….this is going to be a long series, I would guess.  Once you put yourself on an unsustainable path (and without new revenue, we’re on one), it’s just a matter of time until everything gets the ax. 

First up…those guys that fought in that war we cut taxes on the wealthy to pay for (and then just borrowed a bunch of money from them to pay for it…at interest….Genius W. Bush…I’ll tell ya what…anyway…).

WASHINGTON – The military retirement system has long been considered untouchable – along with Social Security and Medicare. But in these days of soaring deficits, it seems everything is a potential target for budget cutters. A Pentagon-sponsored study says military pensions are no longer untouchable – they’re unaffordable.

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports high-level, closely-held meetings are taking place at the Pentagon regarding a radical proposal to overhaul retirement for the nation’s 1.4 million service members – a bedrock guarantee of military service.

The proposal comes from an influential panel of military advisors called the Defense Business Board. Their plan, laid out in a 24-page presentation “Modernizing the Military Retirement System,” would eliminate the familiar system under which anyone who serves 20 years is eligible for retirement at half their salary. Instead, they’d get a 401k-style plan with government contributions.

They’d have to wait until normal retirement age. It would save $250 billion dollars over 20 years.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin,

I’m going to stop right there.  Douglas Holtz-Eakin is a douchebag, so if you want to read what douchey things he said, click on the link.  Note how he said this is more important than *ever* looking at a single cent in tax increases, because those are simply Un-American!!   However, screwing over our military is “very important” to look at.

The proposal leaves a lot of blanks to be filled in, including whether to exempt current service members so their plans won’t change.

CBS News spoke to some active duty troops who agreed costs must be cut – but worry the number of experienced soldiers will dwindle with no incentive to stay enlisted for 20 years.

RobotPirateNinja has also spoken to an active duty troop near retirement who this directly affects.  They agree that costs must be cut, but worry about the effects such action might have and to what degree contracts will be re-written. 

RPN also has a number of friends who this will directly affect, but hasn’t pestered them yet with questions.   While RPN does feel military spending is something that needs to be reduced as we go forward (AHEM!!!) , this talk of screwing over my friends makes me rather unobjective on this issue.   This is bullshit, and is the first in a looong line of bullshit to come.   

This is one of many ideas that will be “floated” in the media to see how strongly the public reacts.      Let’s see what our readers think…

Ed note: As I too, gear up for the 2012 election (if you haven’t guessed yet, I do a lot of  Presidential politics…I’ll be doing a LOT more…trust me), I’ve decided to cut off the talking points that the MSM puts out unless I’m planning on debunking them.