California National Guard awarded the bonuses in error fiasco

[Blk04L]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/25/us/national-guard-recruitment-bonus-repayment/index.html

Master Sgt. Susan Haley's family is the epitome of military sacrifice. She's a 24-year veteran. Her husband served for 26 years. Their son lost his leg serving in Afghanistan.

But now, the California National Guard is demanding more sacrifices from her -- to the tune of $650 a month.
"$650 is a quarter of our monthly income. And you just can't all of a sudden come up with that money," Haley told CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday. "We have depleted our savings."
Haley is one of thousands of veterans being forced to repay millions of dollars in re-enlistment bonuses after the California National Guard awarded the bonuses in error. Years later, officials realized many of the veterans were not actually eligible for the bonuses and said they wanted that money back -- with interest.
Christopher Van Meter earned a Purple Heart for his sacrifice in Iraq, where he was hurled from an armored vehicle. But he, too, is making enormous sacrifices for the state Guard's mistake.
"We were paying upward $1,300 a month back to that recoupment," he said. "We weren't able to afford everything -- food for the kids, a day care."
The California National Guard and several members of Congress say they would love to see the debts waived. But so far, no one has made that happen.

Pretty ****ed up situation.
And charging interest to boot.

 

[Blown 89]

California. What did you expect?

 

[Blk04L]

California. What did you expect?

Not sure what to believe, but according to California National Guard:

The California National Guard also said it doesn't have the authority to ignore the debts -- even if it wants to.
"The bonus audit and recoupment process is a federal program governed and adjudicated by the National Guard Bureau and the Department of the Army. The California National Guard does not have the authority to unilaterally waive these debts," it said in a statement.
"However, the California National Guard welcomes any law passed by Congress to waive these debts. Until that time, our priority is to advocate for our soldiers during this difficult process."

 

[WireEater]

This should come out of the pockets of those who screwed it up. Not the people who deserved and earned it.

 

[BRNG ITT]

sdrawkcab-ssa si ainrofilaC

 

[BlueSnake01]

This should come out of the pockets of those who screwed it up. Not the people who deserved and earned it.

Agree, and on top of that they have to pay for interest…. What a bunch of morons, man I hate this state.

 

[nofire]

sdrawkcab-ssa si ainrofilaC

ICWUTUDIDTHUR


And people wonder why no one trusts the gov't anymore. They need to get on this NOW to stop Cali from going after the veterans. And give the money back to the ones that have already paid it back in. Once that's done, prosecute everyone responsible that knew it was a lie.

 

[Blown 89]

This should come out of the pockets of those who screwed it up. Not the people who deserved and earned it.

If they shouldn't have had in the the first place they neither earned nor deserve it but it shouldn't come out of their pockets at this point. Whoever screwed up needs to take responsibility. The majority of Congress are millionaires as is the state positions in California. Take it out of their pockets IMO

 

[DHG1078]

I would have thought there was a statue of limitations on this sort of thing.

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

It's no different than if you get an overpayment from Social Security or the IRS. They WILL get it back, one way or another.

 

[oldmodman]

Problem. California.

Solution. Leave California, become self employed. Don't keep any money in your name anywhere it can be seized.

 

[bdcardinal]

Would be nice if either Obama or whoever gets elected uses an Executive Order and makes the debt go away. They use Executive Orders for everything else, might as well do it for something useful.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

has anything actually spelled out in detail wtf happened with all these supposed incorrect payouts? All Ive seen so far is generalities about the situation.

 

[SolarYellow]

This should come out of the pockets of those who screwed it up. Not the people who deserved and earned it.

How was the money earned and deserved?

 

[2000gt4.6]

1300 a month, how much did he get for a bonus? 100 grand?

 

[Zemedici]

1300 a month, how much did he get for a bonus? 100 grand?

probably do something where they pay it back in 18 months or 2 years or some shit.

 

[Sonic605hp]

People got the bonus through no fault of their own....recruiters falsified information to hit their quotas, how is that the same?

It's no different than if you get an overpayment from Social Security or the IRS. They WILL get it back, one way or another.

 

[NastyNate420]

Yeah what Sonic605H said basically happened. Its messed up!

 

[R.D.P.]

I blame Obama - somehow this must be his fault, we just need to wait for all the facts. Or if not him, it was definitely Clinton...

OK - being serious. The people that did it HAVE been prosecuted and convicted. This didn't just happen. It was years ago that the actual fraud occurred. The soldiers re-enlisted under the pretense of these bonuses, so there should be no attempting to take the money back. The people that did the crime don't have the money to re-pay it, so the people that enpowered them to be in the position to commit the crime need to take it on the chin. In this case, that means the US government. This will be resolved in the next week (at most). It's getting way too much press coverage. The soldiers won't have to pay it back.

 

[Blk04L]

People got the bonus through no fault of their own....recruiters falsified information to hit their quotas, how is that the same?

And who knows if they would of signed up if they didn't receive said bonus.