European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes april 1985 cola next target of retirement critics adjustments will almost certainly be Cut by Dwight trimmer Washington Bureau Washington As the debate Over the military retirement system the As Well As critics of the will probably look at cutting Cost of living adjustment cola to military retired cola will almost certainly be a House armed services committee staff member with de lays or a lessening of the asking that his name not be the staffer said cutting the costo living adjustment is not really a fundamental retirement re he pointed out that cuts in cola result in immediate an obvious attraction to budget Cut reducing military retired pay for future retirees would not show savings for changed seven times cola has a history of since the Cost of living adjustment mechanism for military retired pay has been changed seven until retired pay increased at the same time and at the same rate As Active duty that called was scrapped by Congress in the late when the Cost of military retired pay climbed to a Hal billion dollars that Price tag is More than recomputation was replaced by periodic costo living like social Security and other Federal pen those adjustments Are linked to the consumer Price which measures increases in the Cost of living military retired pay was adjusted whenever the Chi increased by at least 3 percent and held there for three retired pay would then increase by the amount of the Chi hike plus a 1 percent that adjustment process resulted in a 48 percent in crease in military retired pay from 1972 to during the same Active duty military pay increased 32 military retirement costs topped the billion Mark in and Congress made two costo living adjustment it dropped the 1 percent then it decided that costo living adjustments would be made to Mili tary retired pay not in Congress changed those semiannual adjust ments to annual for fiscal 1984 and Congress further delayed costo living adjust in each of those it stretched the annual interval to 13 months Between Congress made a change in 1982 to All Federal pen but it affected military retirees More than anyone else when it Cut cola in half for Federal retirees under age about 80 percent of Federal retirees under age 62 Are former military members about 70 percent of military retirees fall into that age the so called half cola change was Only Congress passed half cola for three fiscal 84 and at that it projected that the Chi increase for those three years would be percent and it based future half cola raises on those in fiscal the Chi actually increased so the percent cola hike received by Federal Reti Rees under age 62 was nearly a costo living in when the Chi increase for fiscal 1984 also proved to be less than projected Congress reverted to full increases for All Federal in april Congress repealed in at the same time half cola was Congress delayed cola increases to Federal retirees for the next three it decided that the 1983 cola should be paid in May rather than the 1984 adjustment in june and the 1985 one in payments in 1983 were in fact delayed a until the following year another change to Colas took revamped entire mechanism Congress dropped plans to delay Retiree costo living it revamped the entire mechanism in favor of the one now being Federal Reti Rees receive a costo living hike to their pensions each that raise equals the Chi increase from the third Quarter of one year jul september to the third Quarter of the the fiscal 1986 Federal would scrap All Colas for the next fiscal Federal civilian and would receive no costo living in creases in december cola hikes would be reinstated in december since military retired pay has increased 169 according to defense department during that military Active duty pay has in creased 129 and the Chi has jumped 154 per statistics used in this Story Are from information papers on the military retirement system provided by the department of defense military compensation pensions recomputed for recalled retirees by Dwight trimmer Washington Bureau Washington this for the first time since the late the retired pay of a group of Eugis has been recomputed at higher Active duty until military retirees pensions were increased at the same time and at the same rate As Active duty that process recomputation was scrapped in the late 1950s and replaced with periodic costo living adjustments to military re tired during the Vietnam the military recalled to Active duty a number of retired senior cos with combat skills and exp most of those according to the were John a Senate armed services committee staff member familiar with the said the military made a prom ise to those Eugis that was forbidden by Roddy explained that the military promised them their retired pay would be recomputed that their military pensions would be prefigured based on Active duty pay Scales when they retired again after the fiscal 1985 defense authorization Bill resolved the a provision of that Bill gave those retirees what the Mili tary had promised the Bill authorized the military to re compute Thier pensions based on pay Scales at the time they left Active duty the second the Bill affects military Reti Rees recalled to Active duty for at least two years Between and nobody really knows How Many people Are said although he estimated the number at perhaps to he said such a Small amount of Money was involved that the congressional Bud get office didst calculate the Cost of re the recomputed retired pay was effective Roddy retired pay before that Date was not he japanese look at problem in different ways obstacles in path of easing Trade tensions Washington a generations of cultural Dif diverse views of How to conduct business and a Economy roaring ahead of the rest of the world Are among the obstacles to reducing Trade tensions Between the United states and we really Are talking about different ways in which two Sovereign entities look at Lionel undersecretary of Commerce for International said recently before a Trade group in prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone sought to go above the Heads of an entrenched japanese bureaucracy and his Politi Cal rivals tuesday when he spoke directly to the japanese urging them to please buy foreign there is a Long Way to go before that the japanese traditionally rely on exports to pay for the raw materials they must import for their Island and other imports Are japanese Industry and a massive bureaucracy have set up a series of mazes on the Way to the marketplace that foreign companies find almost impossible to and the prime minister in that country political system is not Strong enough by himself to decree an end to the the United states is asking Japan to be less a fundamental premise of american Trade policy fora generation has been National treatment you must do unto our companies essentially what you do for your Olmer that treat american companies in Japan the Way you treat japanese companies in he were now asking for something we Are asking for american companies in Japan to be treated As japanese companies Are treated in the United that is something the japanese Are not yet willing to the japanese do not see deregulation As the positive action it is viewed As in the United when we say one of the things we mean is to get the government out of the to provide at least As few of them As you to prevent the intervention of the to disallow discretionary Olmer Well intentioned people in serving in govern ment cringe at that he adding that such a belief stems from a deep rooted belief that the government has a larger responsibility to the consume it is not a buyer beware White House chief of staff Donald Regan acknowledged that the Effort to open japans markets requires More than just the elimination of specific it requires a change in China agrees to allow bibles to be published peking a for the first time since communist Rule began in a foreign Church group has been invited to help print bibles and other Christian literature in the United Bible societies regional office in Hong Kong signed an agreement last month allowing it to establish a printing press in said Han associate general Secretary of the China Christian the be operated by chivas new Amity will be Large enough to produce half a million bibles a although the actual number has not been deter Han attitudes toward foreign changing deeply entrenched habits and attitudes is not an easy the United has become a victim of its own despite All the very real problems that youve heard about americas share of world exports was the same 12 percent last year As in when the Dollar was weak and the Trade deficit was comparatively vice president George Bush told a group of Bankers even though our share of exports has remained steady the last few Bush our share of world imports has soared from under 13 percent in 1980 to an estimate of Over 17 percent in two thirds of the growth in world Trade since 1982 has come from american he with lower taxes and reduced the United states became an attractive site for and for eign currencies flooded third world which had been on a borrowing Binge in the had to Cut Back on their foreign purchases to pay their and exports to those countries dried for Bush in 1981 we ran a billion Trade surplus with the six High debt latin american coun tries last year we ran a billion in there is Only so much output that other countries can the Trade deficit with Japan was billion last take away All barriers to the japanese push the yen to a sharply higher level against the and i believe the would still run a Trade deficit with perhaps on the order of Olmer