Bill O'reilly Is An Idiot!

[Gimpy]

Join in and stand up for our homeless veterans

Last night on FOX NEWS CHANNEL during his show, in response to a comment about homeless veterans and how democratic candidate John Edwards has recognized how serious this problem really is, Bill O'Reilly said "They may be out there, but there's not many of them out there. OK?"


But this is simply not true. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, almost 200,000 homeless veterans sleep on our nation's streets every night.


Please take a minute to sign an open letter to Bill O'Reilly, and join in the effort by calling on him to set the record straight. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) has made it easy - just click the link below.


http://www.billwaswrong.com


Thank you!


Gimp

[SuperScout]

Isn't this the very same organization that endorsed the wannabee who claimed he was an Iraq War veteran, had participated in mass murders, yada, yada, yada, when in fact he washed out of basic training as being militarily unfit? And we're supposed to believe their statistics? Riggggggggggght!!

[Gimpy]

Originally Posted by SuperScout

Isn't this the very same organization that endorsed the wannabee who claimed he was an Iraq War veteran, had participated in mass murders, yada, yada, yada, when in fact he washed out of basic training as being militarily unfit? And we're supposed to believe their statistics? Riggggggggggght!!

If you don't believe the TRUTH as reported by IAVA, then perhaps you'll believe it when reported by The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans?

As they CLEARLY state below!

And I quote:

"About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 195,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Right now, the number of homeless male and female Vietnam era veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war -- and a small number of Desert Storm veterans are also appearing in the homeless population

Who are homeless veterans?

The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (4 % are females). The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45% suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67% served our country for at least three years and 33% were stationed in a war zone.

How many homeless veterans are there?

Although completely accurate numbers are hard to come by -- no one keeps national records on homeless veterans as an ongoing basis-- the VA estimates that nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. And nearly 400,000 regularly experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country. According to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999), veterans account for 23% of all homeless people in America.

Why are veterans homeless?

In addition to the complex set of factors affecting all homelessness -- extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care -- a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks.


While "most homeless people are single, unaffiliated men … most housing money in existing federal homelessness programs, in contrast, is devoted to helping homeless families or homeless women with dependant children," according to "Is Homelessness a Housing Problem?" in Understanding Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives, published by Fannie Mae Foundation in 1997.

Doesn’t the Department of Veterans Affairs take care of homeless veterans?

To a certain degree, yes. According to the VA, in the years since it "began responding to the special needs of homeless veterans, its homeless treatment and assistance network has developed into the nation’s largest provider of homeless services, serving more than 100,000 veterans annually."

With an estimated 400,000 veterans homeless at some time during the year, the VA only reaches 25% of those in need ... leaving 300,000 veterans who must seek assistance from local government agencies and service organizations in their communities.

Since 1987, VA’s programs for homeless veterans have emphasized collaboration with community service providers to help expand services to more veterans in crisis. This partnership is credited with reducing the number of homeless veterans on any given day by nearly 25% over the last six years. For more information about VA homeless veteran programs, go to www.va.gov/homeless/.

What services do veterans need?

Veterans need a coordinated effort that provides secure housing and nutritional meals; essential physical health care, substance abuse aftercare and mental health counseling; and personal development and empowerment. Veterans also need job assessment, training and placement assistance.

NCHV strongly believes that all programs to assist homeless veterans must focus on helping veterans reach the point where they can obtain and sustain employment.

What can you do?

Determine the need in your community. Visit with homeless veteran providers. Contact your local mayor’s office for a list of providers.

Involve others. If you are not already part of an organization, pull together a few people who might be interested in attacking this issue.

Participate in local homeless coalitions. Chances are there is one in your community. If not, this may be the time to start bringing people together around this critical need.

Send a financial donation to your local homeless veteran provider.

Contact your elected officials, and discuss what is being done in your community for homeless veterans."

End quote"



Gimp

[SuperScout]

And why is this a governmental responsibility? How many of these alleged 195,000 ae drunks or dopers or just drop-outs of their own volition? Is this just another part of the Nanny State that will have to be supported by us taxpayers? Cradle to the grave coddling, with free massages thrown in every other year! Sheesh.....

[Gimpy]

Just what we need!

Another dose of that "compassionate CONservatism"............

Why I am I not surprised.


Gimp

[SuperScout]

Is your definition of compassion something that inevitably requires government involvement? Haven't you ever heard of, or practiced individual compassion? From what I've seen and experienced of government programs, they are the last agency that can accomplish anything either on time or on budget. And like a typical liberal, you didn't answer the question, just tried to deflect the attention away from it. Pity.

[Gimpy]

Originally Posted by SuperScout

Is your definition of compassion something that inevitably requires government involvement? Haven't you ever heard of, or practiced individual compassion? From what I've seen and experienced of government programs, they are the last agency that can accomplish anything either on time or on budget. And like a typical liberal, you didn't answer the question, just tried to deflect the attention away from it. Pity.

You're REALLY startin to piss me off, ya know.

Have you NO phuckin shame?

"Practiced individual compassion"???---Gimmie a freakin break!

Since WHEN have you or your kind practiced any such a damn thing?

What "experience" or first hand "knowledge" of this subject matter affords YOU the right or opportunity to denigrate or undermine its' advantages and credibility without so much of an ounce of verifiable proof to the contrary??

Here are some FACTS for you to "peruse" in order to better your comprehension of this terrible situation.


CHALENG


The Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education, and Networking Groups (CHALENG) for veterans is a nationwide initiative in which VA medical center and regional office directors work with other federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofit organizations to assess the needs of homeless veterans, develop action plans to meet identified needs, and develop directories that contain local community resources to be used by homeless veterans.

More than 10,000 representatives from non-VA organizations have participated in Project CHALENG initiatives, which include holding conferences at VA medical centers to raise awareness of the needs of homeless veterans, creating new partnerships in the fight against homelessness, and developing new strategies for future action.

DCHV

The Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV) Program provides biopsychosocial treatment and rehabilitation to homeless veterans. The program provides residential treatment to approximately 5,000 homeless veterans with health problems each year and the average length of stay in the program is 4 months. The domiciliaries conduct outreach and referral; vocational counseling and rehabilitation; and post-discharge community support.

HUD-VASH

This joint Supported Housing Program with the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides permanent housing and ongoing treatment services to the harder-to-serve homeless mentally ill veterans and those suffering from substance abuse disorders. HUD's Section 8 Voucher Program has designated 1,780 vouchers worth $44.5 million for homeless chronically mentally ill veterans. VA staff at 35 sites provide outreach, clinical care and ongoing case management services. Rigorous evaluation of this program indicates that this approach significantly reduces days of homelessness for veterans plagued by serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders.

Supported Housing

Like the HUD-VASH program identified above, staff in VA's Supported Housing Program provides ongoing case management services to homeless veterans. Emphasis is placed on helping veterans find permanent housing and providing clinical support needed to keep veterans in permanent housing. Staff in these programs operate without benefit of the specially dedicated Section 8 housing vouchers available in the HUD-VASH program but are often successful in locating transitional or permanent housing through local means, especially by collaborating with Veterans Service Organizations.


Comprehensive Homeless Centers

VA's Comprehensive Homeless Centers (CHCs) place the full range of VA homeless efforts in a single medical center's catchment area and coordinate administration within a centralized framework. With extensive collaboration among non-VA service providers, VA's CHCs in Anchorage, AK; Brooklyn, NY; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Little Rock, AR; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; and West Los Angles, CA, provide a comprehensive continuum of care that reaches out to homeless veterans and helps them escape homelessness.

VBA-VHA Special Outreach and Benefits Assistance

VHA has provided specialized funding to support twelve Veterans Benefits Counselors as members of HCMI and Homeless Domiciliary Programs as authorized by Public Law 102-590. These specially funded staff provide dedicated outreach, benefits counseling, referral, and additional assistance to eligible veterans applying for VA benefits. This specially funded initiative complements VBA's ongoing efforts to target homeless veterans for special attention. To reach more homeless veterans, designated homeless veterans coordinators at VBA's 58 regional offices annually make over 4,700 visits to homeless facilities and over 9,000 contacts with non-VA agencies working with the homeless and provide over 24,000 homeless veterans with benefits counseling and referrals to other VA programs. These special outreach efforts are assumed as part of ongoing duties and responsibilities. VBA has also instituted new procedures to reduce the processing times for homeless veterans' benefits claims.


Program Monitoring and Evaluation

VA has built program monitoring and evaluation into all of its homeless veterans' treatment initiatives and it serves as an integral component of each program. Designed, implemented, and maintained by the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) at VAMC West Haven, CT, these evaluation efforts provide important information about the veterans served and the therapeutic value and cost effectiveness of the specialized programs. Information from these evaluations also helps program managers determine new directions to pursue in order to expand and improve services to homeless veterans.


Listed below are some Veteran Specific Highlights of the Homeless in America:

23% of homeless population are veterans
33% of male homeless population are veterans
47% Vietnam Era
17% post Vietnam
15% pre Vietnam
67% served three or more years
33% stationed in war zone
25% have used VA Homeless Services
85% completed high school/GED compared to 56% of non-veterans
89% received Honorable Discharge
79% reside in central cities
16% reside in suburban areas
5% reside in rural areas
76% experience (or have experienced) alcohol, drug, or mental health problems
46% white males compared to 34% non-veterans
46% age 45 or older compared to 20% non-veterans

Veterans comprise 23 percent of the homeless , but only 5.7 percent of the U.S. population.
Veterans are nearly 5 times as likely to be homeless than the rest of our population.

Something, my Texican Compadre is dreadfully wrong.

These are FACTS that cannot be denied.

The VA has continued to delay diagnosis and ultimately deny treatment for a wide range of military related war injuries, shock, stress, chemical and various syndromes like PTSD and others. Gulf War Syndrome for example- denied for 95 percent of applicants by an artificial 2 year cutoff date for symptoms.

Why don't you quit adding to the ugliness of the world with all your egomaniacal and utterly prejudiced, biased and obviously uneducated (on the subject matter anyway) ranting and ravings?


It's ugly enough without all of your and your kinds supposed "compassionate", ridiculous protestations of unfounded and outright deceptive distortions and misguided untruths.


It would do you good to "bone up" on the actual F-A-C-T-S of a particular subject BEFORE you open that large, obnoxious pie-hole under you nose and continually show folks around here your TRUE COLORS!


That there is homelessness in the United States of America is tragic; the fact that there are homeless veterans is criminal. Mostly men, who have fought our wars, spent countless days and nights in hell holes all over the world, been wounded, lost friends defending our way of life ... only to return to live under a bridge? This should not stand, but it does.


This is not just the current administration's fault; it is every administration's fault since Valley Forge. But since we are at war now and we have soldiers being blown up and killed, this administration should be solving this issue — and it is NOT.


But a John Edwards administration would at LEAST try!


The veterans are homeless, not just because we have tough economic times, this issue existed in the best of times. Those who go to war for us, those who lost their limbs for us, those who risk it all for us, should at least have a place to call home, not in some damn box on a heating grate in the middle of city square or some alleyway.


The ridiculous commentary of Bill O'Reilly about John Edwards efforts to try and solve the problem of homeless vets at least had the issue on the front pages and on TV.


And also exposes the likes of folks like you who obviously have NO FREAKIN CLUE about this tragedy!


Gimp

[SuperScout]

I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate you, assuming you're teachable, about all the things I do that woiuld qualify as a charitable event. Besides that, it's none of your business.

Just because there are veterans that are homeless, living under a bridge, etc, etc. why is that the fault of the federal government, or why is that something for which the federal government is responsible? You failed to answer the question of how many are there by their own choice or as a result of making some very bad decisions. Since when is the federal govenrment responsible for someone's stupidity and poor choices? I don't deny that there are homeless people, and homeless veterans, and the organizations with which I work devote themselves to extending a hand up, not a hand out. We help people who are willling to help themselves, not the sluggards, drunks and dopers that are leaching off our society. Let them rot in their own waste.

[Gimpy]

Originally Posted by SuperScout

I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate you, assuming you're teachable, about all the things I do that woiuld qualify as a charitable event. Besides that, it's none of your business.

Just because there are veterans that are homeless, living under a bridge, etc, etc. why is that the fault of the federal government, or why is that something for which the federal government is responsible? You failed to answer the question of how many are there by their own choice or as a result of making some very bad decisions. Since when is the federal govenrment responsible for someone's stupidity and poor choices? I don't deny that there are homeless people, and homeless veterans, and the organizations with which I work devote themselves to extending a hand up, not a hand out. We help people who are willling to help themselves, not the sluggards, drunks and dopers that are leaching off our society. Let them rot in their own waste.

The second paragraph of your post above confirms and validates every thing I said about you and your ignorance of this subject.

And, since you claim to be such a proponent of the writings and programs established by our mutual benefactor, Bill W.----------I feel absolutely comfortable in stating that you obviously FAILED to complete (or are failing to WORK) a NUMBER of the "12 steps" he has insisted anyone who chooses a full committment to his "program" MUST continually adhere too!

You need help my friend.


Gimp

[reconeil]

Gimpy, Gimpy, Gimpy.
If you weren't so-damn-silly & politically fanatical, you could be downright funny.

Regardless, why keep acting like a moron or like: "The Pot calling The Kettle black"
and/or an actual idiot calling a decent American like Bill O'Reilly an idiot?
Are you NUTS???

You can't force ANYONE (even 100% DISABLED VETERANS) off the streets & to seek help.
Also, cannot force many 100% Disabled Veterans with their nice TAX FREE monthly
allotments, to spend same on food, lodging & travel to The VA for ALSO FREE MEDS,...
INSTEAD & AS SO MANY SPEND on either drugs or booze (or both).

In essence Gimpy,...Get Real for-a-change.
Don't let your devout allegiance (ABOVE ALL ELSE) to your Democrat gods & godesses of
politics further screw-up what's left of your mind. Obviously, can't be very much left.

Neil