Democrats Supporting Unions While Stiffing Veterans

With the 2016 presidential race beginning to take shape, liberals are ratcheting up their attacks on Republicans over labor issues and union benefits. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been on the receiving end of renewed attacks by the left for his actions that critics say deprived public sector union members of their promised benefits. In New Jersey, there’s been open warfare between the teachers union and Gov. Chris Christie over pensions for retirees.

The complaints have a familiar refrain: Democrats accuse Republicans of reneging on promises made to rank and file union members, eroding the benefits to which they’re entitled, and playing a perverse shell game of promising a defined level of compensation while delivering something less.

Both sides have a point in this debate but unsaid in the discussion is the astonishing hypocrisy of Democrats as it pertains to veterans benefits. Rarely does a week pass without news of yet another instance in which military veterans get the short end of the stick from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Why are America’s liberal champions not excoriating President Obama for his administration's abysmal record on veterans benefits? After all, these are benefits promised to the men and women who swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution in exchange for their labor in uniform. What is the difference?

There is no difference. When somebody joins the military, that agreement to serve includes a variety of important clauses and provisos; the term of service, training to receive, trade schools to attend, ranks to be awarded and so forth. Part of this agreement also includes access to VA benefits that may be applicable to service members when they transition back to civilian life. All this and more constitute a labor agreement between the U.S. Government and each person who joins the military.

But the entire scope of VA benefits do not convey to each and every person in the military. Some benefits, like home loan guarantees and access to VA cemeteries for burial, are available to most veterans who receive an other than dishonorable discharge from the military. But of the more than 22 million living veterans in the U.S. today, only a fraction qualify for VA health care and disability benefits. This is because these particular benefits, among others, are not classified as entitlements; they are considered earned benefits, resulting when a service member suffers some sort of wound, injury or other disability while in the military.

A glance at the numbers helps put this into perspective. In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, fewer than 17 percent of living veterans were receiving disability compensation from VA and just under 40% were enrolled in the VA health care system. But the Obama administration is unable and unwilling to ensure that these much smaller subsets of the veterans universe receive the benefits they earned as part of their employment agreement with the federal government.

Where is the outrage among Democrats over the administration’s refusal to honor this labor agreement? Detractors will note that military personnel are not allowed to be part of a collective bargaining unit like civilian union members but that’s a semantic cop out. When Uncle Sam wants men and women to stand in the line of fire and possibly get killed in the process of fighting our wars, they are promised certain VA benefits. It’s a labor agreement by another name.

The situation is so acute, veterans are dying while VA loses their applications for disability compensation. Health care has gotten so bad, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that the VA hospital system is a “high risk” program of the federal government. According to the GAO, "These risks to the timeliness, cost-effectiveness, quality, and safety of veterans' health care, along with other persistent weaknesses we have identified in recent years, raise serious concerns about VA's management and oversight of its health care system.”

When Scott Walker suggested reducing benefits to some of Wisconsin’s union members, the state capitol in Madison was forcibly occupied and he was dragged into a recall election. But when the Obama administration breaks its labor agreement with veterans, Democrats harumph long enough to get a headline or two before retreating into silence. The Left becomes unhinged when union members are asked to pay a bit more for their health insurance or contribute more to their retirement but they’re invisible when this administration’s broken labor promises result in dead veterans.

The Left could not survive in America without the double standard and a media that largely lets liberals off the hook for their transgressions. But the double standard of Democrats in the arena of broken agreements with veterans - broken agreements that have killed those who survived war - is the most deplorable in the nation today.

Democrats accuse Republicans of reneging on promises made to rank and file union members, eroding the benefits to which they’re entitled

They're entitled to she-it!

The taxpayers were never asked nor agreed to their thieving demands.

“But of the more than 22 million living veterans in the U.S. today, only a fraction qualify for VA health care and disability benefits.”

This is not true. Although for veterans with less than a 30% disability there are co-pays. All honorable vets get health care coverage. Better than medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans.

For instance, a vet that is not disabled gets prescription drugs for a $9 co-pay, has a $15 co-pay to see a doctor, and $50 for a specialist.

That’s actually pretty good...

As a veteran, I am getting sick and tired of all this "Veteran" worship which is turning an honored status into just another special interest group to be pitted against other groups at the government trough. Veterans are Americans like everyone else, no better or worse. Except for the very few who were severely wounded and remain truly disabled, veterans are not owed a damned thing except a dignified recognition. If we were tough enough to serve - and tough enough to fight when called upon - we are tough enough to make our own way in society without a perpetual stream of money and services that government must forcibly steal from other Americans.

“A glance at the numbers helps put this into perspective. In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, fewer than 17 percent of living veterans were receiving disability compensation from VA and just under 40% were enrolled in the VA health care system. But the Obama administration is unable and unwilling to ensure that these much smaller subsets of the veterans universe receive the benefits they earned as part of their employment agreement with the federal government.”

Again, this is disingenuous... I have moderate to severe hearing loss plus tinnitus. Even before the VA determined that it was service related, they bought me hearing aids, even though I was at the time a level 8 (one with a large net worth).

As for not receiving benefits, All you have to do is apply. Get a copy of your DD214 and trot down there. BTW, if you are a veteran and apply, your exempt from the obamacare mandate. If you cant find your DD214, you can order a copy online. Google it...

Odds are high that you and I share a hearing loss but from opposite ends of the cannons. As an artilleryman, yours is from outgoing; as an infantryman, mine is from incoming. My family jokes about my bad hearing, but I’m still better off than a lot of old musicians! Semper Fidelis...

Very quietly, there has been a change in how the VA views disability. The VA used to be quite different from Social Security Disability. Social Security Disability purports to measure a person’s disability against their ability to work. The VA used to look at how the Veteran was affected by his/her service in the military. Disability was determined by how badly serving in the military had harmed the Veteran. It was a benefit given as compensation for the damage done to the Veteran by the Veteran’s service. Remember, many Veterans were drafted into service.
You can get Social Security Disability by putting on a baby bonnet. You can get Social Security Disability without having done anything to serve your country or to help your fellow citizens.
The VA now looks at disability based on whether you can work. Big difference. It is no longer something that is earned. It is a gift that can easily be taken away.
Soon, VA Disability will be lumped in with Social Security Disability. This is one of the reasons the Democrats do so little with the VA. They have more control over Social Security.

As an artilleryman, yours is from outgoing; as an infantryman, mine is from incoming.
I got it coming and going. I was on the DMZ and probably experienced incoming five to six days a week on average ... especially during TET.
Some days we might get 25 rounds, some days 250.
Welcome home ...

“The VA now looks at disability based on whether you can work. Big difference.”

I was retied and on social security when I applied, so clearly “work” has nothing to do with it. It is true however that generally for Vets with less than a 30% disability some of the care you get is need based. (higher co-pay’s for instance)

“we are tough enough to make our own way in society without a perpetual stream of money and services that government must forcibly steal from other Americans.”

Amen.

It was much more difficult to get VA benefits up until recently and the advent of Concurrent Receipt has made it much more lucrative (for lack of a better word) to pursue. Plus being a disabled veteran has a plethora of other benefits depending where you live.

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