Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 36)

washingtonscene eﬁts for those who served. But we can’t do everything for everybody.” Boehner and Buyer assured the group that they intend to take legislative action as might be required to protect military members and veterans whose personal data was stolen recently from the home of a VA employee. One option Buyer discussed was the creation of a claims adjudication process within the VA to provide an avenue to compensate members who actually suffer identity theft damages without having to go through the courts. Strobridge prioritized MOAA’s goals for health care, disabled retirees, and survivors and expressed particular concern about the size of the defense budget and the current situation — even in wartime — in which Defense leaders are pushing to cut spending on military people programs (e.g., force levels and health care) to fund weapons programs. Buyer added comments on his efforts to ensure TRICARE For Life funding wouldn’t have to compete with other programs in the Defense budget. Boehner said, “The Defense budget is big enough, but we need to spend that money smarter.” 4.1 percent. With inﬂation running only slightly ahead of last year’s pace so far, it seems likely that this year will end in the same 4-percent ballpark. But there’s plenty of CPI roller-coaster left to navigate in the coming four months, and that outlook could change in a hurry. Stolen VA Computer Found Ofﬁcials warn of identity theft scams. M COLA Watch 2007 COLA may exceed that of 2006. I n mid-June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the May 2006 update for the CPI, which is used to calculate the annual COLA for military retired pay, VA disability compensation, survivor annuities, and Social Security beneﬁts. The CPI continued its upward trend, increasing 0.5 percent in May — for a total of 2.9-percent growth so far this ﬁscal year. A 2.5-percent increase in energy costs played a key role in the jump. Last year, the CPI had risen 2.7 percent through May and ended the year at aryland police have recovered the stolen VA laptop computer containing millions of veterans’ personal data. At press time, FBI forensic specialists were working to determine if the data had been compromised. The recovery of the computer created new uncertainty in Congress whether the veterans’ data was really put at risk. That stalled, at least temporarily, various bills aimed at protecting the affected veterans. Ironically, the VA issued a new warning of a scam targeting veterans who might be worried their VA data was stolen. It involves Internet fraudsters who send mass e-mail messages asking recipients to provide credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc., so the scammer can “check if their data has been compromised.” Some messages originate from the ofﬁcial-sounding address abuse@vba.va.gov. The VA says it has no such e-mail address, and the link in the e-mail is to a Web site in Asia. If you receive a suspicious e-mail, DO NOT open it, but delete it immediately. MO — Contributors are Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF-Ret., director; Col. Mike Hayden, USAF-Ret.; Col. Bob Norton, USA-Ret.; Cmdr. René Campos, USN-Ret.; Cmdr. John Class, USN-Ret.; Cass Vreeland; and Bret Shea, MOAA’s Government Relations Department. 36 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2006

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

Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

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