The "PAST" Determines The "FUTURE"!

[Gimpy]

Originally posted by SuperScout OK, so Smith was replaced by someone else. If veterans were worse off for that change, shame on the change-makers. I don't know any of the details under which one was replaced, but I suspect that there was some justification, other than the "Let's screw the veterans" mindsent as you claim.

And one more thing, if you DON'T KNOW any of the 'details' of Smiths removal..................then why pray tell did you portray yourself in the deceptive and misleading manner you did previously when you 'claimed' it was because Smiths 'term' had expired???

You sure as heck seem to be very, very prone to making either FALSE or MISLEADING statements, aren't you???

Why the hell would you do something like that?

Is that just Sooooooooooooo ingrained in the 'new' Republican Play Book that you (like those fellas in Washington) are unable to tell the facts from falsehoods???

Just asking? .. .......

[SuperScout]

So why don't you get back to the orginal point you were attempting to make, about how all those dastardly Republicans have cut funding for veterans. Just tell us, o ye of such research skill, if you can, how much the budget for the VA has increased, like I asked.

"OMB Director Bolten testifies that ?There have been three consecutive years preceding this one in which more there was more money requested by the Administration and more money appropriated by the Congress for the medical care portion of veterans services than was actually needed in that year. The appropriations have exceeded the VA medical care needs in the preceding three years by over half a billion dollars in each of the receding three years.? (testimony before the House Budget Committee) " One of your quotes. Sounds like this is great news!

[Gimpy]

Did you even READ who made that 'statement'????

Just another part of the 'Bush Propaganda' machine, that's who. Hell, this is the guy who heads up the Bush administrations own Office of Management & Budget (OMB), their OWN Director Bolten, what the hell do you EXPECT him to say???

He's part of the 'problem'...............NOT part of the 'solution'


You keep asking for PROOF.....................and I keep giving it to you..................and you keep denying it!

So then, here we go again!

###START###


Bush?s VA Healthcare Budget a Recipe for Disaster

Republicans call it an increase ? Vets? groups call it a ?shell game? ? Cuts in services and more vets add up to a VA healthcare crisis

by Larry Scott -- VA Watchdog dot Org


On November 30, President Bush signed the "Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2006." Much was said about the military and little was said about veterans. The President?s only mention of veterans in his 474-word statement was, ?The Act also provides funds to support the medical care and other needs of our Nation's veterans.?

Why the deliberate lack of attention to the healthcare budget for the Department of Veterans? Affairs (VA)? Because it is a cause of great embarrassment to the Bush administration. This VA healthcare budget is such political bad news that the Bush appointees who run the veterans? agency won?t even comment on it. Numerous requests for interviews have been met with, ?No one is available.?

While President Bush claims to ?Support Our Troops? in every speech, he hides the checkbook when it comes to supporting our veterans. The new VA healthcare budget, once again, leaves countless thousands of veterans in a life-and-death struggle for medical services.

Administration officials brag of a ?53 per cent increase in the VA budget in President Bush?s first five years in office.? What they forget to explain is that most of this 53% increase in the VA budget is made up of components that are part of the mandatory budget process. The overall VA budget would have gone up no matter who was President.

However, the healthcare portion of the VA budget must be hammered-out in Congress every year as part of the discretionary budget process. Republicans claim the VA healthcare budget for this fiscal year is a whopping $22.5 billion, a 12 per cent increase over last year. A closer look at those numbers shows a budget that is nothing more than a ?shell game? according to veterans? and watchdog groups who have analyzed the figures. ??You never know where the pea is,? said Richard Fuller, national legislative director for Paralyzed Veterans of America.

$1.5 billion of the budget is a promised carryover from last fiscal year. Except, no one knows if that money really exists. If it does, no one knows where it is. And, there appears to be no mechanism to carryover funds into the new budget. So, we have to scratch that figure and now the budget is down to $21 billion.

Then there is $1.2 billion stipulated as emergency funding. Those funds can only be released by President Bush if he declares a funding emergency at the VA. This won?t happen. Last fiscal year Republicans refused to admit there was a budget shortfall at the VA until the reality was forced on them by Democrats. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said of the billion-plus dollar shortfall, ?A crisis? I don?t agree.? So now we take out the $1.2 billion and the budget is down to $19.8 billion.

At $19.8 billion, the VA healthcare budget is just 2.6 per cent larger than last fiscal year. This figure is immediately turned into a negative. Inflation in the healthcare sector supplying goods and services to the VA has averaged 5.6 per cent per year for the last five years. The negative becomes larger when we factor in a 3.1 per cent pay raise for VA employees.

Now we have a VA healthcare budget with less spending power than it had the year before. For the last few years many VA hospitals have been so underfunded that they have instituted hiring freezes, closed patient wards and cut essential services to the point where they are turning away qualified veterans seeking necessary healthcare.

Add to chronic underfunding a dramatic increase in the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare. There are three main groups. The first is middle-aged, qualified veterans who have never used the VA system and now find themselves, because of unemployment or under-employment, without healthcare benefits. The second is older veterans who have discovered that it is less expensive to use the VA pharmacy than it is to purchase medications through Medicare, and those needing nursing home care.

The third group is veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the official Pentagon list of wounded stands at just over 15,000, the reality is eight times that figure. It depends on your definition of wounded. The VA?s latest figures (released in October) show that of 433,398 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, 119,247 have sought medical treatment.

Of those 119,247 veterans, 39 per cent have joint and back and connective system disorders, 30.9 per cent have mental problems, 30.1 per cent have diseases of the digestive system and 27.1 per cent suffer from diseases of the nervous system or sense organs. Also, 15.5 per cent have been poisoned and 15.1 per cent exhibit problems with metabolism, nutritional, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, and pituitary gland diseases. The list continues with 12.9 per cent having diseases of the circulatory system and 12.8 per cent having skin diseases. Obviously, many of the veterans suffer from more than a single disease or condition.

The above laundry list represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to medical problems that will be experienced by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. As they age many will experience acute PTSD symptoms. And, the effects of exposure to depleted uranium munitions, a subject on which the Department of Defense is eerily silent, may lead to catastrophic health conditions.

The Bush administration harshly admonishes anyone who says there has been a cut in VA benefits. They point only to the increased dollar amount of the overall VA budget. But, as VA hospitals are closed and services cut back, it is safe to say that a CUT IN SERVICES is a CUT IN BENEFITS . The miniscule ?real dollar? increase in the VA healthcare budget turns into ?fewer usable dollars? when inflation and the increased number of veterans needing healthcare are factored-in.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans? Affairs, expressed concern and dismay over the VA healthcare budget. ?I will not be surprised at all if we have, once again, short-funded veterans,? she said last week.

What will become of the veterans who are denied healthcare by the VA or who are put on waiting lists that can delay medical treatment for as long as 36 months? Some veterans will seek healthcare in the private sector and go into debt to pay for medical treatment that should have been provided by the VA. Other veterans will try to get help from state Medicaid programs if they can get accepted.

And, some veterans will simply do without and hope??.

###END###

Not much "hope" in the future being supplied by Bush and his 'New' Republicans in Congress however!

And there you have it Super, a record of undisputed disregard from the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress towards the military veterans of this country! These facts presented are undeniable and irrefutable. So says ALL THE MILITARY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS and the 'watchdog' groups and individuals with expertise and experience to properly and accurately investigate and completely analyze the budget submitted by the Bush Administration.

No amount of misinformation and utter disregard of the facts by YOU or anyone else can change or alter these facts in any way!

I just will NEVER understand why folks like you will NEVER admit these facts?????



PS--------You still never answered my question about why you put out that misinformation about Chris Smith being removed from the Chairmanship of the House Committe on Veterans Affairs because YOU claimed it was time for a 'rotation' or some such bullshit???----------You ain't gonna get out of owning up to your own bit of Republican disinformation attempt that easy my friend. Why can't you give us ALL an explanation for that attempt at deception on your part, huh???

[SuperScout]

OK, just one more time: how much more $$ has been allocated to the VA than in the previous administration? What is the percentage increase from Clinton to bush? And what was the percentage increase from Bush I to Clinton, if any?

[Gimpy]

you blind or something?????

What phuckin difference does it make????

Can't you even understand what I have just reported to you!

You can't compare "apples to phuckin oranges" for gosh sakes!

The GD 'REAL DOLLARS" $$$$$ available ( in REAL $$$$ AND percentage of funds distributed) for veterans medical treatment supplied by the Clinton administration TO the VA Health Care system was MORE than has been budgeted by the Bush administration.

Of COURSE there has been more TOTAL $$$$$ put into the system during the Bush years, for Gods sake, the mandatory process ALONE accounts for about 95% of that TOTAL $$$$ increase!

Did you even ATTEMPT to read or try and understand the information you were presented.

Surely you're not THAT unable to comprehend the written English language, are you??? Or, are you so full of 'DENIAL' like your 'boys' in Congress & the Whitehouse you can't (or won't) accept the freakin truth!

Just asking?????

And..............I ain't lettin you off the hook on this one below either!

PS--------You still never answered my question about why you put out that misinformation about Chris Smith being removed from the Chairmanship of the House Committe on Veterans Affairs because YOU claimed it was time for a 'rotation' or some such bullshit???----------You ain't gonna get out of owning up to your own bit of Republican disinformation attempt that easy my friend. Why can't you give us ALL an explanation for that attempt at deception on your part, huh???

[SuperScout]

OK, I thought I had made it clear, even to you, that I don't know all the facts behind the change of leadership, and that a mistake was made on my part. Satisfied now?

What are GD dollars? Does that appelation help spend them better? Of course the percentage of the total budget for the VA was larger during the Clinto adminsitration. Clinton wasn't fighting two different wars, didn't have to deal with 9-11, and a few other things. What was the percentage of increase that GWB added to the VA vs. the percentage of increse that WJC added? So you are calling the director of the OMB a liar?

[Gimpy]

that was a DELIBERATE ATTEMPT at disinformation on your part and you know it.

But, I''ll accept your miniscule attempt to correct it by at least your admittiing it as a 'mistake' anyway. I'm a bighearted fella, ya know?..........

Now, on to your continued recovery from that "state of denial" you seem unable to escape from!

If you are speaking of this..............."OMB Director Bolten testifies that ?There have been three consecutive years preceding this one in which more there was more money requested by the Administration and more money appropriated by the Congress for the medical care portion of veterans services than was actually needed in that year. The appropriations have exceeded the VA medical care needs in the preceding three years by over half a billion dollars in each of the receding three years.? (testimony before the House Budget Committee) " One of your quotes. Sounds like this is great news!-----End Quote!

Then you REALLY haven't been reading the TRUTH as testified before this same committee by ALL the Service Organizations and affected parties, have you.

You're damn right Bolten is LYING!...........He's part of the Bush Boys Appointees ain't he??? He is just another wheel on the rampaging DUMP TRUCK of misinformation being put out by these misfits!

Let me 'educate' you a little more, OK?

The $$$$$ amount this idiot is refering to cannot even be accurately determined. The VA has 'doctored' their books so badly no amount of professional accountants can unscramble their deceptive practices these past 4 years. This $$$$$ he's claiming as showing up as "exceeding the VA medical care needs in the preceding three years by over half a billion dollars in each of the receding three years.? , is no more than an attempt to cover up the fact that this $$$$$$ WAS intended to be for recovery from the last few years of many VA hospitals becoming so underfunded that they have instituted hiring freezes, closed patient wards and cut essential services to the point where they are turning away qualified veterans seeking necessary healthcare. This "hiring freeze" and practices of closing down not ONLY "wards", but ENTIRE WINGS of several hospitals and cutting "essential services" has created some 'left over' funds that this idiot Bolten is speaking about. All while military veterans continue to wait and suffer while appointments and treatment are delayed for up to a FREAKIN YEAR OR MORE in many cases! Just because they WILL NOT revoke the 'hiring freeze' and undo the mess they've created! Much of this 'mystery funding" is gone and will NEVER be found!

There is ONE thing you and I apparently DO 'agree' on. And, that is the 'ACCOUNTABILITY" of those in charge of distributing and spending the 'alloted funds' has GOT TO BE ENFORCED!.......Much of the corruption and ineptness is right at the TOP of the ladder in management at the VA. It's worse NOW that it's EVER been.

Not ONLY that, but if you'll take the time to read another of my posts over on the General Forum you'll see where the VA has been using many of THESE apparently 'left over' funds intended to rectify and correct the Bush administrations recent history of "UNDERFUNDING" health care to institute ILLEGAL STUDIES intended to 'privatize' many jobs and functions of the VA!

As for that "percentage" bullshit.................I've already addressed that. You just need to go back and READ IT!

Damn, Super.............can't you see through that 'haze' of propaganda these folks are distributing??? You seem to be one of the VERY FEW left who can't????

[dotmcentire]

Hello Super and Gimpy,
Well, here I am jumping in like my opinon will change things or make a difference.

Nevertheless...

The fact is our military (and vets) are underpaid and unappreciated - and have been unappreciated by all administrations - the same for our policemen and firefighters.

Therefore, I mostly agree with you Gimpy... Were it up to me, our vets and current military would be the ones receiving the big bucks and not our congress and senate leaders! I would turn it all around and let them be the ones getting current military pay and vet retirement benefits! Now, wouldn't that be just what they deserve?

The politician's pay and retirement is what our military deserve and not the meager hand-outs they've been given! Heroes deserve the best no matter what political party they belong to! A hero to me is one who puts on a uniform and serves without shirking their duty.

Having said all that, I want to also add my reason for voting as a republican. The republican platform is more conservative, and as a Christian, I can not vote for a party whose candidates are mainly tree-hugging, queer-loving, baby-killing, God haters. To vote the democratic platform is against my conscience. If the republicans change their platform then I will change my vote.

For me it's that simple... if anyone thinks that's closed minded then they're correct.

I leave you with quotes I'm in complete agreement with:

The only thing harder to find in the U.S. Senate these days than a Democrat with a conscience is a Republican with a spine.
~Author unknown

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs who should be arrested, exiled or hanged."
~Abraham Lincoln

Blessings,
Dot

[dotmcentire]

I want to say I'm sorry about calling democrat politicians what I did. That wasn't very Christian... I just get so upset with their Godless agenda. The republicans are not much better but when it comes to voting I have to look at both platforms and vote my conscience.

Anyway, I lost a friend to AIDS last fall and he was really a great guy. He was, however, a homosexual. He was my very best friend's brother and we loved him. I hate that lifestyle because of the heartache and devastation it brings to so many. If you had known Steve you would have also liked him. He was a Christian and loved the Lord but couldn't break the bonds of sexual slavery. So very sad...


Dot

[SuperScout]

No need to apologize for what you wrote. The agenda/platform of de dims, as I lovingly call them, is basically what you described, and truth is a valid defense against the charge of libel, slander, or pseudo-guilty conscience.