BUSH TAKES HIS ANGER OUT ON WAR VETERANS....this is just wrong

Post-9/11 Era Forum

Bush cuts veterans benefits by billions

By Diane Scarponi, Associated Press,

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114..._to_fighP.shtml

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Proposed Bush administration changes to veterans' benefits would jeopardize the health care of an estimated 21,000 Connecticut veterans, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro said Thursday.

The proposed cuts would affect veterans who have higher incomes and who were not disabled from their military service.

The cuts are not specified in the $63.8 billion Department of Veterans Affairs preliminary budget that narrowly passed Congress this month, but DeLauro said there is not enough money in the budget to fully fund the services in question.

''When I see a proposal and I see an administration that is reneging on the commitment that has been made to soldiers at the very same time that our young men and women are fighting overseas, it belies the imagination that this could happen,'' said DeLauro, D-3rd District.

The office of U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District., who is on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said there is enough money, and that the committee will block any attempt to cut veterans' benefits.

''The budget does not, by any stretch of the imagination, endorse what Bush wanted to do,'' said Simmons' spokesman, Todd Mitchell.

Leaders of disabled veterans' groups, appearing at a news conference with DeLauro at American Legion Post 89, urged veterans to call their members of Congress.

''Slowly but surely, they have been chipping away at services to veterans,'' said Mark Call, who is on the American Legion's National Affairs Council.

The Bush proposal would affect Priority 7 and Priority 8 veterans, who have higher incomes and do not have disabilities related to their military service.

The budget proposes to end new VA enrollments for Priority 8 veterans. Existing Priority 8 veterans, and existing or new Priority 7 veterans, would have to pay annual $250 enrollment fees and prescription drug copays of $15 instead of $7.

A Democratic congressional study, prepared for DeLauro, projected that about 1,800 Priority 8 veterans in Connecticut would no longer be able to enroll in VA health care if the plan goes through.

The additional costs would squeeze an additional 19,000 Priority 7 and 8 veterans in the state out of the VA system and cost those who remain an average of $600 more a year, according to the study by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform.

Call, a Vietnam veteran, said the extra costs will drive Priority 7 and 8 veterans away from VA care, since they are more likely to have private insurance. The VA system will suffer financially if it loses so many paying customers, he said.

The budget guidelines include $550 billion in tax cuts that President Bush and Republican leaders believe is necessary to stimulate the sluggish economy. Democrats oppose the tax cuts.

The guidelines also include a 10.7-percent increase for veterans' programs, or $6.2 billion more than last year.

The budget guidelines are now headed to committees that help will work out a final budget deal.

The office of U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, R-4th District, who sits on the Budget Committee, said the government needs to study how to provide better access to health care for the sickest and neediest veterans.

The number of veterans using VA health care has increased from 2.9 million in 1995 to about 4.4 million in 2002. Nationwide, about 280,000 veterans are on waiting lists for care, a report from Shays' office said.

Every war it seems the same bullsh!t goes on.

Get this - after the Falklands war, Thatcher wanted to ban injured and wheelboud troops from marching on the victory parade through London because she said they'd make the march look bad!

And British troops in the last gulf war have suffered and many died from a mysterious illnesses "gulf war syndrome" while the British Ministry of Defence has for years tried to riggle out of helping them or even recognising there was a problem.

I have some insight as my father and I are both Disabled American Veterans.
It is true that the VA needs to be cleaned up. There are thousands of patients that do NOT have a service connected diability. This takes a way from the true care needed by other veterans and is a huge burden funding wise. This is what he's trying to clear up. So don't get too hyped up and make this into something it's not.
As an example, if you have an income of 40K a year and are working full time with benefits, why would you need to go to the VA for an non service related injury and claim diability benefits from the government? This is typical. For a lot of people, the VA is just another free ride on the government.
As for the "gulf war syndrome". The U.S. is working on a resolution with testing for Chemical agents that have caused nervous disorders and unhealthy offspring. Yes, I said Chemical agents. Believe it or not, they were destroyed in the Golf war in Iraq. Imagine that? Those of you who think they don't exist in Iraq are suffering from some sort of denial. Also, depleated Uranium is also a cause of some of the "golf war syndrome" although it is not as extensive as the chemical agents.