Posted on 09/01/2003 9:23:43 AM PDT by tullycraft
WASHINGTON - A sign of political trouble for the president surfaced at a breakfast meeting in July at an unlikely place: the Capitol Hill headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Present were groups representing the leading veterans organizations. Their members might be viewed as likely Bush backers in 2004, given that troops are under fire overseas and given the traditional loyalty former servicemen and servicewomen show the commander in chief.
But angry over health care and other issues, the veterans told a White House official that it will take more than patriotic appeals to win the support of their combined membership of about 5 million.
Veterans are angry. And they're ready to take their frustrations out on the Washington politicians at the ballot box.
They say the praise for troops by the president, other top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders is "ringing hollow" because they have broken promises to veterans and active-duty soldiers about benefits and services.
Rick Weidman, director of government relations for the Vietnam Veterans of America, said that the president has a "credibility gap" and that "it's widening every day and it's getting deeper every day."
Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, replied: "No one honors this nation's veterans more" than the president.
While the American Legion, the VFW and other veterans organizations are prohibited from endorsing candidates, they intend to educate their members on issues and where the candidates stand.
The groups already have an advertising and letters-to-the-editor campaign in the works to pressure Congress when it returns after Labor Day to increase funds for veterans' health care.
Their complaint is that the White House and Congress have underfunded medical care. And House Republicans, they said, engaged in a public betrayal.
House Republican leaders invited top officials from the veterans community to a news conference in May before the Memorial Day recess to announce they would support $27.1 billion for veterans' health care.
The president had proposed $25.3 billion. Supporters of the higher amount said that $1.8 billion more would meet the demand for medical treatment caused by the increased use of troops in combat zones.
But when Congress returned after the holiday, the Republicans backed off in favor of the lower figure.
"We really thought we had won this battle, but they turned around and did a 180," said Steve Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion.
Among the veterans' other concerns:
• House Republican leaders refuse to allow consideration of a bill -- authored by a Republican -- to allow veterans with a disability related to their service to collect both their military pension and their disability compensation. Currently the disability payment is deducted from their pension.
"When the president was running, he said he supported it," said Joe Violante, national legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans. "Now the administration threatens to veto any bill that contains it."
• The administration wants to close seven hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs while enlarging others and building several new facilities, including centers for the blind and those with spinal cord injuries. Many veterans are worried the closings will make it hard to get medical treatment.
But VA Secretary Anthony Principi said in an interview: "This is not about closing hospitals. This is about transforming the VA health care system into a patient-focused health care system that adapts to medicine in the 21st century."
• The administration intends to drop more than half a million veterans from medical eligibility by 2005. It also has proposed higher prescription drug fees. Meanwhile, it takes an average of six months to get an appointment at a VA medical center.
Principi said he cut services to half a million veterans because their medical needs were a low priority and he wanted to reduce the waiting times for the VA's "core" clients -- the seriously injured and disabled.
"Sometimes, leaders have to make difficult decisions," Principi said.
But the problem of long delays took on a name and face earlier this month with the plight of Sgt. Vannessa Turner, who contracted a mysterious illness while serving in Iraq and nearly died.
After she recovered, Turner was sent home to Massachusetts, where she tried to schedule an appointment at a VA hospital and was told she couldn't be seen until mid-October.
"As we get more Sgt. Turners coming back that need help, that will outrage not only the veterans community, but the private citizens of this country, who will say that we sent those kids over there, we got them busted up, now we're not meeting our obligations," Robertson said.
Among the Democratic candidates, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has emphasized his ties to the military and the veterans community. He has been a leader with Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Kerry will officially kick off his campaign Tuesday in South Carolina, a key Southern test, alongside veterans of the boat crews he commanded in Vietnam and with the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in the background.
Veterans have also been perplexed by other administration actions, like the Pentagon's recent attempt to cut the pay of combat troops before quickly back-pedaling.
Veterans insist that their complaints are no reflection on their strong support for the troops in the field or their respect for the presidency.
It also seems unlikely that many will politically desert the president at a time of high support for the military, especially since an American Legion poll during the 2000 campaign gave him the edge over Al Gore by a 9-to-1 ratio.
But it's worth looking at what happened to an earlier president, Bush's father.
In the 1992 presidential election, veterans backed Democrat Bill Clinton, viewed by many at the time as a draft dodger, over Republican President George Bush, the hero of the Persian Gulf War, by a 2-1 ratio, according to exit polls.
Veterans were angry over their treatment by the VA and had running conflicts with its secretary, Edward Derwinski. Many thought they would fare better under Clinton.
"I believe that, like his father, there is a strong possibility that (President Bush) could very easily lose the support of veterans," said Richard Schneider, director of veterans affairs for the Non Commissioned Officers Association.
Schneider added: "It's not a foregone conclusion that this president is going to be re-elected. Quite the contrary. People are waiting. I think there is going to be an accountability from the veterans, not only for themselves, but for these veterans who are going to be coming out of Iraq."
You are soooo right. The department of veterans affairs is wasting money in the hundreds of millions every year to provide bonuses and what not to VA employees. Meanwhile, they can't staff enough doctors in some areas to treat veterans with life threating medical conditions. This problem was being addressed by American Legion activism until early this year. Then there was a change in focus at the top.
BTW the largest and most influential veterans organization in the U.S.
That changed with the election of the new national commander. His background is union organizing so naturally he gravitates towards democrats, and has been seen in numerous photo opp's with Hilda Beast, Dashole, and the rest of the socialist medicine machine. The democraps are reaching out for votes and support from this group.
Don't be fooled by the scripted PR. Grassroots Legion and VFW members will often tell you they think for themselves, and it is a bunch of crap.
Veterans in general dispise BJ clinton, and the democraps are Clinton. There is also a large number of gun owning veterans out there. Democraps don't have the veterans vote and won't for another generation due to eight years of Clinton.
You know, that's a hard question.
So many of them are both combat disabled and addicted.
I don't make any distinction. I didn't walk in their shoes.
I treat all the vets with the respect they deserve.
I can't speak for the feelings of vets like you and I who just served our time and got out.
I, too, shudder to think what the last three years would have been under AlGore.
All I can report is what the disabled vets tell me.
They still don't have proper medical care, and the wait to see a doctor is forever.
I took a box of playing cards down to the Veteran's Hospital here in Houston - 320 decks - along with a bunch of baseball caps and paper back books.
They don't have the amenities like this unless someone donates them.
I sat and talked with several vets who use the hospital facilities in San Antonio the night of my sis's memorial services.
They all told the same story:
It's better than it was under Clinton, but it's still a struggle to get medical attention.
I know it sounds like a hearts and flowers story to remind everyone about our vets lying in hospitals all over this country, but before anyone starts playing the little violin, check and see how many are in the Spinal Ward of the Audie Murphy Hospital in San Antonio.
They deserve whatever they need.
Bush proposes a 7.7% increase in VA Budget for FY 04
Source: Click Here
The declining population of veterans ultimately will mean that fewer veterans will seek medical care and monthly disability benefits. However, on the horizon, there will be increased usage of some VA benefits and services, as veterans age and more women draw on them. For FY'03, the Administration's budget requests $28 billion for the VA Medical Care program, an increase of $2.7 billion.
A dramatic increase is proposed for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Business Line, which focuses on areas particularly relevant to the veteran population-aging, chronic disease, mental illness, substance abuse, military occupations, and environmental exposure. The FY'04 budget requests a total of $822 million, an increase of $28 million from FY'03.
Source: Click here
San Antonio, Aug. 26, 2003--VA Secretary Anthony Principi told attendees today that "a perfect storm" is brewing in his department as more and more veterans use VA’s massive health care system. He noted that the number of users has jumped from 2.9 million a few years ago to nearly 5 million currently. The VFW life member said VA's 2004 budget has grown from $48 billion to $64 billion—which is larger than Great Britain’s total defense budget and represents a 32% increase.
Principi addressed four major points:
Drug Prescriptions: The new VA policy of accepting prescriptions written by private physicians will benefit some 200,000 veterans who enrolled on or before July 25 and were waiting 30 days for an appointment. This new test program allows vets to receive drugs from VA mail-out pharmacies even when prescribed by private doctors.
Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES): CARES is a plan to shift resources where they are needed most. For instance, VA is wasting $1 million a day on inefficient buildings. A panel is currently holding hearings relating to CARES.
Disability Compensation: Backlogged claims went from 432,000 to 270,000; the average time to decide a claim has decreased from 233 days a year ago to 160 days.
VA Cemeteries: VA will open six new national cemeteries by 2006 because approximately 1,800 veterans die each day.
100% agreement .... even with a marine!
But not to ALL other federal retirees...which are mostly pencil pushing beaurocrats who fell down some stairs or have carpal tunnel whatever. Now tell me that's fair.
$15,000,000,000 to the African AIDS cesspool is just peachy, also.
No, I wouldn't be surprised.
A lot of the salesmen who call on me are vets who have suffered some wound or other in combat.
They work everyday, have a wife and kids and enjoy grilling a steak on Saturday night.
The ones to which I was referring are the ones in the VA hospitals, and I've done a lot of counselling in VA hospitals.
I didn't disparage them because they were there trying to dry out or come down from a high.
I never knew what brought them to that place in their lives, and it didn't matter.
They needed help, and I did what I could.
If you had ever done any of this type counselling, you would know that the pity pot is turned upside down when you begin the conversation.
It doesn't matter how they got to where they are.
It only matters where they want to go with their lives.
The fact remains that they are a human being and a veteran who has served their country.
If they can get clean and sober, they can remember where they came from, but I'm never interested in that.
That is made clear from the very beginning.
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