congressman

Depends. Intel committee deals with the defense side of it which I am not on. I'm am on a committee tho which has jurisdiction over cyber issues. This is a tough nut to crack as it's privacy and free market vs the defense hawks. I'm a defense hawk

Send traffic.

Ya I'm both. And yep we are excited

Ive asked questions and this seems to have been clarified to only pertain to those doing official duties with the inauguration and not all Air Force folks in the NCR. If I find out more ill advise

Lordy dude. I represent 700,000 people. Guessing you aren't one of them. Regardless Ill look and see if I still have what you sent me. Nice Foxnews dig...you rock

EDIT: Got it

Probably expect pay increases to continue with what they have been. The large increases under Bush was intending to push military pay into parity with civilian. For the most part its comparable now (obviously some jobs not so much, like pilots) People understand the pilot shortage but I don't think they quite grasp the magnitude of it. Not sure any plans to address but the Air Force has wisely seen this as a whole issue, including problems with airline shortages, not just the military. In terms of how they plan to address that im unsure what they are cooking up.

Possible but it needs a different sponsor than Al Franken. These dems sometimes lead bills like this so they look cool and pro military. As a guard guy I like this bill. It will never be law on its own hope is for it to get folded into the NDAA or defense approps

I'm all for reciprocity. That depends on trump and whether we have the time in the senate calendar to pass it, they are slow. For state specific that is on state leg and governor. Not us. But as an illinois guy, we have it rough

Not sure really. I'll look at it. Not on armed services committee so haven't been looking. We def need to cut the civilian force and reduce the overhead at the pentagon. More money to destroy stuff and less money for making jobs. Efficient and effective

WAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZup

Hey guys, after a little break from Baseops, was checking back in with you all to see what stuff I need to be aware of. Are there issues out there you think I need to know about or concerns, etc? Im not going to engage in debates or complaints about votes I have taken, but was curious if there is anything I need to be aware of. I'm still flying in the guard so I know about many of them, but wanted to see what was up Feel free to PM if youd rather, cant guarantee Ill be on often but Ill take a look occasionally. Hope everyone is doing well.

No problem. It was one of the hardest votes I've taken, and I've taken some difficult ones. I fully get how people feel, and can empathize. I recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Liberia. Each place I visit in my official capacity reminds me how great of a country we are and how great our military is. We need to preserve that power and that's what I have been trying to do, disagreements with my recent votes aside

Gotcha man. For the record I have been pushing for military members to be vested similar to how other federal employees are before 20 years. And no, current members on FERS are not affected nor are other federal employees including guard technicians. In the budget (the house republican budget that we have passed for the last three years) we have proposed and voted for a significant increase in contributions by all federal employees, current and future. And we have rejected our own COLAS for at least the last three years but I think it's been like 5. I don't expect congress to get a COLA for the next few at least. In fact years we voted to reverse our own COLAS proactively each of those years. One of the first votes I took was to cut our own budgets 10 percent, then we got hit also with sequester, so budgets are like 20 or 25 percent lower than my predecessor. No federal employee has received a pay increase for at least three years, this year they will get a 1 percent increase, below inflation. Since there are now caps on military spending, growth in pension and healthcare costs will crowd out what can be spent on readiness, etc. Sequester is dumb, was never meant to happen, but did because of a majorly divided government. This budget deal was small but will relieve sequester slightly, but most importantly prevents the further 20 billion dollar cut that was supposed to come along January first. That would have led to an even smaller force and more job losses. I know it sucks... For all of us who have served and continue to (my hope is to make 20 as well). The worst possible outcome though is a complete collapse of our financial system. But since the changes don't take effect till 2015, my hope is we can replace the cuts to pension with cuts elsewhere. Here's to hoping. Not gonna get drawn into an Internet argument since I do that for a living now, but just wanted to put a few points out there. Thanks for serving. That's funny, I miss my military schedule!

As a side note, I would love to see a comparison of 20+ year military retirement compensation and "one term" Congressional benefits. (in a stoplight chart because apparently people above the rank of Captain can't digest facts or details).

NS, Agreed, thats why we pass appropriations bills under the limit imposed by the paul Ryan budget...problem is the senate doesn't, and so we cant engage in regular order, and have to work with continuing resolutions. Washington is broken, but Id look a little more at Harry Reid and the President...

I voted for this deal...definitely isnt the deal I would have authored, but I believe that the major tax increases that went into law with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts (Keep in mind even with GOP majorities and a GOP president they were never made permanent) would have been a massive shock to the economy, not to mention the defense cuts. There were some huge wins for the GOP, as mentioned the AMT fix, Doc fix, Estate tax exemptions. There were also some wins for Dems...namely unemployment and certain tax credits that were codified in the stimulus. The best way to grow revenue...isnt taxes. Its growth...so a recessed economy would have been counter productive to balancing the budget. The problem is that we have developed a government with entitlements that we simply cant afford. So...the spending fight is yet to come, with the debt limit and continuing resolutions. Those eager for a spending fight like me...its coming. We need to have a real discussion about entitlements, etc. Governing isnt easy, governing with a divided government is even more difficult...but the key word is "governing." We have to be responsible, fight to advance the goalpost but at the end of the day, Govern. Granted most in my party voted opposite me, but I feel at peace with my vote.

Oh we promote it, tell the media to cover it. Good luck with that! And thanks by the way

Been done every year. Your beef is with the Senate...and Harry Reid

Happy to.... Are you going to keep singing the official explanation for 9/11 or are you going to join the former Senators who found their balls? Think about it. $15 million was spent to investigate 9/11, versus 40-50 million to investigate Bill Clinton's blowjob. You have to be retarded or ignorant of the issue to buy into the government explanation. https://www.theatlant...to-9-11/253936/ Seriously, how can you (or anyone who has served in the military) stand reading party talking points and being the freshman puppets you have to be to get reelected? Keep passing bills that take away our freedoms like the NDAA, or start reading some books and figure out how to bring justice? https://www.amazon.co...30797582&sr=1-3 Thats from USAFPilot

Fyi guys, USAFpilot just sent me a PM screaming about how 9/11 was faked and we a complacent in congress. Really was a doozie. I think USAFpilot is fake or definitely has opinions of his nation and government unbecoming an air force officer.

Its alright whiskey make Hercy an angry man!

Shenanigans. Herkbum: Ask Harry Reid. We passed a budget in march, they havent in over 900 days. Bergman, feel free to PM me for more details, since i think i know you

Haven't forgotten. I just cant update on a message board.

Amendment passed, reducing funding for bands from something like 320 million to 200 million. This 200 million number is what was in the Defense authorization act, but the funding was increased in committee. So, in the end it is reduced.