Political Quotes

“the Senator from Arizona is correct. The Simpson-Bowles Commission, in their report, asked for an elimination of the entire COLA, as the Senator outlined in his opening remarks today. The budget bill before us took a different approach, and I appreciate the Senator reminding all of us that is out there. Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, could I ask the chairperson, is it not true that what you have proposed is 1-percentage point for military retirees--to reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment by 1 percentage point for military retirees--which means, according to House Budget Committee staff: A person who enlisted at age 18 and retired at 38 as a sergeant first class in the Army would see approximately a 6- percent overall reduction in lifetime pay because of the COLA reduction; that is, that person would receive about $1.626 million in lifetime retirement pay instead of $1.734 million. So that is as compared to what Simpson-Bowles envisioned: complete elimination, as opposed to this 1-percent reduction. I would also ask, again, to the chairperson of the Budget Committee, is it not true that this cost-of-living adjustment reduction, the 1 percent, does not kick in until 2015, the end of 2015? And is it not true that Senator Levin, and I, and all others, have committed to reviewing this provision, with the outlook, at least in my view, to repealing it if necessary?…”