Posted on 01/30/2016 12:43:31 PM PST by VitacoreVision
Two veterans groups said Friday they will be accept money raised by Donald Trump's campaign rally that was staged after the frontrunner decided to skip the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses. Other vet organizations said they were not so sure.
Dick Marbes, president of the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, said in a statement to CNBC that Trump reached out after the event.
"We have been contacted and informed that a donation will be made by the Donald Trump Foundation to support our mission," Marbes said. "While we are grateful for this support, it is our sincere wish that all who seek public office will provide the American public with substantive information on their vision for the future of veterans' health care and benefits."
The trust is a nonpartisan organization that supports physical and psychological rehabilitation programs providing direct services to injured veterans. In his statement, Marbes was careful not to imply that his group was in any way affiliated with the Trump campaign.
"We hope all candidates will support our cause. We will use these funds to ensure our fellow veterans receive the care they have earned through their service and sacrifices," Marbes said. "The receipt of a donation from Mr. Trump's foundation does not imply an endorsement for his political campaign."
That comment mirrors concerns among veterans that their groups not be caught up in the political swirl of the Trump campaign — but tempted by the vast amounts of attention and money the Trump spotlight can bring. By law, many of the groups are organized as tax exempt nonprofits, and barred from participating in politics. And of course, many donors to veterans' groups are Democrats and the nonprofit leadership wants to be careful not to alienate them.
The Trump event, held Thursday night at Drake University, was hastily put together by the campaign after the billionaire real estate investor decided to skip the Fox News Channel debate the same evening. Trump announced his event would benefit veterans, but it was unclear exactly which groups would receive money. The Trump campaign said any money raised would first go to Trump's family charitable foundation. Trump said he had donated $1 million himself, and the investor Carl Icahn gave $500,000. Through the day Thursday, veterans groups were scrambling to figure out who would get the cash.
All told, the Trump campaign said the event took in $6 million for the Trump Foundation and the proceeds will be given to 22 organizations. (Click here for the list.)
Among the groups on the list was the Fisher House Foundation, which said Friday it would accept the donation because the money was coming from the Trump Foundation, which has supported the Rockville, Maryland-based group in the past.
"We would never be part of an event like that, nor would we take money from the Trump campaign," Fisher House vice president Kerri Childress said. "But Donald Trump has donated to Fisher House in the past, and his son Eric even hosted a golf tournament for us at one point. Because this money is coming from the Trump Foundation we can accept the money. We are very appreciative of his generosity in the past and we are at this point as well. We're very proud to accept the money and we will put it to the best use possible."
She said the foundation hadn't been told how much money it was to receive.
Speaking before the event, Fisher House Chief of Staff Mary Considine said she doubted her group would work with Trump. Considine said the group has three criteria for fundraising events: They must honor the service of veterans, be family friendly and be apolitical.
The founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff tweeted Thursday that his group would decline any donations from Trump's event. "We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts," he wrote.
David Brog, executive director of the Air Warrior Courage Foundation, said before the event that he and other veterans were scrambling to find out more about Trump's intentions. "We are all wondering who he's doing this for, we have no idea," Brog said. "I'm not sure what the guy's doing. I stay out of it because the foundation can't be involved with politics."
Similarly, AMVETS' David Gai said: "We have to remain nonpartisan, especially those of us who are congressionally chartered. We are not actively participating in the event." Gai said he expected several AMVETS members would attend Trump's rally as audience members.
Still, large cash contributions are in scarce supply in the nonprofit world, and some groups said they would take Trump's donations even if they would not endorse his politics. Cherisse Young, the fundraising and marketing director of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, said there is a distinction between participating in an event and receiving a donation. "If he holds an event and collects money and contacts us and says 'I want to donate this money to you,' we could do that," Young said. "If he raises $100,000 and says we'd like you to be the recipient of it, that's just a straight donation."
GO TRUMP!
You mean he used the veterans as pawns to distract from his cowardly Donald Ducking of the debate.
No. Cruz and Carly used vets as pawns by dangling a combined $4 million over their heads like cat toys, with conditions. $4 million that the vets will never see, by the way.
Trump just did what he’s always said he was going to do.
But vets first.
You’re just sore about the a*s-whooping Cruz got as a result.
You mean you don’t want veterans groups to receive donations unless you approve of the event organizer.
Fortunately for the veterans it doesn’t work that way.
“Dick Marbes, president of the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, said in a statement to CNBC that Trump reached out after the event.
“We have been contacted and informed that a donation will be made by the Donald Trump Foundation to support our mission,” Marbes said. “While we are grateful for this support, it is our sincere wish that all who seek public office will provide the American public with substantive information on their vision for the future of veterans’ health care and benefits.”
- - - - - - - - - -
Veterans Administration Reforms That Will Make America Great Again
The Goals Of Donald J. Trump’s Veterans Plan
The current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is absolutely unacceptable. Over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care. Corruption and incompetence were excused. Politicians in Washington have done too little too slowly to fix it. This situation can never happen again, and when Donald J. Trump is president, it will be fixed - fast.
The guiding principle of the Trump plan is ensuring veterans have convenient access to the best quality care. To further this principle, the Trump plan will decrease wait times, improve healthcare outcomes, and facilitate a seamless transition from service into civilian life.
The Trump Plan Will:
Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting for backlogs. No more excessive red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.
Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members’ post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.
The Trump Plan Gives Veterans The Freedom To Choose And Forces The VA To Compete For Their Dollars
Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked. In fact, wait times were 50% higher this summer than they were a year ago. That’s because the VA lacks the right leadership and management. It’s time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet.
Under a Trump Administration, all veterans eligible for VA health care can bring their veteran’s ID card to any doctor or care facility that accepts Medicare to get the care they need immediately. Our veterans have earned the freedom to choose better or more convenient care from the doctor and facility of their choice. The power to choose will stop the wait time backlogs and force the VA to improve and compete if the department wants to keep receiving veterans’ healthcare dollars. The VA will become more responsive to veterans, develop more efficient systems, and improve the quality of care because it will have no other choice.
The Trump Plan Treats The Whole Veteran
We must care for the whole veteran, not just their physical health. We must recognize that today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the Greatest Generation.
The Trump Plan Will:
Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services to address our veterans’ invisible wounds. Service members are five times more likely to develop depression than civilians. They are almost fifteen times more likely to develop PTSD than civilians. This funding will help provide more and better counseling and care. More funding will also support research on best practices and state of the art treatments to keep our veterans alive, healthy and whole. With these steps, the Trump plan will help the veteran community put the unnecessary stigma surrounding mental health behind them and instead encourage acceptance and treatment in our greater society.
Increase funding for job training and placement services (including incentives for companies hiring veterans), educational support and business loans. All Americans agree that we must do everything we can to help put our service men and women on a path to success as they leave active duty by collaborating with the many successful non-profit organizations that are already helping. Service members have learned valuable skills in the military but many need help understanding how to apply those skills in civilian life. Others know how to apply those skills but need help connecting with good jobs to support their families. Still others have an entrepreneurial spirit and are ready to start creating jobs and growing the economy. The Trump plan will strengthen existing programs or replace them with more effective ones to address these needs and to get our veterans working.
Transform the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members. Today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the generations that came before them. The VA must adapt to meet the needs of this generation of younger, more diverse veterans. The Trump plan will expand VA services for female veterans and ensure the VA is providing the right support for this new generation of veterans.
Better support our women veterans. The fact that many VA hospitals don’t permanently staff OBGYN doctors shows an utter lack of respect for the growing number female veterans. Under the Trump plan, every VA hospital in the country will be fully equipped with OBGYN and other women’s health services. In addition, women veterans can always choose a different OBGYN in their community using their veteran’s ID card.
The Trump Plan Will Make The VA Great Again
The VA health care program is a disaster. Some candidates want to get rid of it, but our veterans need the VA to be there for them and their families. That’s why the Trump plan will:
Fire the corrupt and incompetent VA executives that let our veterans down. Under a Trump Administration, there will be no job security for VA executives that enabled or overlooked corruption and incompetence. They’re fired. New leadership will focus the VA staff on delivering timely, top quality care and other services to our nation’s veterans. Under a Trump Administration, exposing and addressing the VA’s inefficiencies and shortcomings will be rewarded, not punished.
End waste, fraud and abuse at the VA. The Trump plan will ensure the VA is spending its dollars wisely to provide the greatest impact for veterans and hold administrators accountable for irresponsible spending and abuse. The days of $6.3 million for statues and fountains at VA facilities and $300,000 for a manager to move 140 miles are over. The Trump plan will clean up the VA’s finances so the current VA budget provides more and better care than it does now.
Modernize the VA. A VA with 20th century technology cannot serve 21st century service members and their needs. The VA has been promising to modernize for years without real results. The Trump plan will make it happen by accelerating and expanding investments in state of the art technology to deliver best-in-class care quickly and effectively. All veterans should be able to conveniently schedule appointments, communicate with their doctors, and view accurate wait times with the push of a button.
Empower the caregivers to ensure our veterans receive quality care quickly. Caregivers should be able to easily streamline treatment plans across departments and utilize telehealth tools to better serve their patients. As we have seen from the private sector, the potential for new, innovative technology is endless. Abandoning the wasteful and archaic mindset of the public sector will give way to tremendously effective veteran healthcare.
Hire more veterans to care for veterans. The more veterans we have working at the VA, the better the VA will be. They understand the unique challenges facing their community. To increase the number of veterans hired by the VA, this plan will add an additional 5 points to the qualifying scores of veterans applying for VA jobs.
Embed satellite VA clinics in rural and other underserved areas. The Trump Administration will embed satellite VA clinics within hospitals and other care facilities in rural and other underserved areas. This step will ensure veterans have easy access to care and local hospitals and care facilities can handle the influx of patients without backlogs while tapping the specialized knowledge of VA health specialists.
It’s a generous amount of money for vets. As the mother of one, I look forward to learning when and to what groups the money is actually given. I have read the published list of potential recipients. There should be a public, clear and straightforward accounting.
LOL...according to Donald, nobody comes before the Donald...not even God.
“No. Cruz and Carly used vets as pawns by dangling a combined $4 million over their heads like cat toys, with conditions. $4 million that the vets will never see, by the way.
Trump just did what he’s always said he was going to do.”
Donald Trump put up $1,000,000.00 of HIS OWN MONEY, those other two clowns, I’ll bet, were dangling money from their campaigns.
Citation, please.
Are you aware of how much of an ignoramus you make yourself sound like???
Ted Cruz sends out shaming letters.
Donald Trump raises $6 million for the Vets.
We report you decide. :-)
Exactly. Their vulgar offer held no risk for either of them.
You should ask Donald Trump that question, not me...LOL!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3390733/posts
Charities must be consistent with how they handle all donations from politicians, otherwise their refusal or disclaimer is, indeed, a political act.
Unless a charity refuses any donations from any politicians, or insists in every case on publicly stating that accepting such a donation is not an endorsement, then doing either of those is, in my view, a prohibited political act from the charity.
I’m sure the doors were unlocked with no one held captive.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.