their black stretch pants with kiesters as wide as the aisle.:eek:

Yeh, well reading your first link makes it abundantly clear that on base commisar-ies aren't going anywhere so put a sock in it. The civvies are getting riled up because your store looks like Costco at half price.:p

actually the women at the commissary are not as fat as the ones as Walmart...for the most part;)

bam!
That's only the non-com's wives.

It is not really about the Commissary going away.....
it is about America becoming "jealous" (for lack of a better word) of something that in better times no one gave a thought about. In other words the decline of our economy.

You missed my point about Walmart....prices there for milk are a bit lower than the Commissary.


Which posits the question: Is Walmart evil? They are selling milk at the price the Commissary is....

but they do not pay their workers anything
BTW commissary workers are more contract now than GS or WG

I think we are a in a transition........
The national government through Obamacare will provide health coverage via private insurance companies. (or single payer who knows eventually)

Walmart will provide the food and one stop shopping............oil changes and schwinn bikes made in China.

The question is how as a society do we adapt to that.

Dude! Really?!? You're going there? Are you sure you're not a Marine?:rolleyes:

Put down the nitrous oxide, Robbin...;) or at least share.:rolleyes::D

lol
I did see a really cool bike there red Scwhinn Admiral 700c.....

It's not "jealousy". It's the knowledge that as we see our standard of living slip, we have to listen to people like Admiral Whats-His-Face and other folks from the military tell us that we "owe" them such perks as the commisary. When it goes from us civilians feeling that our military deserves what we do for them, to our military bitching at us and telling us what we owe to them.........................

Well, that's just not very smart public relations, now is it?

Not trying to be mean, just trying to convey what I'm thinking.

Dave

:D Fuck Costco, I'm gonna have Patty make up a shopping list and PM it to ya, bro. Do they sell booze and how much is a 1.5L bottle of Woodford's? ;)