NPR: Army Blocked Help To Vets
By Nicole Belle Friday Feb 08, 2008 12:01pmThere's a special place in hell for bureaucrats that are responsible for things like this.
NPR's Morning Edition: (h/t Mike)
A document from the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts an assertion made by the Army surgeon general that his office did not tell VA officials to stop helping injured soldiers with their military disability paperwork at a New York Army post.
The paperwork can help determine health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers.
Audio available here. It makes me so angry to hear the wingnuts say that progressives don't support the troops because we don't want them in harm's way, yet this kind of treatment by the administration that the wingnuts blindly support doesn't even register.
Of course, they get it from the top:
President Bush drew great applause during his State of the Union address last month when he called on Congress to allow U.S. troops to transfer their unused education benefits to family members. "Our military families serve our nation, they inspire our nation, and tonight our nation honors them," he said.
A week later, however, when Bush submitted his $3.1 trillion federal budget to Congress, he included no funding for such an initiative, which government analysts calculate could cost $1 billion to $2 billion annually.
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wow,, im shocked.
Now THIS is something to REALLY piss people off, and make them vote for another party. Not some joke about a family member. THIS is truly pathetic. Thanks Nichole.
It has never been about us or the troops. This administration is only concerned about the elite right wing neocons and the corporations.
It should be made clear that the military today, just like the military that ended up in Vietnam, is not fighting for its country. On the contrary, it is being used as cannon fodder in order to substantiate the lies that they are being given to them by their government. All the more reason to respect and admire the positions taken by people such as Lt. Ehren Watada, Camilo Mejia, Ricky Clousing, Agustin Aguayo, Kevin Benderman, et al, who have said that they will not be a part of an illegal and immoral occupation perpetrated by the United States.
Once again, BushCo gives us BushBizarro rhetoric. The only surprise is there is no surprise.
There's a special place in Hades awaiting Bush and his cronies. May they first have long, bitter lives heaped with the contempt of history.
That 3.1 trillion dollar budget is a misnomer. It does not include the cost of the war in Iraq or the cost of nuclear weapons.
Prairie Sunshine @ 5:
They have that figured out. They plan to end history.
Big surprise here. Republicans love to talk about how much they support the military, but only when they're pushing others towards the front lines. Who cares what happens to them when they get home, they'd better go for their third 18-month tour or they're cowards!
We should not be surprised by this. Bush mouthed these words for applause, not for any kind of reality. Reality would have cause him to think of this in advance, to add it to the budget, to be ready.
We know that this man (I refuse to call him president) failed four Corporations, and a Sports team, sending them all into Bankruptcy. Why should we be surprised when he has bankrupted our Country, Both morally and financially.
I have never found reason in my life to hate anyone or try to harm (being Buddhist in ideology), but this man and his VP have brought me to the brink for what they have done to our once great Country.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration is funding the Russian/Iranian nuclear program.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....s-of-iran/
Where is this story in the MSM? And why aren’t both Democratic candidates talking about it?
When is the Democrat led congress going to stand up for our troops..I hope that voters in November remember our troops and how they have been mistreated!
Justice is not only blind, she is dead. Has been for at least 7 years. The odor of her corpse that surrounds D.C. is occasionally blown by the winds to those of us in the hinterlands and we get a terrifying sense of the future.
moxee @ 11:
I don't expect anything truly meaningful emerging from the Democratic Party as it currently exists. It will take a major realignment (i.e. total housecleaning, maybe even another lost Presidential election) before that will occur. Americans for some reason seem slow to get things.
hmmmmm.... i wonder if anyone will here about this NEWS on cnn, msnbc, nbc, abc, cbs, fox, or any other television program? It's not news until it's on TV.
moxee @ 11:
Stick around. A certain poster on here will tell you exactly why. Some of it truthful, some of it pure partisan.
what's new, this lying liar has been doing that all along. promises aid all over the place cough cough new orleans, and doesn't deliver. learned that from karl's campaigning tips and tricks. promise, swear, state in speeches--then quietly forget about it,, and let it stay forgotten thanks to the corp. media who can't seem to stay with any story that doesn't involve panties or a 'whoopsy!' stain on a dress.
This makes me mad. What can I say, I am not easily ruffled but this...
Why are people so surprised? They should know by now that Generals are nothing less than POLITICIANS in Uniform who suck up to Bush and Company. Otherwise they would have been forced into retirement.
Hell is too good for them!
This report is the first actual, real indication (other than gut feelings or based on circumstantial evidence) that the Bush/Cheney administration's failure to take care of our Iraq war vets is not just due to incompetence, but is an actual effort.
Every American, before reaching the age of 18, should be REQUIRED to read:
Major General Smedley Butler - War Is A Racket
From his I was a Gangster for Capitalism:
This is old. Remember the Vet hospital that was full of fungus?
Remember how right-wingers said this proved gov't doesn't work?
Remember how right-wingers DIDN'T point out that the Vet hospital HAD been privatized?
Remember how the nation was outraged and... ooh, new Family Guy is on
WR @ 14:
Sadly that seems to be the rationale of the administration when it comes to their general treatment of the troops. Similar to their press releases on Friday evenings so that they generally are missed by the media's news cycle. And the tinfoil hat types would take it even further.
WR @ 14:
There was a tiny blurb about this on the tv news about a week ago. Just a small mention, the talking heads frowned about it, then proceeded to giggle about the next segment. Over and done.
Even when their approval ratings are in the tank, the Bushies get a bye from the media.
Were that Bill Clinton, Drudge would have it, followed by Faux Noos, followed by CNN, followed by ABC...
"Liberal media" my ass.
I am a vet and know that they just want these youngsters for slaughter. These wealthy, rightwing assholes could care less about anyone but themselves.
Bush is a sadistic prick. But Democrats hate the troops.
(That's what Rush says so the wingnuts believe him.)
well they put some right wing whore in charge of the va and are now weeding off the old vets from thier meds , they did it to me, i can appeal but fuckem i wont beg !
Linda @ 20:
Illegally sending them to an illegal war didn't tip you off? Giving them faulty equipment from defemse contractors with bushco conections didn't tip you off? Walter Reed 'Hospital' didn't tip you off? Making them pay for their own health care after being wounded didn't tip you off? Making wounded soldiers pay for damaged equipment didn't tip you off? I'd say there has been an amazing amount of actual real evidence for quite some time.
I pray for the day when the typical white male stops voting his "identity" and starts voting reality; the aristocrats don't care about you, you are at best a sharecropper to them.
Our poor vets. Jesus, they come back from hell and then have to deal with a souless President and an indifferent Repuke party. We have done a great disservice to our military members. Between the Democrats failure to bring them home and McCain's stance that we are going be there for a hundred years fills me with dread.
par for the course in buschworld.
Everytime Bush, Cheney etc show up on TV I want to scream take that flag pin out of your lapel until you do right by the vets you phony sonofabitch.
Caspar Weinberger started all this mess. its a shame, hats what the commentary i wrote about tried to express Return to sender
"There’s a special place in hell for bureaucrats that are responsible for things like this."
-- Yeah, it's called the "Republican party"
I used to feel sorry for the troops. But no more. They joined willingly. They were not drafted. Its still hard for me to believe that there are that many people willing to fight and die for some rich white mans war that does not give a crap about you. They are nothing but pawns. I guess Darwin’s theory is in effect.
One angle that I think everyone here is missing is that when push came to shove, the worker bees at the Veteran's Administration stood with the veterans.
It would have been more convenient and probably, in the short term, politically expedient.
I have had zero success getting my disability claim through the VA but, to their credit, the people I have dealt with have been professional and courteous.
The problem is that the current white house administration loves to use the VA as a political prop, which affects the upper echelon while the rank and file at the VA have to pour 10 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket.
They simply don't have the funding to help everyone and they know it (at least the people I have dealt with), but they are still in there, trying to help the Vets.
Please contact your Congressman and ask for more funding for the vets and please give the VA your support. A lot of us need it.
Thanks.
As a former E-5 in the USN, I would like to share the pain that using the GI Bill is for former military members. Simply getting into college is difficult. For one thing, we can't take the SATs or the ACTs again. So sending in an application without them, especially if you high school grades aren't good means that many schools don't even bother to look through your application once they see those. Secondly, none of our training is transferable to college. I was a nuclear machinist mate for six years, requiring 2 years of intensive training. I now find myself a 26 year old freshman just starting out. Furthermore, to even get the GI Bill started, you need to be in classes. Most schools require payment for that which means ex-military personnel must pay for their classes and books before they even start getting their monthly checks. If you have family, well forget having around $7000 sitting around to start school unless you want to go to a community college or some diploma mill school. The image the military and government gives to young high schoolers is that once their commitment is done, going back to school is easy and almost free, neither of which is true at all. The military offers seemingly huge amounts of money for college, up to $60K knowing the vast majority of GIs will never get the chance to use it. Its a fucking scam.
Thats sick, I've read about Bush and his cronies not supporting the vets but this is f* sick.
Guess how dumb those suckers must feel that applauded him when they find out (if they find out and or if they make money on the budget).
#37
As one who enlisted during Korea, I still feel sorry for the troops. Yes, they enlisted willingly even when they knew there was a chance for serious injury and even death. However in that enlisting there was, written or implied, that they would only be sent to an action that may cause such only if the safety and well being of the nation truly required it.
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