New qualifiers? What are you talking about? A veteran is a veteran. Your comments about veterans on the streets and their incomes are nothing but red herrings. I never said anything about eliminating benefits, I'm saying it does not matter whether they receive their benefits through one department or another. There are plenty of good reasons for simply maintaining their benefits through the DOD, rather than through the DOD and then the VA.
I was referring to this below regarding my qualifier comment.
"The military has promised health care to veterans as part of the deal for signing on to risk their lives. For those already in the system, I would support no change. For those who havent yet signed on with the military, it is possible to change the promises made to them. The question is whether they will accept that deal."
The DOD is NOT a good place for Veterans money to be. They should be focused on winning wars and fighting for war money.
They are going to do that anyway, and if you combine the budgets, then war will take priority over veterans for any sane general. They should be fighting for money for weapons systems and training of the military.
That gives them two missions at odds with each other, and they will eventually encroach on the veterans budget.
It should NOT be under DOD. It’s a lousy idea.