Figure assumes 30-year fixed mortgage, a 20% down payment and no more than 30% of gross monthly income spent on housing

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara: $370,069 required annual income, 54.3% increase since 2019

2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont: $263,023, 30.5% increase

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: $315,892, 86% increase

4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad: $258,926, 73.4% increase

5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: $206,777, 54.9% increase

Source: Realtor.com

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The Associated Press

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.

Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above, or officer of equivalent Navy rank.

There are about 800 general officers in the military, but only 44 of those are four-star general or flag officers. Hegseth has already directed the firings of more than a half-dozen three- and four-star generals since taking office, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., saying those eliminations were “a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take.”

Hegseth said the cuts aimed to free the military from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”

The Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader federal government cuts. Hegseth last week ordered a sweeping transformation to the Army to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting personnel to units in the field.

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Trump wants to rename Veterans Day, V-E Day

By Vivian Ho

The Washington Post

President Donald Trump said he will rename Veterans Day as “Victory Day for World War I” as a way for the country to celebrate its military victories.

In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump said that in addition to the Nov. 11 federal holiday, he was also going to rename May 8, a day widely celebrated as V-E Day, for Victory in Europe Day, as “Victory Day for World War II.” The post was not accompanied by an executive order, and only Congress has the authority to create or change a federal holiday.

“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” Trump wrote in the post.

Trump said in the same post that the United States “did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II” — a statement that is likely to receive some backlash from U.S. allies that lost millions of military service members, in addition to civilians who died and infrastructure that was destroyed in bombings. The Soviet Union, in particular, is believed to have suffered between 8.8 million and 10.7 million military deaths and 24 million civilian deaths.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s announcement.

Veterans Day, which was originally called Armistice Day, is observed as a federal holiday on Nov. 11 each year — the day the armistice ending World War I was signed in 1918. A number of other allied nations, including Britain and France, commemorate the holiday as Remembrance Day.

In the United States, Congress renamed the holiday in 1954 following World War II and the Korean War to broaden the “significance of an existing holiday in order that a grateful nation, on a day dedicated to the cause of world peace, may pay homage to all of its veterans.”

V-E Day, which marks the day the World War II allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945, is not a federal holiday.

Only Congress has the authority to create, end or rename a federal holiday, said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University. “This is a power textually committed to Congress,” Schultz said.

Though Trump has bypassed political norms through his executive orders in his first weeks in office, the president ultimately “lacks this authority to create a national holiday,” Schultz said. Presidents can issue proclamations to mark a day of mourning or to celebrate a group or a person, but that proclamation has no binding force in law. “Congress must legislate to create a holiday,” Schultz said.

Schultz also noted that no federal holiday is binding on the 50 states or private businesses.

Veterans Day is not the only federal holiday to catch Trump’s attention recently. He posted on Truth Social on Sunday that he was “bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes,” saying “Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much.”

Columbus Day remains a federally recognized holiday, but at least 14 states and more than 100 localities have moved to call the day Indigenous Peoples’ Day in recognition of the harm that Columbus and his expedition caused for Native Americans.

President Joe Biden became the first president to commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021.

The last federal holiday created was Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in Texas, which Congress approved overwhelmingly in 2021. Biden said signing the legislation into law was “one of the greatest honors” of his presidency.

Source: https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=45505414-13ed-46ac-934a-c515859e002d&share=true

Aid for USD students with military ties

$10M matching gift from philanthropists Daniel, Phyllis Epstein

By Gary Robbins

Union-Tribune

SAN DIEGO — Prominent La Jolla philanthropists Dan and Phyllis Epstein are making a $10 million matching gift to the University of San Diego to help the private Catholic school better serve students who have ties to the military.

The university, located in San Diego’s Linda Vista neighborhood, has more than 900 military-connected students and has long maintained deep connections with Navy and Marine bases across the region.

The gift, announced on Thursday, will help establish the Epstein Family Foundation Military-Connected Center for Excellence, provide scholarships and offer career assistance and counseling to students making the transition to civilian life, USD says.

“Our family is honored to support this initiative, ensuring that military-connected students have the resources they need and deserve,” Dan Epstein, an Army veteran and founder of San Diego-based real estate company ConAm, said in a statement.

For years, Dan and Phyllis Epstein have been among the county’s most active donors. Their gifts have included a $10 million donation to Cal State San Marcos, much of it to support engineering programs, and $10 million in seed money to UC San Diego to create a 2,650-seat outdoor amphitheater.

They also collectively gave UCSD and the University of Southern California $50 million to support Alzheimer’s research.

Source: https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=57515bbc-6201-4203-a8e1-bd1f456d8eb0&share=true

The Army is planning a sweeping transformation that will merge or close headquarters, dump outdated vehicles and aircraft, slash as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shift personnel to units in the field, according to a new memo and U.S. officials familiar with the changes.

In a memo released Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the transformation to “build a leaner, more lethal force.” Discussions about the changes have been going on for weeks, including decisions to combine a number of Army commands.

Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said the potential savings over five years would be nearly $40 billion.

U.S. officials said as many as 40 general officer slots could be cut as a result of the restructuring. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

The changes come as the Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader federal government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

In his memo, Hegseth said the Army must merge Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command into one entity and merge Forces Command, Army North and Army South into a single headquarters “focused on homeland defense and partnership with our Western Hemisphere allies.”

In addition, he called for the Army to consolidate units, including Joint Munitions Command and Sustainment Command, as well as operations at various depots and arsenals. Officials said that while the mergers will result in fewer staff positions, there won’t be a decrease in the Army’s overall size.

Source: 

The Associated Press

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The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Thursday asked the Supreme Court to let it start enforcing a ban on transgender troops serving in the military that has been blocked by lower courts.

The administration’s emergency application was the latest in a series of requests asking the justices to pause decisions by trial judges that prevent it from moving forward with the blitz of executive orders President Donald Trump has signed.

The new case concerns an order issued on the first day of Trump’s second term. It revoked an executive order from President Joe Biden that had let transgender service members serve openly.

A week later, Trump issued a second order saying that expressing what it called a false “gender identity” conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an “honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” and that requiring others to recognize a “falsehood is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

In February, the Defense Department implemented Trump’s order, issuing a new policy requiring all transgender troops to be forced out of the military. According to the Defense Department, about 4,200 current service members, or about 0.2% of the military, are transgender.

Service members sued to block the policy, saying it ran afoul of the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

In March, Judge Benjamin H. Settle, of the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash., agreed, issuing a nationwide injunction blocking the ban.

The government had failed to show that the ban “is substantially related to achieving unit cohesion, good order or discipline,” wrote Settle, who was appointed by President George W. Bush. “Although the court gives deference to military decision making, it would be an abdication to ignore the government’s flat failure to address plaintiffs’ uncontroverted evidence that years of open transgender service promoted these objectives.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block Settle’s ruling while it considered the administration’s appeal.

The administration then sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court.

At a minimum, the government’s application said, the Supreme Court should limit Settle’s ruling to the plaintiffs in the case and lift the balance of the nationwide injunction.

The court told the plaintiffs to file their brief opposing the ban May 1, and the justices will probably rule on the government’s application not long after.

Source: https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=19e82470-c69d-4cbe-9071-639b8296994d&share=true

The Department of Veterans Affairs is establishing a task force to investigate employee reports of alleged anti-Christian bias among their colleagues, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to infuse its agenda with religious purpose and champion the rights of Christians.

VA Secretary Doug Collins this week sent a rare department-wide email requesting employees to report any allegations of “anti-Christian discrimination” among their colleagues. The email, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, asks for “names, dates, and locations” of any alleged incidents to be reported.

President Donald Trump has launched a government-wide task force aimed at rooting out any bias against Christians, who are by far the largest faith group in the United States and hold significant political power. The two-year task force, chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi and composed of Cabinet and other government representatives, is supposed to “identify any unlawful anti-Christian” actions under the Biden administration, change any objectionable policies and recommend steps to rectify any past failures.

The establishment of the task force at the VA comes as much of the staff is facing uncertainty about the future of the sprawling agency charged with providing medical and other benefits for millions of military veterans. The department is in the midst of a resizing effort that could lead to cuts of over 80,000 jobs.

The email from Collins instructs employees to report any incidents of “anti-Christian discrimination,” including “adverse responses to requests for religious exemption under the previous vaccine mandates,” reprimands for displaying Christian imagery or symbols, “unofficial understandings hostile to Christian views” and retaliation of threats for abstaining from procedures like abortions or hormone therapy for people who are transgender.

Other federal agencies, including the State Department, are setting up similar reporting hot lines.

While some Christian groups and conservative organizations have welcomed Trump’s wider effort, it has also been criticized for prioritizing the rights of Christians over other religious minorities, as well as intermingling the church and state.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, warned that the task force could divide “the veteran community” by favoring Christianity over other religions.

Source: Associated Press

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By Maura Fox

Union-Tribune

Health care workers demonstrate in front of the VA hospital in La Jolla on Wednesday. Nelvin C. Cepeda / U-T

Local veterans and their allies and health care providers, along with Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Mike Levin, spoke out Wednesday against proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs at a pair of events in San Diego County.

Nurses from the VA Medical Center in La Jolla — joined by veterans, patients and other union members — rallied outside the hospital to protest the cuts, which they say could have devastating impacts for the veterans in their care and overwork the workers still left.

“Every position is mission critical,” Andrea Johnson, a nurse there, told the crowd. “Eliminating housekeeping, dietary, transportation, respiratory therapists and lab technicians will lead to delays in admissions and delays in care, which can and will result in negative patient outcomes.”

Padilla came to the event to show his support, just before heading to an afternoon discussion in Del Mar with Rep. Mike Levin and county leaders focused on how to confront what he called “cruel” proposed cuts to the VA.

The Trump administration says it plans to cut roughly 80,000 jobs — or about 15% — from the VA, which provides health care, housing, pensions, education stipends and more to the country’s 15.8 million military veterans, close to 200,000 of whom live in San Diego County.

The proposal is one of several ways the administration has said it aims to slash jobs and services across the federal government, and comes in addition to the tens of thousands of federal jobs the administration has already moved to cut.

The planned VA cuts also come just after the department delivered more than 127 million health care appointments in fiscal year 2024, up 6% over the previous year.

In 2022, the VA also expanded services to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their time in the service, which has brought nearly 800,000 more veterans to enroll in VA health care.

Many local veterans have expressed outrage at the premise of cuts; in mid-March, about 200 people gathered at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park to protest them.

The VA told The San Diego Union-Tribune last month that it would go through a “deliberative process” to make cuts without cutting services for veterans.

“We’re not talking about reducing medical staff or claims processors, we’re talking about reducing bureaucracy and inefficiencies that are getting in the way of customer convenience and service to veterans,” agency spokesperson Pete Kasperowicz said in an email.

Many people at Wednesday’s union rally said they are happy with the care they have received from the VA and say that cuts anywhere within the agency could hurt the services they get.

George Wilson, a U.S. Army veteran who is currently being treated for colon cancer at the VA Medical Center, has no other health insurance and worries the cuts will prevent hospital staff from fully caring for patients like him.

Other veterans said they were already feeling some negative consequences.

Edward Stephen Green, a Vietnam veteran, suffered a spinal stroke six months ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He first received care at Sharp Hospital before transferring to the VA hospital 12 weeks ago, and he describes the care from the VA as “the best you can get.”

But he’s noticed some recent hiccups. He said there are fewer staffers working in food service, which slows down the process of getting food out to patients, and sometimes the hospital runs out of food items all together.

Morale among hospital staff is low, said Angel Zermeno, who works in housekeeping there.

A U.S. Army veteran himself, Zermeno said he feels satisfied with his work when he comes home each day, knowing he could help make veterans’ stay more comfortable. But the cuts are complicating that.

“It’s distressing, because we see what we need to do,” he said. “And because of those budget cuts, we’re not gonna have the necessary personnel to serve our veterans.”

Veterans like Zermeno make up about 30% of the VA workforce. About 630,000 veterans work for the federal government at large, making up about the same share of the federal workforce.

Padilla stressed that point Wednesday afternoon at the meeting in Del Mar with state and local leaders to discuss the proposed cuts.

“It’s double the insult to injury when you talk about reducing support, reducing services and care — and taking away their jobs and their livelihood,” he said.

Padilla and other leaders said they are attuned to the worries from veterans and VA staff and have seen how care has already been affected.

Rep. Mike Levin said the lack of communication at the VA has presented challenges in carrying out regional programs for veterans, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which provides housing assistance to homeless veterans. “Just getting a call back, getting a human being on the other end of the line, has become more difficult,” he said.

The elected officials said they trying to combat the proposed cuts, pointing to the Putting Veterans First Act, a bill that would reinstate and provide full backpay and benefits to all veterans fired from federal jobs, including VA employees.

Original Article

Is the U.S. at risk of a brutal fiscal crisis? No doubt. When 13% of the federal budget goes to paying interest on the national debt — and the percentage keeps going up — America is on a path that has yielded chaos in dozens of nations and set the stage for World War II.

Is excessive military spending a key part of the problem? Most budget experts say yes. As of last year, the $900 billion-plus the U.S. spent on defense was more than the next nine nations combined. Analysts have long argued for cutting the number of troops and reducing U.S. deployments around the world by embracing force-multiplying technology — and by leaving behind costly 20th-century strategies focused on winning protracted land wars.

But until Jan. 20, no one with real power had made the argument that military belt-tightening should begin by squeezing the comparably small programs helping nearly 16 million veterans. Since then, the Trump administration has aggressively pushed a plan to cut 83,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which helps veterans with health care, housing, educational aid and more. It has done so even as Donald Trump continues the presidential tradition of embracing service members. “They love our country and they love being in our military again,” he said on March 4. The “again” shows he thinks he deserves the credit.

Yet as a comprehensive March 23 U-T account detailed, the president’s embrace doesn’t extend to those not on active duty — despite his support from 65 percent of veterans in November. Instead, Trump’s meat-cleaver approach to VA funding has led to dread and anxiety among the nearly 200,000 veterans in San Diego County. Many grasp that as with the White House’s approach to Social Security, the intent is to reduce spending on benefits — not by reducing them but by making them more difficult to obtain due to heavy workloads.

What’s striking is how few Republican lawmakers have anything — good or bad — to say about this cruel approach. Outside of mild criticism from Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, chair of the veterans committee, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, most duck the issue — notably by skipping constituent town hall meetings. But as the stories grow of ailing or troubled veterans who die or attempt suicide because of their inability to get the VA’s help, these lawmakers can only hide for so long. And when they emerge, their failure to honor President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who served in our military and for their families and survivors should shape how their own service is remembered.

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By Maura Fox & Jeff McDonald
Union-Tribune

On days when the emphysema and the side effects of his traumatic brain injury are not flaring out of control, David Cochran sometimes leaves his house in Vista.

But simple things like traffic can set off his post-traumatic stress and the U.S. Army veteran quickly returns home, where he doesn’t feel so vulnerable to the possibility of hurting himself or others.

“I can’t be in crowds,” Cochran said. “I have trouble driving because of the road rage.”

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is the former Army major’s sole health care provider, overseeing his prescription medication regime and offering one-on-one therapy to help him process his experience in Iraq.

The VA has served him fairly well since he left the military in 2012, Cochran said.

But his anxiety has reached a slow boil in recent months as President Donald Trump’s administration slices jobs and services across the federal government, including the VA, where this month the administration announced it plans to cut more than 80,000 jobs.

Now, Cochran and other veterans in San Diego County are worried about how their benefits and services could be impacted by the staffing scale back, and how far the cuts will go. For some, the agency already has targeted specific cuts to Veterans

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