Letter in Support of Military Pay and Benefit Program

by Ed Mattson

As we are seeing in business and government in America, the US military is also burdened with the soaring cost of health care. “It’s just not sustainable,” said Admiral. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He went on to say that military pay and benefits “were on the table”. “

Let me get this straight…We have millions of people on the government dole (a.k.a. welfare recipients), and the bureaucrats wouldn’t dream of making cuts to the welfare rolls and social safety net, despite the fraud and abuse that is rampant throughout the system.

When was the last time you heard of a welfare recipient having to pass a drug test in order to receive his/her welfare check?

Those with their hands out almost always vote Democrat. Once they get their place at the trough they keep asking for more, and who better to oblige than the Democrats in Congress.  The majority of those receiving benefits don’t even bother looking for work or worse yet, work for cash under the table.  Cutting out the waste and fraud in welfare is a great place to start cutting the budget, but President Obama and the Democrats keep the benefits flowing. The federal government currently runs over 70 major interrelated, welfare programs, through six different federal agencies.  State governments also contribute to many federal programs.

Total federal and state spending on welfare programs was $434 billion in 2000. Of that total, $313 billion (72 percent) came from federal funding and $121 billion (28 percent) came from state or local funds. It’s a lot more today. That boils down to about $5600 in taxes per family!

In the next few articles we will discuss ways for the government to make sensible budget cuts (including the military), butthose in the military can barely get buy under the current pay scale. So we had better batten down the hatches and start writing our representatives if we want to save the benefits for which we served.

Here’s what all veterans can do:

FIRST: Send each of your Senators (2 in every state) a letter like I sent yesterday to my representatives (see-below and please feel free to cut and paste it to develop your letter) – To get your Senator’s contact info CLICK HERE

SECOND: Get your full 9-digit zip code by clicking HERE. You’ll need that to determine your Congressional District.

THIRD: Locate the Congressperson for your district by going to the HOUSE WEBSITE. Simply enter your city, state, and 9-digit zip code and then click SUBMIT. When I first tried it, the website delivered and error message, so I had to go to my Congressman’s website and click the Contact Link

Dear Senator Burr (replace with your Senators),

I am writing in support of military benefits, including the medical benefits for veterans and their families. I realize the country is under severe financial strain, but please don’t blame the military or our families. We did our duty…we went when others wouldn’t and did what others couldn’t, while the Executive and Legislative Branches of our government squandered our national treasures by providing benefits to those who won’t work, and pipe-dream programs to insure their re-electability.

Today, after spending us into oblivion, there is talk about cutting the benefits and lowering the pay for those who insure our nation’s freedom. As Calvin Coolidge so eloquently put it:

“The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”

Over the decades we have seen trillions of dollars poured into social programs that don’t work; bureaucratic malfeasance with the housing debacle which lead to this current recession; and unjustifiable expenditures like the Department of Energy, which was created in 1977 to solve our nation’s dependence on imported energy. We imported 25% of our energy back then, but today with 16,000 employees and a budget of $26 billion, we are importing nearly 60% of our nation’s needs…and they want an additional $3 billion for 2012’s budget.

There are more than 22 million employees on the federal payroll, and the military is the lowest paid of the lot. Only about 20%  of government employees hold critical jobs, so how about freezing employment and let attrition take its toll until you get federal employment down to a reasonable number (about half). Your budget would then be on the road to recovery.

Sincerely,

This is the only thing politicians understand as each letter they receive amounts to about 320 votes at the next election. If you want to defend what we earned, this is the first place to start.

Ed Mattson

Following his service in the Marine Corps Ed Mattson built a diverse career in business in both sales/marketing and management. He is a medical research specialist and published author. His latest book is Down on Main Street: Searching for American Exceptionalism

Ed is currently Development Director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program, Fundraising Coordinator for the Warrior2Citizen Project, and Managing Partner of Center-Point Consultants in North Carolina.

Mr. Mattson is a noted speaker and has addressed more than 3000 audiences in 42 states and 5 foreign countries. He has been awarded the Order of the Sword by American Cancer Society, is a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow and appeared on more than 15 radio and television talk-shows.