There’s going to be a riot at the Milblog Conference; You might want to attend
I wasn’t going to attend the Milblog Conference for a couple of reasons. They scheduled it for Mothers’ Day weekend for one reason, not that it matters much to me, but when people started raising objections, the folks at Military.com in essence said “Tough shit”. So that pissed me off. And last year they scheduled the reception in the bowels of DC, miles from the hotel where the conference was being held and I didn’t like the logistics of traveling to see the friends I’d come to spend time with. But, I’m an old man and I don’t like change.
But, anyway, my editors at Business Insiders wanted to go, so I acquiesced for their benefit. And now I’m so glad I did, but there are going to be some unhappy people when they find out my reason. They released the list of panels today, and this one caught my eye;
Benefits: Promises Delivered, Delayed or Dismissed?
After a decade plus of combat operations the issue of how we care for our veterans is taking center stage. From changing retirement time frames to medical care and wounded warrior programs, this panel will examine if the promises made to our fighting forces are being delivered, delayed or dismissed.
Moderator: Rick Maze (Military Times Newspapers)
Panelists: VADM Norbert R. Ryan, Jr., USN-Ret (MOAA), Tom Tarantino (IAVA), Brandon Friedman (VA), Terry Howell (Military.com), Kristle Helmuth (Author: The Story of a True American Hero, His Princess, and their Struggle with TBI/PTSD), Chazz Pratt (USAA), Mike Brinck (House Veterans Affairs Committee for the Economic Opportunity subcommittee)
Yeah, Rick Maze is the head cheerleader for Obama at Military Times, he hates the VSOs and got so mad at me when I caught him manufacturing quotes and trying to start a war between the VFW and The American Legion that he blocked my email address.
And then there’s Brandon Friedman, known to my readers as Beeker from the days he worked at VoteVets. I caught Friedman making excuses for the Obama Administration when the president was trying to force service-connected veterans to buy insurance and he told us not to worry that the Obama Administration didn’t intend to screw veterans. Well, we all know how that worked out, don’t we? Oh, and now Friedman, for his loyalty to the Obama Administration was rewarded with a job at the VA.
And finally, I’m so happy that IAVA will be there. Maybe I can finally get some answers as to how they can live with themselves after telling veterans that one of the guys (McDermott) who stood on Saddam Hussein’s palace roof and declared that Hussein was more trustworthy than President Bush rated higher on their veterans scorecard than John McCain.
Yeah, I’m a dick on the internet, but the whole (Milblog) world is about to find out how much of a dick I can be in person. You should go and bring a bucket of popcorn. And since I know that some of those guys monitor the blog, I guess I’m showing my hand, but they can sweat for a week or so, or they can pull out at the last minute (…that’s what she said). But I think they all owe veterans an answer as to why they perpetrated their malfeasance on the veteran community and what they plan to do in this election year to rectify it.
Category: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Shitbags, Veteran Health Care, Veterans Issues
Shit. I am going to be underway and will miss it…
I’m not a veteran but I have read enough to know that the IAVA is pretty much made up of lying dickweeds. Why are they represented on this panel? Because of all the love that the moderator has for Obama?
Give em hell Jonn!
Go for it Jonn. Damn I wish I could be there!!!
I’m still curious why IAVA thinks I’ll give a rusty youknowwhat about a parade in NYC over 80,000 vets about to be dropped out of the military with 2 million less jobs.
A folding lawn chair, a beer (or two, or three), a bucket of popcorn. And a cattle prod to keep the contestants from escaping. Let the show begin!! Yee haw!! As #3 Bierman says, Give em’ Hell, Jonn!
Meanwhile, over on facebook, that idiot Yon is posting stupidity like the following. Good grief can this conference get any more like a 3 ring circus? I just hate that for JP.
“Protest Against me Cancelled: Carl Prine on Deck
Word arrived that there was going to be a protest against me at the Milkook convention. But they know I’m not coming. So there is apparently a plan afoot to protest Carl (because he stood up for me, more or less). This is funny stuff. Can’t make it up. Maybe someone will shoot video and put it on Youtube.
Carl needs to get away from that crowd while the getting is…well, it is time to get away.
If you decide to go to the convention, please rap your head tightly in tinfoil (to fit in).”
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when that bomb goes off.
That list reads like a “Who’s Who” of Obama butt-snorkelers.
If there’s any way I can be there, I’ll camp in the car if I have to. Not very likely I can make it, but I’m sure gonna look into it tonight.
He actually posted more in between his insanity of proported emails the Taliban is sending him announcing their plans for the Spring offensive.
Cookoo. Cookoo.
Dude, how do you expect to confront them? At the meet & greet? Or while they are on panel? Do you think they will go to you to allow you to ask questions? I strongly suspect this will be a highly orchestrated and highly controlled panel Q&A (if they even allow questions)
Is anyone going to be live blogging it?
Making fun of hobby groups aside, Jonn, you go in there and you get into a knife fight with them. You put that blade between their ribs and you twist it like it was on the end of a drill. You give them some old fashioned bloody eagles, and hang entrails from the chandelier. I’m tired of these ass-monkeys spewing their obfuscations and getting away with their political maneuverings. Take it to ’em, Jonn… With a vengeance!
LL–if the Milblog Conference folks want to retain any sort of credibility, they have to learn that people are going to ask panelists uncomfortable questions, and that dodging them isn’t in either the panelists or the conference’s best interest.
And given my previous comment about this panel being decidedly slanting towards the current administration’s viewpoint (if not actually outright representing them–nee Freidman) and their actions towards not just veterans but ALL troops, it might be in their best interest to, for lack of a better phrase, put their spin out there before they can no longer control the message.
Hell, they can barely control it now. They don’t seem to realize how many veterans are out there and paying attention. Maybe it’s time they figured out. When Obama and the other Dems tell the VFW, AmLegion, etc., that they’re fighting FOR veterans, then turn around and jam it straight up their asses, someone has to answer for those actions.
Might as well be the Obama sycophants.
Someone needs to get this on video.
dammitall Jonn, if you posted this a week earlier I could have got the early bird admission.
Will they allow video, or do we need a secret squirrel camera hidden in my tie clasp.
Pretty sure I’m going.
fuckin A John.
Mr. Lilyea :
That’s the way to go (your post) —
KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT .
To me, this has the nasty taste that they are trying to give some legitimacy to the fools that have been stabbing us in the back while smiling and saying we’re on the road for what we’ve been promised.
Gives me serious doubts as to their motivations.
Now I’m really sick at not being able to be there.
Please, Jonn……. give it to them right between the eyes. they deserve a reality check, because to date, their actions show them that they aren’t, collectively, worth a bucket of warm spit.
When the military is forced to give up its retirement and bennies, the Civil Service won’t have to give up any of theirs.
Fellow at work was wailing about State getting a $5bn cut, but shut up when I told him DoD was getting a $1 trillion cut.
Funny that the powers that be never use the “It’s Patriotic to Give Up Your Due” arguments on Civil Service.
I think somebody might have to be by the doors just in case they try to make a quick exit….
“now yous can’t leave…”
Too bad, Uncle Fester (Rieckhoff)wasn’t on the panel, so you could deflate his ego a little.
Do your best Jonn, or worst as the case may be. I’m holding out hope you can cause a bit of a stir, but I won’t hold my breath it will have any lasting effect. :/
Wish I could be there.
It would be nice to ask when IAVA is going to have elections to elect board members. Fester has been “executive director” for a while…
I’ll still be down range; otherwise I’d bring the popcorn.
Go nail ’em to a board, Jonn. Business Insider sounds like they have their reasons for wanting you at the Conference. It could prove to be important.
Jonn, I’ll be in attendance. Hope to meet and say hello… and I’ll try to get some video of the show.
I’ll send MY video camera if need be, but video that shit Jonn. Give ’em hell!
Well Shite I might just have to show up for this.
Cordially,
Uncle J
John, take two pairs of boots with you. Shove one pair up their asses and wear the other pair home
Uhm… Could you please record this? Perhaps a transcript?
You go girl!
WOW. I’m SOOO glad the Folks at RU thought I was worthy enough to take along. This is gonna be SOOO fun!
DaveO: Actually, both parties do the same to the civil service as well when they’re in charge – and it’s being done by this administration now. The uniformed military has at least seen small across-the-board annual pay raises the last two years. The federal civil service hasn’t seen an annual pay raise since 2010 – and may not see one next year. The same thing happened during the Reagan administration once or twice, too. And since the Reagan administration, federal civilian pay raises have been less than the annual military pay raises – often substantially less. There’s also periodic talk of monkeying around further with the current federal civilian pension system as well (at 1% of high-3 per year of service, it’s already substantially less generous than the military pension system). And civilian workers also are subject to involuntary job loss via reduction-in-force (RIF) processes when serious budget cuts happen.
Bottom line: federal civilian workers are affected by tight budgets as well – sometimes even more than those in uniform.
I wanna see heads on pikes, balls nailed to the wall and asses with boots shoved up them! If I’d only know of this earlier.
@34 Anon–and yet federal employees have overall compensation over 20 percent higher than their civilian counterparts, with retirement benefits far exceeding those who fill similar jobs in the private sector.
Cry me a fuckin river.
Anon -frack the public workers unionites. They are paid more, and coddled to ensure they vote for BHO. A trooper goes into combat, or any post for that matter, without a vote in the matter unless he wants to see a particular part of Kansas. The civvy goes to his comfy home every night.
Actually, NHSparky, that “greater compensation” meme is a bogus construct. When career field and seniority is taken into account, federal civilians with college degrees generally make substantially less than their private sector counterparts; federal civilians without college degrees, slightly more.
The way that “20% more” bullshit came about was by calculating an average of all federal workers compensation (including bennies) with that of all private-sector workers. No attempt was made to adjust for the fact that approx 90% of the federal workforce today is white-collar or professional. The federal government contracted out most lower-paying and “blue collar” jobs during the 1980s. Further, a much larger fraction of the federal workforce has college degrees than the private sector. The federal government just doesn’t have many folks today working in retail sales, janitorial/custodial, or food-service jobs.
The federal workforce also tends to be substantially more senior than the private sector. That also skews the numbers.
The federal workforce can be validly criticized on many grounds. But being “overpaid” isn’t one of them. When career field/education/seniority/professional qualifications are taken into account, the fact is that most federal workers actually make less than private sector counterparts in the same career field with similar education, seniority, and professional qualifications.
And yeah – I have researched the data.
Ron Snyder: yeah? Tell that to the DoD civilians currently serving in Afghanistan. Their homes are really “comfy”. And some agencies make no bones about the fact that they have the authority to order their civilian employees to deploy involuntarily if necessarily – and requiring them to sign paperwork acknowledging that possibility. Whether that’s the case with any of the DoD civilians currently serving in Afghanistan, I can’t say.
As a ‘civvy’ for DoD, I can assure you I can and will deploy just like a soldier, but with less notice, less training, and less equipment. Oh, and for a SHIT-TON less money. Your average SGT will make more than a GS-13 in theater- we do not get tax breaks like soldiers do for combat zones. We do not draw combat pay. We DO get some extra pay, but not near for the amount of hours we’d have to put in, compared to being back in the states. We are authorized to CARRY a weapon, qualify on it before leaving, but we are not issued one. Go figure…
Don’t forget to hand out some ‘MILKOOK’ t-shirts and to give Carl Prine a hand removing Yons knife from his back.
If I every get a chance to goto one, I’m going to set up a booth and sell ‘Banned by Yon’ coffee mugs and ‘MILKOOK’ t-shirts
Hondo/Wolf–Fair enough. Now will those civilians do the jobs of the people in uniform for the same money?
I’m kinda doubting it.
Actually, NHSparky – in many cases they’re doing exactly that. Whether the pay is the same or not, I don’t know with certainty. In some cases, maybe yes; in some cases, maybe not. Can’t accurately characterize. My guess is that the fianancial cost is on the average greater, but is accepted as the political cost is lower. And the total cost may actually end up lower, given that it results in a lower overall number of people in uniform (less training/installation/medical infrastructure required). Today, we deploy a whole shitload of civilians and contractors in lieu of people in uniform today to perform support roles, plus to augment selected specialties that are in short supply or are otherwise difficult to fill. Politics is IMO the primary reason; it reduces the numbers of troops needed, thus reducing the number of uniformed casualties. The US public pays far less attention to civilians coming home dead or wounded than it does troops in uniform. From what I saw, US contractors are typically well-paid and sometimes can manage to wrangle US income tax exemptions if they stay long enough overseas. Federal civilian employees are not as well paid (though I think Wolf is overstating the case a bit there – as I recall, even with the CZTE and other bennies the breakpoint is substantially higher than SGT/E5 for equivalent take-home pay vis-a-vis a deployed GS13) – but he has a point nonetheless. US civilian employees don’t get anywhere near the same tax bennies, continue to pay for their health and life insurance, continue to contribute towards their retirement, and often don’t get issued the same equipment or weapons (some do, but that seems to be the exception vice the rule – and you can’t bring your own weapon, either). They’re also subject to virtually all the same ticky-tack rules and policies as those in uniform. And for federal civilians, there are caps on income earned that can come into play, regardless of the amount of overtime/premium pay/post differential/danger pay earned. I personally have a philosophical problem with deploying large numbers of civilians and contractors into… Read more »
@40: While I understand your frustration, the example you used is wrong. A SGT maxes out at a little more than $3000 base pay. Add BAH, BAS, and deployment entitlements and $5000-$6000 gross per month is likely depending on BAH amount. Meanwhile a GS-13 step 1 makes about $81K per year in base salary plus locality pay if not from one of OPM’s mentioned localities. Civilians also receive some deployed entitlements, including overtime and compensatory time. Military members don’t receive those. Even after taxes, that GS-13 is still doing much better than the SGT. I didn’t even figure in foreign post differential, which can be 25% of salary.
I will be there Jonn. I might have to live blog it now.
Ben: correct in part, and incorrect in part. You left a few things out, amigo. As I recall, military personnel deployed who have a family also continue to receive BAS/Sep Rats and BAH (or retain their govt quarters), receive combat pay, receive family separation allowance, and continue to receive any other special pays for which qualified (I could be wrong about the BAS/Sep Rats, but I don’t think so). Civilians don’t get those. And those allowances and special pays can easily add another $1500-2000 or more to monthly take-home pay – all tax-free – depending on the individual’s exact situation and location prior to deployment. Now, let’s look at the reductions to the civilian’s take home pay that military personnel don’t see while in a CZ. Start with $400-500 a month in medical insurance (a civilian continues to pay for that); take off $75-100 a month in life insurance (also not free), and take off at least $1000 (and probably considerably more) in state and federal income taxes (no CZTE). Take off an extra $50-100 per month – maybe more – in additional Social Security/Medicare taxes (those taxes continue in a CZ, and the civilian will have more income subject to them – since virtually all of the civilian’s income is taxable). And if the civilian’s spouse works, that civilian could well come home to a real tax nightmare – as they’ll owe taxes on the spouse’s income at the highest marginal tax rate vice what they pay normally. (Exactly the opposite occurs when military personnel are deployed to a CZ – their total taxable family income goes down, not up). I know of at least one individual who came home and ended up owing bigtime on his next year’s state and federal taxes for precisely that reason. Yeah, the GS13 probably will end up making more while deployed than an E5; as I said above, I’m pretty sure the take-home pay breakpoint vice a GS13 is at least a couple of grades higher than E5. But the civilian probably won’t take home as much more after all is said… Read more »
And I forgot to add that Rieckhoff is such an intellectual coward that when he was scheduled to be on a panel with TSO a few years back, he pulled out at the last minute .
Eh – I normally don’t get involved in the gov’t civilian / military debate. I’m a gov’t civilian with DoD, and I’m also in the Army reserve. That’s actually how I got my job with DoD after my deployment to A’stan. DoD, at least, is making an effort to hire vets – not every new hire, but a lot of them. A couple of guys from my unit work in my new A/O here, and all of us were hired fairly recently. The pay is good, the benifits are good. I’m making probably a bit higher (due to locality bonus) than I would if I had a similar job private sector. But that goes away with promotion and time in service. My boss would make a lot more than he makes with the gov’t if he did his job private sector. I made more on my deployment as an E-5 than I do here as a GS-11, but that is only becuase of the tax break I got from down range. Otherwise, they would be pretty close.
Go get them Jonn!
Honestly, I don’t know why anyone subscribes to any of the Military Times rags. They are all owned by progressive friendly Gannett Corporation.
Aaaaaannnnnddddd…just found out I probably have a 12-hour shift on Mother’s Day. Now you GOTTA post the video.