Retirees 2.3% cola raise
Given Gas Prices, Retirees Say 2.3% Cola Doesn't Compute
It's nice to know, as a disabled military retiree, that I will receive a whopping 2.3 percent cost-of-living increase in January based on the government's Consumer Price Index. I appreciate every red cent.
Oh, has anyone at the Bureau of Labor Statistics [which maintains the CPI] purchased gas in the past year? The price of gas alone has far surpassed 2.3 percent and it has side effects including raising the cost of groceries!
MARK HARRIS
Chief Master Sergeant, USAF-Ret.
Via e-mail
I retired from the military after 26 years. I am disabled and receive VA compensation. I also receive my military retirement and a moderate state retirement. All that combined, I still live payday to payday.
The 2.3 cost-of-living adjustment is a slap in the face. My cost of living in 2007 rose 10 percent over 2006. With 2008 staring us in the face, the word "dire" comes to mind.
I would like to thank decision-makers in Washington, D.C. -- for nothing. While they live "high on the hog," veterans young and old are struggling to get by with our little stipends.
That 2.3 percent figure is not a true one if you are sitting in my house or in the homes of other veterans.
WARREN OLIVER
Panama City, Fla.
Has anyone in government completed Mathematics 101? Let's look at just two commodities for the past 12 months: gas and corn.
Gas has risen higher and faster than any other commodity in our nation, I believe. The COLA is supposed to adjust for this, no?
Corn, which is used as an alternative fuel source, also has risen way beyond the 2.3 COLA planned. That would include anything with corn in it.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize this COLA is a slap in the face for government retirees, veterans and Social Security recipients.
VICTOR SCOTT HICKOK
Staff Sergeant, USA-Ret.
Via e-mail
The 2008 cost-of-living adjustment for federal retirement plans, social security, veterans' compensation and several other entitlement programs is set to reflect the change in average prices for a market basket of goods and services from the third quarter (July through September) of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007.
The tool used to measure that change is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). It tracks prices for more than 200 categories of goods and services directly purchased in the marketplace. They fall into eight major categories: food and beverage; housing; apparel; transportation; medical care; reaction; education and communication; and an "other" category that includes tobacco, haircuts and other personal services.
A look at price changes captured by the CPI-W from September 2006 to September 2007 shows gasoline rising 8.8 percent, exceeded only by a 13.4 percent jump in dairy products and a 9.4 increase in educational books. Prices fell over the year for information technology, computers and apparel.
The price changes might not square with what any individual experienced personally. It's only what I found in Table 6 on page 26 of "CPI Detailed Report Data for September 2007" on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The link is www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid0709.pdf -- Tom Philpott
It's nice to know, as a disabled military retiree, that I will receive a whopping 2.3 percent cost-of-living increase in January based on the government's Consumer Price Index. I appreciate every red cent.
Oh, has anyone at the Bureau of Labor Statistics [which maintains the CPI] purchased gas in the past year? The price of gas alone has far surpassed 2.3 percent and it has side effects including raising the cost of groceries!
MARK HARRIS
Chief Master Sergeant, USAF-Ret.
Via e-mail
I retired from the military after 26 years. I am disabled and receive VA compensation. I also receive my military retirement and a moderate state retirement. All that combined, I still live payday to payday.
The 2.3 cost-of-living adjustment is a slap in the face. My cost of living in 2007 rose 10 percent over 2006. With 2008 staring us in the face, the word "dire" comes to mind.
I would like to thank decision-makers in Washington, D.C. -- for nothing. While they live "high on the hog," veterans young and old are struggling to get by with our little stipends.
That 2.3 percent figure is not a true one if you are sitting in my house or in the homes of other veterans.
WARREN OLIVER
Panama City, Fla.
Has anyone in government completed Mathematics 101? Let's look at just two commodities for the past 12 months: gas and corn.
Gas has risen higher and faster than any other commodity in our nation, I believe. The COLA is supposed to adjust for this, no?
Corn, which is used as an alternative fuel source, also has risen way beyond the 2.3 COLA planned. That would include anything with corn in it.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize this COLA is a slap in the face for government retirees, veterans and Social Security recipients.
VICTOR SCOTT HICKOK
Staff Sergeant, USA-Ret.
Via e-mail
The 2008 cost-of-living adjustment for federal retirement plans, social security, veterans' compensation and several other entitlement programs is set to reflect the change in average prices for a market basket of goods and services from the third quarter (July through September) of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007.
The tool used to measure that change is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). It tracks prices for more than 200 categories of goods and services directly purchased in the marketplace. They fall into eight major categories: food and beverage; housing; apparel; transportation; medical care; reaction; education and communication; and an "other" category that includes tobacco, haircuts and other personal services.
A look at price changes captured by the CPI-W from September 2006 to September 2007 shows gasoline rising 8.8 percent, exceeded only by a 13.4 percent jump in dairy products and a 9.4 increase in educational books. Prices fell over the year for information technology, computers and apparel.
The price changes might not square with what any individual experienced personally. It's only what I found in Table 6 on page 26 of "CPI Detailed Report Data for September 2007" on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The link is www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid0709.pdf -- Tom Philpott
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quote:Originally posted by ObiWan
quote:Originally posted by FEENIX
quote:Originally posted by ObiWan
PA Redneck,
The $200,000 in wages is a rough figure of the base pay of 10 military pee-on E-2's.
My comparison was using 10 low paid GI's to mow grass as we did back in the old days versus paying a Contractor Multi-Millions to do the same thing.
Way wrong! In cost comparison rules as mandated by the Congress via OMB-A-76 Circular, you need to use composite rates, i.e. for 1 USAF E-2 it is $41,606 per year. See link ...
http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/rates/fy2008/2008_k.pdf
....and I as a uniform wearer was thru A-76's twice at two different installations with some experience of the whole process.
So I can address your A-76 comment accordingly, which team were you on that gave you the experience of the whole A-76 process? BTW, I am the program manager for our Wing's A-76 studies ... and am thankful of the 2.3% increase.0
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