Veterans spending under Bush is up 49% than under Clinton. That data came from Ike Skelton, senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Dunno about the exact percentage, but according to the horse's mouth the actual outlays (spending) by the VA Dept. are as follows:
2001: $45 billion
2005: $67 billion
For 2006, Bush wants over $71 billion. And so Barack says OH MY GOD IT'S A CUT! Yeah, Barack, Bush has cut the VA really badly. *snerk* What gets me is that "after accounting for inflation," $71 billion is still an increase over $67 billion. I suppose Obama is just cherry-picking one line-item and claiming ITS increase was less than 2 to 3 percent (i.e., the amount of inflation)?
Not a promising start for Obama, but it's what I expected: half-truths and unprincipled demogoguery.