Posted on 02/04/2025 11:28:38 AM PST by Red Badger
The Senate voted 77-23 on Tuesday to confirm former Georgia congressman Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, placing him in charge of the department responsible for providing critical care and support to America’s veterans.
Collins, a Republican and former Air Force chaplain, secured bipartisan backing, with all 53 Senate Republicans and nearly half of the chamber’s Democrats supporting his confirmation. The vote capped off a smooth confirmation process, as Collins faced little opposition during his nomination hearing before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in January.
Collins now steps into a key role within President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, tasked with overseeing the VA’s vast healthcare system and ensuring benefits for millions of veterans across the country.
Trump said when announcing Collins’ nomination in November,“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our active duty service-members, veterans, and military families to ensure they have the support they need.”
A staunch conservative, Collins was one of Trump’s most vocal allies in Congress and played a key role in defending the former president during his first impeachment.
(Excerpt) Read more at trendingpoliticsnews.com ...
Excellent
Good deal. Taking care of our veterans (and I am NOT one) should be a PRIORITY.
So who were the 23 senators that voted against him? Probably one of the most capable and honest people in all of government.
“So who were the 23 senators that voted against him?”
Losers................
Hmmmm! How about some of the bulldoged money go to the VA.
Doug Collins - not the four-time All-Star guard that played for the 76ers in the 1970s, I assume?
Uuuuuuhhhhh.................no.............
Why do we need a VA anyway? Just give all veterans the same medical insurance that Congress members get, and let them go to their own doctors.
Why do we need a VA anyway? Just give all veterans the same medical insurance that Congress members get, and let them go to their own doctors.
Among those who opposed Collins’ confirmation Tuesday were
Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.
Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.
Cory Booker, D-N.J.
Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Chris Coons, D-Del.
Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii
Andy Kim, D-N.J.
Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.
Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn.
Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
Jack Reed, D-R.I.
Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii
Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
Tina Smith, D-Minn.
Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
Mark Warner, D-Va.
Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass
Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I
Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
One of those got nothing else to do moments.
Here is how VA healthcare works. If you are a veteran with a DD214 of honorable discharge, you’re good. Various waivers and blah blah, but the vast vast majority, that.
Then comes an income verify (sitting aside disabled rating for a moment). If you’re over about $65K you are disqualified. There are levels below that that determine copays. The lower the income, the lower the copay. For primary care, hospital, etc. This is why this is mostly a retiree thing. Working years, guys often make more.
But most vets get free healthcare and pay a copay for drugs (and the copay is lower than most civilian arrangements for meds).
Now then, disabled rating. Badly phrased. It really means long term injury. Many vets refuse to make a claim they deserve because they don’t think they are disabled and other guys need it more. But the phrasing should be injury, not disability. If you got hurt in service, and it still is there, but you walk around and drive and work . . . you qualify. You made a sacrifice, got hurt, stayed hurt and it happened on active duty. There are very careful investigations into all of this.
So various levels of disabled (injured). Even 10% disabled (everyone gets firearms training, every year, pretty common to start tinnitus like that that lasts forever (and generates suicides)) is still a disabled rating.
10% is all it takes to erase that healthcare income threshold above. A 10% Service Connected veteran does not have an income limit on their healthcare. So even younger than retiree age can get VA healthcare.
The guys who were parachute guys, pretty common for them to have a knee or back injury, and that’s never going completely away. They will get a rating for that over 10%.
There are presumptive connections. Guys get cancer and were stationed on active duty around Agent Orange. They are presumed connected and that will be 100%, of course. (though if guys go into remission, the 100% reduces, and this generates some rage, but it does make sense). Oh, should have mentioned, there is a monthly check of about $170 per 10% of injury. For life.
The review process and justification process and the exams are thorough. Is there cheating going on? Probably. Are you or I qualified to know who is doing that? Probably not. The exam folks are carefully briefed and know exactly what determines injury and what does not. Because of that, there’s not much cheating — and the punishment is so severe for being caught — there’s even less.
Are there guys rated too low for their injury? Probably. They walk in still thinking other guys need it more.
The VA gives frequent briefings to try to stop that. “YOU are not qualified to know how badly you are hurt. We are. Come in and we’ll do the exam.”
Oh one last thing. Vets are about 8% of the US population.
The VA budget is only 6% of Federal spending.
66 billion to illegal aliens in 2023 and a whopping 3 billion to our vets.
Just for fun I think we should have a vote on more money for illegals, and SEE how these 23 vote!!!
It’s $366B to the VA, but that’s only 6% of Federal spending with vets 8% of the population.
It’s low, but not $3B.
I just watched the senator take down a dem with that. We’re talking two different pools o& money. She even said apples to apples when the dem cried otherwise.
Maybe a good appointment, but I don’t think anything will change. Call me pessimistic......
I wonder how many of these complete losers ever served one second in the military?
Doug is a good guy.
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