This is a call to action for all military men and women, the veterans that came before them, and the families that support them both.
On January 2, 2013, the automatic spending cuts written into the Budget Control Act of 2011 (otherwise known as sequestration) will go into effect, amounting to an additional $500 billion in cuts to the defense budget. Sequestration poses an immediate and direct threat to both our nation's defenses and the people who provide for that defense.
Sequestration would create significant readiness issues, reducing the force by tens of thousands of personnel, freezing compensation, reducing healthcare, and eliminating important family support programs. At an absolutely critical juncture, sequestration has the potential to decimate the all-volunteer force, all because politicians do not want to compromise or make hard decisions.
We understand the sacrifice required of our entire nation in order to reduce our overall deficit and debt. However, this sacrifice should be shared by all. Our nation's debts should not be primarily laid on the shoulders of those who have already given so much.
The Department of Defense's leadership has been constantly pushing Congress to take steps to avoid sequestration. Here is but one example:
"I've seen extraordinary examples of courage and sacrifice over the past year in the men and women that I've met in the war zones, in the wounded warriors that I've met here at home. They are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect our country. They deserve better than the threat of sequestration. Too often today, the nation's problems are held hostage to the unwillingness to find consensus and compromise, and in the face of that gridlock, artificial devices like sequester are resorted to in order to somehow force action. But in the absence of action, sequestration could very well threaten the programs critical to our national security...the men and women of this department and their families need to know with certainty that we will meet our commitments to them and to their families." Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Pentagon briefing, June 29, 2012.
In the end, what sequestration means to military families is that Congress and the White House are putting our military members at a significantly greater risk of harm or death by withholding training, providing an inappropriate level of resources, and by increasing the likelihood of armed conflict.
Current thinking is that a sequestration solution might be reached after the Nov 6 election. We would remind everyone that actions conducted in a lame duck session are often by elected officials who can no longer be held accountable because they weren't reelected. Other elected officials are hoping that decisions made in a lame duck session are ones that will be forgotten by the next election. Decisions that could have this much impact on the defense of our nation should not be pushed to a lame duck congressional session.
Military personnel and their families must let their congressional representatives and our Commander-in-Chief know we will be voting this November based on what they each accomplish in the next 50 days to stop sequestration, not what they promise to accomplish after November 6.
With phone calls, letters and emails to your representatives, senators, and to the president, let them know that military families are watching. Tell them they will be held accountable for their action, or inaction, regarding sequestration.
North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Nevada have 90 electoral votes. These states are considered to be toss-up races, some for both the presidential and senatorial races. Each of these states has significant military (active, Guard and Reserve), DoD civilian and veteran populations. They will all be negatively impacted if sequestration happens.
The turnout by military affiliated personnel has the potential to significantly impact this year's election. An increase in military voting turnout by 10 percentage points could easily be the difference in determining who controls Congress and the White House in 2013.
To those on active duty, those in the Reserves or in the National Guard, we know there is a history among some military men and women of not wanting to become involved in the political process, to include voting. We urge you to consider this: This election will be absolutely pivotal to the future of our military for generations to come, as well as those currently serving. You have the duty to participate and vote this November. You defend the right for our nation to vote, so please do so yourself.
To our elected leaders: failure to act prior to the election constitutes a failure of leadership on the part of the President, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority Leader. Failure on their part to solve this issue prior to the election will be the same as a vote against our men and women in uniform and their families. Our men and women in uniform have done their duty. Please do yours.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Hilton, 2012 Military Spouse of the Year, Air Force Spouse of the Year
El Brown, 2012 Army Spouse of the Year
Stephanie Geraghty, 2012 Marine Corps Spouse of the Year
Christine Gilbreath, 2012 National Guard Spouse of the Year
Tricia Ross, 2012 Navy Spouse of the Year
Follow Jeremy Hilton on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@jlrmhilton
Jeffrey Sachs: Economic Policy Beyond Gimmicks
Go ahead and arbitrarily gut the sheepdogs of this awesome society. See what happens to the sheep. Go ahead, express your right to free speech, independent thought and the like. At the end of the day, all are thankful that there are sheepdogs willing to do what they do.... Enjoy...if you are willing to read such long prose...
On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs - Dave Grossman
http://www.gleamingedge.com/mirrors/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html
"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million...
Further, the longer we're there, the more we throw our weight around, the more they will hate us and threats to our 'national security' will be in part because of our continued stupidity and narcissistic belief that we are better than everyone else.
Our elected officials need to step up to the plate. Some have, while others need to shamed into action, or sent home in November.
While the Obama Administration has made attempts to help the Veterans:
• Caregivers & Veterans Health Services Act
Provides financial and other assistance to family members caring for severely wounded veterans, and improves health care and facilities for women veterans, veterans living in rural areas, and homeless veterans.
• Veterans' Benefit Act
Enhances a number of veterans' benefits including employment opportunities, care for homeless veterans, expanded insurance limits, military education benefits, benefits to severely injured veterans, and improved financial and legal protection for deployed troops.
The Romney/Ryan plan is to slash Veteran's Benefits.
FACT CHECK: Romney Would Slash Veterans’ Benefits
Written by Press Release
Friday, 31 August 2012 11:04
http://www.enewspf.com/opinion/36130-fact-check-romney-would-slash-veterans-benefits.pdf
observation. Might I suggest this link:
Veterans &
Military Families | People | Democrats.org
http://www.democrats.org/people/veterans_and_military_families
Also you speak about defense only in the tactical sense. We need a defense to protect American interests and conflict is always a last resort. Take Iran for instance ... don't you think we are giving the time for diplomatic measures to work there first so we can avoid a conflict. You are thinking of the military only in the terms of conflict. There are many other rolls the military plays ... perhaps you should look into that.
We like to tell ourselves we are the world's policemen, when in fact we are the world's dictators. Any nation not considered an ally of the US would be foolish and derelict not to be pursuing nuclear weapons. When we have made it our mission to eliminate nuclear weapons from the planet, we will have the right to criticize those attempting to obtain deterrent capability.
I suspect I won't persuade you from your misguided beliefs regarding the use of our military forces, so I won't bother. As to your feeling sorry for me, trust me, the feeling is mutual....your paranoia isn't a gift, it's a side effect. As to your comment, "completely arbitrary and do not need to be", please understand that you are simply wrong. The nature of the sequestration is in fact that the cuts are completely arbitrary. I'd encourage you to read more on the subject. I'll simply leave you with one of my favorite quotes, as I suspect it applies to many of the individuals who have posted so far: " War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill. Thanks for commenting.
Because the big corporation are not gonna take the 10% cuts to their profits the people will instead.
While politicians get paid MUCH more than we do, why should we be the ones having to take the cuts in funding. Seems to me like we need cuts right there in Washington DC- since they are the ones to let this happen in the first place. We do not need drastic cuts. How does that help my son who has Autism, and healthcare is a challenge for him, not to mention the funding of it. Sequestration is NOT the answer, and cuts needs to come in the form of pension plans for congress, cushy travel plans, and well to do homes. Perhaps the congressional members, and governors, and other high paid members of the government need to fork over their paychecks, to see whats its like to live in the world, where many of our military members live.
Maybe we need to have the NBA, the NFL, the and all the baseball affiliations fork over their million dollar salaries to aid in helping pay back the debt we owe to China and other countries. Seek cuts elsewhere, but not in our military communities.