Military Officer - March 2006 - (Page 33)

washingtonscene discussion about the quality of life of men and women serving today and those who have served in the past. Ryan highlighted the effects leadership can have on recruiting and retention and the idea that every policy decision should consider the spouse and family. One government ofﬁcial said family programs tend to be the ﬁrst ones cut during tough budget times like these. Ryan and others countered that, if defense leaders believe what they themselves say about the importance of military people and families, they should be willing to make the appropriate investment in them. “It all starts with an adequate defense budget,” Ryan said. He highlighted the seeming misalignment of national budget priorities, in that today’s wartime defense budget is less than 4 percent of our gross domestic product. That’s much lower than the 5.7 percent average — counting only peacetime years — for the six decades since the end of World War II. “The only weapon system that has never let this country down is our military personnel and their families,” said Ryan, indicating his disagreement with those who contend the military has to cut people programs to pay for weapons. Dump Disabled ‘Back Tax’ Legislators work to help disabled retirees recover income taxes. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) ost VA disability claims are resolved in less than a year. But lost paperwork, administrative errors, and rejected claims appeals delay thousands of disability awards for years on end. The VA disability award is retroactive to the date of the application — so a good chunk of past retired pay should have been tax-free. For a refund of back taxes paid, disabled retirees must ﬁle an amended tax return for each applicable year. Then they run into a major sore spot: The IRS statute of limitations prohibits ﬁling amended returns beyond the last three tax years. VA administrative glitches and insensitive tax laws cost these disabled retirees thousands of dollars — through no fault of their own. MOAA thinks this unfair situation needs ﬁxing. So we drafted proposed legislation and found two supportive House sponsors. At press time, Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) were planning to introMOAA’s Cmdr. René Campos, USN-Ret., left, deputy duce a bill in February that would allow the ﬁldirector of Government Relations, and Sue Hoppin, right, ing of amended returns of the Benefits Information department, discuss MOAA’s for more than three tax services and legislative agenda with CinCHouse conferyears. [CONTINUES ON PAGE 34] ence attendees. MARCH 2006 M Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) MILITARY OFFICER 33

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - March 2006

Military Officer - March 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Call For Board Nominations Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum MOAA Member Services Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Live It Up! Top Picks On the Road Again Destination: Arizona By the Numbers Cover Story: One Clean Shot From Combat to Congress Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - March 2006

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