Cola Increase For Disabled Veterans

[SSGmajik]

For those who may not be familiar with the acronym BOHICA, it's what the artillery used to paint on their shells... (Bend Over Here It Comes Again).

The good news is that the Senate passed S. 2617 (a "gimme" every year) that guarantees vets a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) increase in their VA disability checks in 2009.

The bad news is that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that increase to be just 2.8%.

A 100% disabled vet now getting $2,527 a month can expect an extra $70 a month...not quite a tank of gas.

Thanks, Uncle Sugar!

Information comes from a Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) press release. Akaka is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Akaka press release here...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/scva08/scva073108-1.htm

Press release below:

addthis_pub = 'vawatchdog';

-------------------------

DEMOCRATIC PRESS RELEASE

July 31, 2008

SENATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES COLA INCREASE FOR DISABLED VETERANS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following statement regarding the Senate's passage of S. 2617, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008, last night by unanimous consent.

"I commend my colleagues for passing the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008. Many veterans and their survivors count on these monthly payments to get by, and in these hard times, we must not allow rising costs to eat away at their spending power. For veterans and their survivors who rely on their compensation, including nearly 18,000 served by VA's regional office in my home state of Hawaii, this COLA is the least we can do," said Akaka.

S. 2617, introduced by Senator Akaka, will adjust veterans' compensation rates to keep pace with inflation, effective December 1, 2008. According to recent data provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, this increase will go to 2.8 million veterans and over 300,000 surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for their consideration. While this year's cost-of-living increase has yet to be determined, the Congressional Budget Office has projected a 2.8 percent increase. Last year's increase was 2.3 percent.

[jimmy]

Core inflation has food and energy stripped out, but that isn't what is used to calculate our COLA. The CPI-W is what determines our COLA and does cover food and energy. Through June the CPI-W was up 5.7%, but will probably drop during the JUL-SEP period that determies our COLA.

The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:

FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, service meals and snacks)

HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)

APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry)

TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)

MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)

RECREATION (televisions, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);

EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);

OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).

Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services.

The CPI does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance. (These items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses.)

For each of the more than 200 item categories, using scientific statistical procedures, the Bureau has chosen samples of several hundred specific items within selected business establishments frequented by consumers to represent the thousands of varieties available in the marketplace. For example, in a given supermarket, the Bureau may choose a plastic bag of golden delicious apples, U.S. extra fancy grade, weighing 4.4 pounds to represent the Apples category.

[huskerfanfl]

I would prefer a 5% increase, but considering the fact that as a employee of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I am getting a whopping 1% pay raise I won't complain about any increase in my disability.

[rentalguy1]

Wow, Tim! I thought my wife and I had it bad. We're both city employees ( me: Bristol, TN, her: Bristol, VA) and I at leat got 2.5%. It seems my mood disorder outbursts cost me anything above a cola raise this year. My wife got a about 2% cola, but she got a step raise above that.

[jbasser]

2.8 percent. Lets see gas prices last year were 3.00 per gallon. Milk was 2.49, Hamburger was 1.99.

Now the has is 380, milk is 329, and hamburger is 299.

Gas has went up 26 percent, milk has went up 32 percent, hamburger has increased 50 percent.

WOW. I believe the CPI is a little out of tune or I have a definition. Consumer price insult.

Now for folks who also have SSDI. They will follow suit and raise the Medicare premiums so the that the folks would get zero.

This has the same effect as a VACCUM cleaner.

J