Contrary to what some readers may think, that is not my personal life goal.
No post yesterday-I’ve been in an out of sorts mood and have been trying to shake off the crud that Korea always seems to inflict upon me. Decided to wine and dine the S.O. last night, stay away from computer, and really make up for my prolonged absences and my overall foul mood toward her of late.
Wine? Yup.
Dine? Yup
Mission Accomplished banner hanging from my flag bridge this morning?-Not a chance. That’s what comes of letting her spend time with too many American women……………….
Why even bother?
Speaking of American women, a faithful reader and fellow victim of Pat Schroeder’s disease sent me a useful link to a Google forum on the US’s most evil law. I’ve added the link to my sidebar. Its a Google forum about Title 10-USC 1408. Also known as the unearned income law, or USFSPA. The purpose of this forum is to bring together fellow suffers from Pat ‘s malady and together learn ways to cope and increase public awareness in order to one day find a cure. ( Right now the only cure is to have the ex-wife die-but as OJ found out that too gets expensive…..).
The original hope for a cure was to have the Supreme Court actually step up to the plate and do its job actually providing a proper interpretation of the Constitution-just as it did in 1981 when it declared that military retirement was not divisible as property, and should not be- because it is retainer pay. Today, however the court is clogged with BS cases about torture, school prayer, abortion, and other crap-instead of getting me back what is rightfully mine.
This is a travesty of justice worse than giving GWB Florida……………
What this small, but growing group of victims, wants to accomplish now is to help guild an effort to make the real costs of this evil law brought to light and get Congress to repeal-and if not that-amend this evil oppression of serving men and women.
“There are not that many people affected“, you say? Interestingly enough one of the folks actually petitioned DFAS under a FOIA request (Why is this not public record information?). Just under 100,000 whores Americans are receiving direct deposits of someone else’s hard earned retirement pay under the act. That does not include the folks who had to pay huge “buy outs” to get the little bitch Mrs off their back, nor does it reflect the number of people who make direct payments to their shrews ex spouses without making DFAS the middle man. Factor that in and the number is probably two to three times that.
And the number keeps increasing with women now joining the ranks of the fucked over victims.
One really good suggestion that has come to light is that one reason Congress is so apathetic as well as my favorite sycophant civil servant, Dr Chu, to the problem, is that so few of them are affected by the law. Of the 18 announced Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, only Republicans John McCain and Duncan Hunter have served on the front lines. Three others served in noncombat roles and another two served in the reserves. Probably only one, John McCain served for a full military career and qualified for military retirement. Albeit I think no one will doubt that he earned his retirement the hard way!
But…………
He did not lose any of his Captain’s retirement in his divorce…...
Lets look at what he did give up:
John McCain gave up his interest in two homes
and agreed to pay $1,625 a month in alimony and child support when he
divorced his first wife 20 years ago, court records show.The senator and Republican presidential candidate divorced his wife
Carol in 1980 when he was a Navy captain with a home of record in
Orange Park, Fla., about 12 miles south of Jacksonville.McCain, 63, gave her his interest in homes in Alexandria, Va., and
South Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., according to records of the divorce
settlement obtained by The Associated Press and other newspapers.The Arizona senator agreed to give her their furnishings, $1,325 a
month in alimony, $300 in child support. He also agreed to pay an
additional $500 monthly if she couldn’t find a job.She was subsequently employed in the Reagan White House, according to
George “Bud” Day, McCain’s attorney during the divorce. Day also was
one McCain’s cellmates when they were prisoners of war in Vietnam.Carol McCain, who has remained friendly with her former husband, did
not immediately return a phone call to her Virginia home Thursday
seeking comment.McCain filed for the divorce, stating in court records that the
marriage was “irretrievably broken.”Under the settlement, McCain maintained insurance policies worth
$64,000 with their children as beneficiaries, agreed to pay for their
daughter’s college education and paid $3,005 in joint debts. Carol
McCain got the family’s Audi, while McCain was allowed to keep a
Datsun 810 and his personal belongings, the records show.
Now in my opinion that alone is a heinous settlement-especially at 1980 prices-for a woman it would appear is, and was, quite wealthy in her own right. And who could get off her ass and work. However percentage wise, compared to many of the victims of the USFSPA, it was quite mild.
The problem is, McCain had the smarts to sell her out before Pat Schroeder’s abomination became law. However if memory serves the law did allow supposedly aggrieved ex- spouses to go back and file for what was “theirs”.
If only McCain were doing better in the polls. Then a group of veterans could get together and file a motion on behalf of the former Mrs McCain and get her divorce re-opened. Maybe if the good Senator had to give up 50% of his more than hard earned retirement-he might be a lot more sympathetic to those of us who do not have those kind of resources. If nothing else the court case could raise awareness of just how truly evil this law is-and how truly criminal the response of Dr. Chu and the department of Defense has been in sticking up for fairness and equity for serving and formerly serving Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines. Hell, I bet in the right circumstances we could get some of the other candidates ( like the one who comes from a religion of multiple wives…….and sanctuary mansions) to pay for it!
I mean-it sure beats swift boating. And it helps a lot more people.
Yep, that would really make me happy. Almost as happy as opening up the paper and seeing:
My ex-wife run over by a bus.
Dr Chu identified as one Larry Craig’s secret lovers.
Seeing the USFSPA repealed.
None of which is going to happen. But a man can dream can’t he?
The late Capt, USN (Ret) Frank W. Ault once described Dr Who (oops, I think it rhymes – Eh?) as the best friend the Army could have – the Red Chinese Army, that is!
Yes, but Mc Cain had quite a bit more than us average Military Joes. And I thought prostitution was illegal but they’ve legislated it.
I only hope that many of the young men and women entering into the military today and over the past years. They will be blind sided by what the non-military spouses seem to be very well versed on.
So some ex spouses both men and women are collecting military pay from several different ex military spouses and isn’t it amazing how the military spouse seems to be the last to know about USFSPA?
I guess the government doesn’t have much to lose because they get double taxation by the split of monies and according to what I read from one attorney the IRS says that’s legal.
So everyone is making money off of the Veterans efforts except for the VETERANS themselves.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED BY USFSPA SEND YOUR STORIES TOO: Talkingpointsmemo.com
Let them do the research to see how unjust this is and how much it’s affecting our Military Personnel. At the very least they need to get the word out so that others aren’t hurt.
Join the Military to get your educational benefits while serving your country, but for goodness sake go to college and get a job that will allow you to maintain your basic human rights and be able to be done with the divorce and settlement in a reasonable time and not have to pay some ex spouse “for life”.
At least you can go to an office and live more free and enjoy more benefits. What is there for a Military Man and Woman to have that’s more than a nice private sector job.
You need someone at home to clean up after you or the kids hire a maid or nanny it will be cheaper and they won’t stand in your way as far as your career goes. Fighting, keeping you up at night. Who needs that headache and then to be further kicked once you retire. We Military have to work hard for twenty plus years to qualify and the non Military Spouse gets all the benefits and half the rewards and sometimes more than half!
It’s not worth it for the Average Military Joe…
Ask for an investigation of USFSPA through: TALKINGPOINTSMEMO.COM
I must tell you that I can’t believe that this sort of thing is possible in this day and age. Not only is USFSPA a violation of your 5th and 14th amendment rights. But when I read how this legislation has been interpretted and applied it’s a violation of basic human rights not to be a slave!
This legislation is a breaking of the treaty the Government had with its men and women and treating it’s military like lesser beings than any other American Citizen is something I thought we abolished with Anti-Slavery laws.
Military Retired pay (retainer pay) fails to pass the legal test of “property”, so how is it that someone can legislate it as such?
It does not make me proud to know that I have a government representing the interest of everyone else except her defenders. That is the most ludicrous of acts. How can anyone of us sleep at night knowing that our country is backstabbing her defenders?
So what if the defenders decided to ex-patriate? Then who would be called up in times of trouble? All the ex- non military spouses currently on DOD’s retirement (retainer pay) payroll? I think not.
I think that we would quickly find that their responses would be, “Oh I don’t want the responsibility of retainer pay, I just want retainer pay.”
So can we possibly think that it’s better to reward those who never put in the time and commitment?
“Why go into the Military just marry one and you can be married for six months and divorce, no fault, and you can get half his or her retirement pay for life. Then marry another one, and another one, it just doesn’t matter you can keep getting paid without having to ever serve! Why Serve!
Now it doesn’t stop there because if you’ve kept up with the news the latest extortion by individuals like this is to have babies for couples who can’t, their husbands are generally deployed. These women are getting paid to have babies and using their government benefits to foot the hospital prenatal and delivery bills, etc. So now the American taxpayer further has the “benefit” of supporting their “baby making business” and the attitude of the women that were interviewed on television went something like this, “well you deployed our husbands you owe us”.
No one forced these women to marry and in many cases a military lifestyle is more than they had before the marriage.
In the case of my annonymous friend Military Joe he married a woman who basically lived in a dirt hut from another country. He brought her to the states fully educated her out of his own pocket. She refused to work and help the family then she spends years threatening to leave him and take her education back to her own country and take him for everything he’s got too. Nice lady, huh?
Well again the American taxpayer is now afforded the benefit of paying for an ex spouse who wants to not only take away money for life from our Military Man’s retainer pay but who is going to verify when she dies overseas? Or will DFAS simply say as they have in the past “too much paperwork”. Therefore, if she dies overseas and the money is put into an account and family members keep using it then in essence the American Taxpayer is supporting several families overseas and they aren’t the wisest.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch everyone in America is saying, “where’s all the money? why are we going broke? Why are we in so much debt? What is the government doing with all the money.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I don’t think the government knows what it’s doing with all the money. We are the endless cash cow for ex spouses, overseas families. We are the workhorses and everyone else is benefitting off of the ones who do and did all the hard work.
Our Military Men and Women deserve far better than this. Right now it really appears to me that the only viable line of work in this country is LAW.
You can be denied it if you can’t afford it, and who can really afford it? You won’t be briefed about important legislation like USFSPA and many years later you are blind sided by it.
Send your Sons and Daughters to law school first and foremost or you stand to be victimized and enslaved.
If you read this and feel for these men and women in Uniform, “speak up, and speak out”.
STOP THE MADNESS! STOP THE INJUSTICE OF USFSPA!
Put the money back into the pockets of those that earned it! And protect America! Without protection we are putting Americans in harms way. Without people who are willing to serve or be retained because of broken promises, bad treatment and looting of our Military Men and Women we will not be able to defend ourselves!
Pay the ones that go out and take the bullets for you.
MILITARY RETIRED PAY DOES NOT PASS THE LEGAL TEST OF PROPERTY. IT NEVER HAS AND IT NEVER WILL.
When the military member dies the retainer pay stops! Then in essence we have defined property as “military men and women”.
SINCE WHEN IN THIS COUNTRY CAN A PERSON BE ANOTHER PERSONS PROPERTY?
FORGIVE ME IF I’M WRONG. BUT I WAS UNDER THE DISTINCT BELIEF THAT PRESIDENT LINCOLN FREED THE SLAVES.
BUT IT APPEARS that PAT SCHROEDER has been endowed with powers to legislate slavery back into existence.