vet benifits

[bill]

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December 23, 2003 | Daily Mislead Archive
Bush Pays Lipservice to Vets, Then Slashes Their Health Care


Late last week President Bush visited combat veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center. During his visit, he said "We have made a commitment to the troops, and we have made a commitment to their loved ones, and that commitment is that we will provide excellent health care - excellent care - to anybody who is injured on the battlefield."1

His comments stand in stark contrast to the policies he has pushed - and the record he has amassed - as President. Just this year alone, the President "announced his formal opposition to a proposal to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon's health-insurance system"- a slap in the face to thousands of troops, especially considering "a recent General Accounting Office report estimated that one of every five Guard members has no health insurance."2 The President also this year proposed to cut $1.5 billion (14%) out of funding for military family housing/medical facilities. This followed his 2002 budget which, according to major veterans groups, "fell $1.5 billion short" of adequately funding veterans care.3

This is not the first time the President has staged a photo-op to thank veterans at Walter Reed and then proposed policies that hurt veterans. A little less than a year ago, the President visited the medical hospital4, and then on the same day announced his proposal to cut off 164,000 veterans from the VA's prescription drug discount program.5

The result of the President's harsh treatment of veterans is that "more than 235,000 veterans are currently waiting 6 months or more for initial medical appointments" with "many veterans waiting 2 years just to be seen by a doctor."6 At Ft. Stewart, Georgia, UPI reported "hundreds of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers including many who served in the Iraq war are languishing in hot cement barracks here while they wait - sometimes for months - to see doctors."7 And CBS News reports that the administration appears, in some cases, to be denying benefits to soldiers wounded in Iraq. Specifically, many soldiers say they are seeing their pay and health benefits severely reduced after they are badly wounded.8

Sources:

1. President Bush Meets with Wounded Soldiers at Walter Reed, 12/18/2003.
2. Gannett News Service, 10/23/2003.
3. Independent Budget, 01/07/2002.
4. President Bush Meets with Wounded Soldiers at Medical Center, 12/17/2003.
5. "VA Cuts Some Veterans' Access to Health Care", Washington Post, 01/17/2003.
6. Independent Budget, Paralyzed Veterans of America.
7. "Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor", UPI, 10/17/2003.
8. "Wounded Troops Denied Benefits?", CBS News, 12/18/2003.

[Dave Schwartz]

A disgrace.

[BillW]

Where is the extra money budgeted for vet healthcare going if everything is being cut? I believe the spending bill just passed tacked on a bit over 10% to last years budget.

[Larry Hamilton]

I think it is a step forward in these disucssion to footnote your comments. However, try reputable sources. The news organzations you quote are more interested in subscriptions than truth.

I am relatively certain that you would not appreciate it if i footnoted Rush Limbaugh or Oliver North. We feel the same about the major media--they arent to be trusted and in general do not deserve the special treatment under our constitution.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by BillW
Where is the extra money budgeted for vet healthcare going if everything is being cut? I believe the spending bill just passed tacked on a bit over 10% to last years budget.

Bill

You are right..... I just read the other day that they added 10% to the numbers quoted in the above article and they proposed 10% a year for the next four years. We shall see if Congress keeps their promise.......

[lsbets]

Just this year alone, the President "announced his formal opposition to a proposal to give National Guard and Reserve members access to the Pentagon's health-insurance system"-

A very deceptive quote. While I would love to not have to pay for health insurance anymore because I serve in the reserves, it is by no means neccessary and is not a slap in the face that I do not get Tricare when on reserve duty. Currently, reservists get paid twp active duty days for each day worked, so on a 2 day weekend, I get 4 days paid. Several Democrats introduced a bill to make it one days pay, and the the Bush administration was firm inits opposition. Also, while I am on active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom, all co-pays and out of pocket expenses are waived, so my healthcare is 100% free - this was a Bush initiative. Normally, my wife would have had a 15-20% co pay and a $300 annual deductible. Again, I would not mind having Tricare all the time, but for 2 days work a month, my question is why? We have never had it, and the above quote makes it sound like it was taken away from us, a very misleading quote.

[BillW]

Originally posted by BillW
Where is the extra money budgeted for vet healthcare going if everything is being cut? I believe the spending bill just passed tacked on a bit over 10% to last years budget.

Sorry for quoting myself ... I should have said, passed by the house. I think the Senate takes a vote on the first day back.

Bill

[bill]

im not the smartest in the world on computers but i wouldnt mind you saying where your info comes from all i did was cut and paste sorry if my refe are that bad

[Larry Hamilton]

Damn fine question.."what do you use" I was faced with this very question during my graduate work.

It is often difficult to tell opinion and fiction from provable fact. One test is to determine if there is anything for sale. This MAY but not necessarily mean conflict of interest (truth and sales)--and the probabilities are high you will never know the difference.

One generally reputable source is journels. Legal journels, medical jounals, occupational journals, etc.--these documents are produced ONLY after the facts presented have been verified.

If you would begin a thread with, "Please print the lies and distortions in our every day media." We would talk of nothing else. That said, if you cut and paste their work, it is proper to quote them.

To get to specifics. What would I use to discuss Presidential shortcomings concerning this subject? I would use the facts/figures of the Budgeting Office and Vet's Administration output. The sources you posted are not official, verified, and in general represent nothing more than malicious gossip. OK, Am I being too rough on our media--I think not, just look at the latest from the New York Times--they admit to fabricating stories. What do you do when you have a confession that your source lies SOMETIMES?

[bill]

didnt the whitehouse admit to telling a few fibs(fabricating)

like i stated im not the smartest that posts on this board but i admit it

[Larry Hamilton]

Haven't seen that so cannot comment

[bill]

jesica lynch story

air force one spotted


word added to speach from deck(major fighting)

that he had to land in a fighter (too far out)


many more and you say you havent seen any of them


the end of this im sorry to post so will lurk and smile at some of the posts


bill

[Larry Hamilton]

you tricked me, I thought you wanted to engage in meaningful conversation...I should have known better

[JustRalph]

This info came out today......I thought you might find it interesting considering this thread.........

For those of you hammering the President on Vet issues......you may want to know that two years ago the President said he would increase Vet benefits in future budgets. It looks like he is keeping that promise. I am not happy with about half of what Bush does.....but this is a step in the right direction.

Veterans: The President’s FY 2005 budget for VA medical care is over 40% larger than when he took office – enabling a million more patients to receive treatment. He has also implemented changes to ensure that veterans receive timely and quality medical care, shortened the time needed to process a veteran’s disability claims, and put VA on track to eliminate the waiting lists for veterans in need of medical care this year.

[Secretariat]

Bill,

You're onto something. Whether you're democrat or republican this is an important issue, especially if you've served.

I am posting this, and though it is the UAW and Pelosi wrote the article, I think it provides the Democratic slant, and I woudl be interested in hearing the Republican rebuttals to each point one by one. It was a close vote in the house apparently.

http://www.uaw.org/atissue/atstory.cfm?atId=70

[JustRalph]

no matter how much money the President throws at something you guys will find a way to criticize it. Unless the Dems can take credit for it.......they find a problem with it.

You said it all when you said "Democratic Slant"

BTW....Pelosi is a Lying Bitch who has been caught adding the Democratic slant to things before. Why should I believe her now. It is funny........when the Repubs say something you call it a lie.......when the Dems do it.......it's their "Slant" interesting how that works.

All politicians are liars/slanters.........that's how they get to where they are. It's like a big magic show.....who's the better magician? ....it is up to us to decide which one's will do the least amount of damage to us. End of story..........

[Secretariat]

So JR, you have no rebuttal for Pelosi's points except she's a lying bitch.

Can see you weren't a member of the debate club in school.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by Secretariat
So JR, you have no rebuttal for Pelosi's points except she's a lying bitch. Can see you weren't a member of the debate club in school.

this isn't a debate. this is cross talk via different internet articles. It has all been said before. We can argue till the cows come proverbially marching home.............but in the end.......come November....we will cancel each others votes.