"Something you can do to help veterans" Topic

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Long story short: People involved in getting people to re-enlist in California gamed the system to meet their re-enlistment targets, submitting false paperwork for people who wouldn't qualify for the re-enlistment bonus.

Now, the military is trying to recoup that money from said ineligible soldiers (in some cases many years after the fact), unless congress can address it.
Essentially, from what the article reads, the California national guard cannot actually forgive debts of this scale.

Seems like something that is worth writing your senator about and seeing if we can exert a bit of influence.

And can we please for the love of all that is good keep this one topic free of partisan drivel and axe-grinding?

The government is shameless.

This story sickens me.

Wonder how many families of those killed or injured while on duty overseas they'll try to recoup the bonuses from.

I long for the old days of dealing effectively with corrupt people like this.

Indeed. This incident is a repulsive betrayal by crooks and/or dunderheaded bureaucrats and the vets are the last ones who should be paying the price for it. Justice for the vets!!

Saw this in the news … another indicator of how well the current US leadership treats many of its Vets …

Yeah, this is pointless. $22 USD million is chump change and it was the government who screwed up. Let them keep it!

Here's another thing that can be done, maybe! Sign the petition and let's see if the president can step in and do something useful.

petitions.whitehouse.gov

This is beyond disgusting. If it can't be forgiven, slap the debt on whatever office authorized the bonuses to unqualified individuals in the first place!! This happened through NO fault of the servicemen in question.

Petition signed.
Looks like a good campaign issue too.

Call both your Congressman and Senators and express your displeasure. This is particularly important if you are not a California voter. To fix this requires Congress to act and California does not have enough Congressmen to push a fix through on their own, so they will need the help from those representing other states. And Congressmen are more willing to act when they see support from their constituents.

Unbelievable that any US governmental agency would do this to any of their military especially as it is an all volunteer professional force. And all the bad press the Vet Admin is getting about taking care of it's Vets. Every time I go to the VA clinic it is full of Vets ranging from WWII to now.

What moronic [left ?] bureaucrat(s) thought this was a good idea ? Were they actually elected or appointed by US governmental leadership ?

This is beyond corrupt but just plain idiotic.

In the past lame ducks have granted "some" certain "passes" for their "crimes". Maybe there should be a "pass" for all these soldiers who did their duty. Even if they are not criminals !

Signed the petition and sent to other Vets …

The problem is that the pentagon is required by law to get the money back either from the vets or the state of California. It requires either an act of congress to waive the paybacks or the state of California to step up and cover the fraudulent pay-outs.

From the reports I have seen. Both sides in Congress, and the House, etc., agree this is really a bad piece of "legislation". So hopefully the foolishness will be stopped. And funds returned to the soldiers.

Apparently, the VA bureaucrats are getting to keep their bonuses without question though.

No doubt …

News just said, that the SecDef will stop any more money being taken back by the government. From these soldiers. And an investigation(s) is ongoing.

So we shall see …

Congressional action might also be relevant in that this can easily happen somewhere else as well.

Heck, it very well might have, and just hasn't come to light.

Ah, how is this thread not "politics" as it is advocating writing to congressmen to exert influence and promoting a political petition? What is happening to these vets is disgusting but advocating intervention is politicking. I understand the sympathy and empathy and I support making TMP members aware of this injustice, but actively advocating for one position or the other is politics and is thus verboten here, is it not?

Cheers.
Rod Robertson.

Both California Senators and leaders in both parties have expressed concern.
And the Sec of Def has put a temporary stop to it. Odd it took so long.
It seems like an ideal Lame Duck legislation after the election.

Again, the news just report as I posted earlier. And as Winston posted. But the report also said there are some actions involving the SecDef, Congress, etc., will take place to reimburse the money that has always been taken from the soldiers.

I hope this happens much sooner than later. The SecDef also mentioned not only looking out for the soldiers but the tax payer. News flash … military personnel pay taxes too …

And I agree with Winston … this is a great thing for a lame duck to get involved in as I said before.

Ah, how is this thread not "politics"

Hit the [!] if you believe it is. Bill always tells us to use that when in doubt.

Noted and signed the petition.

Legion 4:

I don't hit the !-button, ever, except on myself. My post above was a request for reflection and self-moderation rather than an attempt at petulant tattle-taling and whining. We can be adults about this.

Cheers.
Rod Robertson.

I understand that … I'm not always so "generous" many times after being DH'd so frequently …

I've always found the Fed's financial system to be quite Draconian. OTOH I'm pretty angry that some stooge managed to steal $12 USDm from the US govt. It may be a drop in the bucket to the govt, but some of that is mine and I could use it to buy more figures.