ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY MEMBERS AND VETERANS DESERVE HELP TOO

This year disabled veterans and military retirees will not get their annual cost-of-living adjustment. I understand the rationale behind this decision. The cost-of-living index or COLA is equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next. If there is no increase, there is no COLA http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/latestCOLA.html. Apparently there was no increase this year -- oh well.

Never the less, I imagine most retirees and disabled veterans like me were looking forward to the annual increase regardless of how small that increase might have been. The bailout money Wall Street Bankers such as Goldman Sachs received suggests that they are much more important than the men and women who risk their lives for our country.

There are 20,000 homeless veterans right now additionally there are active duty members who are forced to make multiple tours to Iraq and Iran, while their families struggle to make ends meet. I am not homeless, nor so destitute that a lack of cost-of-living increase will break me, but there are millions of veterans and active duty military members who are struggling and need help just as much or even more help than Wall Street Bankers.

Writer Dylan Ratigan offers a novel solution for present and former warriors -- Dylan Ratigan: Veterans: Lip Service, Bankers: Billions & America: Foreclosures - Here's The Fix
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-rati... I think he presents a strong argument for providing homeownership to Iraqi vets – there is already assistance from the Veterans Administration for home buyers but Ratigan's idea is very different from simply guaranteeing a percentage of the mortgage. Time will tell if our elected officials consider his suggestion. In the meantime, next January I will quietly deal with not getting a COLA increase just like all the other disabled veterans and retired military members.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED