Bush plans more cuts to veterans' health care

[wicket]

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

I'm so mad I could spit nails!!!!!

Veterans face consecutive budget cuts

The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from
Iraq could overwhelm the system.

Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012.

After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly — by more than 10 percent in many years — White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter.

The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends — its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office — sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better.

"Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care," said Rep. Chet Edwards (news, bio, voting record) of Texas, chairman of the panel overseeing the VA's budget. "Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions."

Edwards said that a more realistic estimate of veterans costs is $16 billion higher than the Bush estimate for 2012.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Sounds like it's time for another Veterans Bonus March on DC.

When the veterans of WWI needed their money and Hoover refused to give it to them, he sent Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhauer to break up "the riot", which was a compilation of marches on Washington.

Not this time. Veterans should flood the offices of their Senators and Representatives and make their needs known.

[wicket]

9. Amen

I'm not a veteran but would proudly march with them.

[Double T]

2. Let's make certain the rich keep their tax cuts at the expense.........

of Veteran's health care and wellbeing. bushco, 'based on completely unrealistic assumptions'; NOTHING new HERE!!!!

[The Wizard]

40. How do you expect

Paris Hilton to buy a new puppy? You leftists are all alike.:sarcasm:

[bdamomma]

3. he does not care at all about our troops.

smirks and chuckles that is all they do. They do not care at all.

[samq79]

68. And it's the democrats who don't support the troops..

because we want to bring them home...Right...of course. That makes sense when approached from Repug logic!

[antigop]

4. But they are the "pro-life" party! n/t

[connecticut yankee]

30. Only before birth

[antigop]

42. I was being sarcastic -- sorry n/t

[poiuytsister]

46. No, they are the Pre-Life party

They only give a shit about you before you are born, after that you are on your own (unless your trust fund is at an exceptable level).

[antigop]

49. absolutely n/t

[blondeatlast]

56. That's the perfect terminology. I plan to use it from now on. nt

[bobbolink]

5. Here's one way you can help....

These veterans are also becoming homeless at an alarming rate, so please call about this bill:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=185858&mesg_id=185858

Thank you!

We need to stand for our vets! :patriot:

[skyblue]

66. Thanks! More Ratpig We gonna Cut ya. We gonna Cut ya out!!!

[libnnc]

6. I'm just numb. So angry, that I'm numb...

:nuke:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Another article to print and hand to people who are considering enlisting. -nt

[tblue]

27. My thoughts exactly. Make posters and put them up at high schools.

[Missy M]

8. Inexcuseable....

in light of the fact Bush's war is creating a crisis in veterans medical care right now. Does Bush think if we are out of Iraq by 2009 the needs of the veterans maimed and brain damaged will no longer need to be addressed. I would think one of his top priorities would be veterans getting the best health care possible.

[jwirr]

10. I suggest that someone in congress offer a bill to cut the medical

program for Congress and the White House. We could save a bundle on that.

[Cetacea]

11. A true Patrot . Not! eom.

[meldroc]

12. Yet more Starving the Beast.

Despite the sacrifices our troops make for his personal benefit, he, like Grover Nyquist, consider VA benefits to be socialism, and wants to eliminate them entirely. Thus the games he plays with huge budget deficits, then the crocodile tears shed when he makes the cuts, claiming he has no other choice.

God, to think we still have two more years of this shit...

[Old Smokey]

13. Sickening

they have always done this. they dont give a damn about our nations veterans. Bush and so, so many of those chickenshit republicans in office never were vets, and never will be. they dont care.

[wicket]

21. They are true chickenhawks

n/t

[DeeDeeNY]

14. Do cuts to troops help pay for Halliburton's no bid contracts?

A caller into Randi Rhodes last week said that her brother had gone over to Iraq a few years ago, working for
Kellogg Brown & Root, and was making as much as $15,000 a MONTH (tax free).

[derby378]

19. Not to mention Titan, CACI, Blackwater, Parsons Construction...

The whole mess of them should be hauled before Congress for a good ol' fashioned "trim the fat" session.

:popcorn:

[hashibabba]

15. OMG. Every single day Bush does something else that

makes me want to scream. When will this ever stop? Two years is too long to wait. We have got to get rid of this evil, evil man. How much further down will we let him take this country? Keep those letters and phone calls going to Congress to let them know how unhappy we are! Please!

[McCamy Taylor]

16. Is W. planning to kill off the troops in Iraq so they wont need health care?

It is the only way he will be able to stick to that VA budget and it would certainly go along with the Kissinger policy of never letting any troops leave a military battle field.

[bluedog]

17. Save the Vets benefits..........Stop the WAR! n/t

[IWantAChange]

18. I cant wait to c the VoteVets.org spot on this ...

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. call me surprised

NOT

[Connonym]

22. I'm spitting something sharper than nails

This is over the top obscene. How DARE that *&#K-er, how dare he? All the more reason to pull the fuck out of Iraq today. Every time I think I cannot possibly hate this administration more they go and do something to prove me wrong. The inner circles of hell are too good for the Boosh Crime Family.

ETA: And they have the cojones to claim that THEY support the troops? I'm furious.

[Cass]

23. A complete disgrace. What kind of monster does this to veterans returning home in war time??

My God, the arrogance and disconnect is frightening.

[Botany]

24. USA! USA! USA!

We have had 44,000 troops wounded, injured, taken ill, or with mental problems
from his insane Iraq war. 30,000 of which were hurt so severely they needed
air lifted out of the country.

[lebkuchen]

25. bookmarked

Bush has slashed budgets for non-defense programs that had already been provided for in the FY 2007 budget. Reallocation of funds in the name of "we're at war" is his big push to get Iran.

Fasten your seat belts. Let's hope we all live through it.

[Supersedeas]

26. Support the Troops is only a 'campaign' mantra -- means absolutely nothing

[Doondoo]

28. k&r

[niyad]

29. I think I am going to have to slap the next person who tells me that bush has the slightest interest

in our military personal and their wellbeing.

in our local rag this morning was the story of a ptsd iraq war vet, a young woman, who died when she drove her car the wrong way on the interstate and crashed into another vehicle. she was unable to get the help she needed, help that even our reichwing, pro-military local rag admits is woefully inadequate, and leaves behind a 7-year old child.

damn this callous, murderous maladministration, and everyone who supports it.

[vietnam_war_vet]

31. Is this really surprising by this Republican administration?? Nope!

Just more of the same by the Bush administration: continually wrapping themselves in our flag, proclaiming that if you aren't supportive of the President's war policies, then you are a terrorist lover/traitor to our country/hurting our troops, et al. However, the same Republican leaders and our President then turn around and propose two consecutive years of budget reductions to the VA and the VA health care system -- all the while the heavy flow of wounded Iraqi and Afghani war veterans are already overwhelming the VA. Ya, right - let's "support the troops." I seriously doubt that such hypocrisy and deceit by this administration will be any surprise to most veterans and our nation's citizens in general. -- Michael

[Lasher]

32. How handy. Junior pisses away the Clinton surplus...

...spends us into debt of Biblical porportions, then decides how other presidents should refrain from spending so that they can be accountable for the debt that he has saddled us with. Handy scenario. As always in his life, he hoses up everything and someone else is responsible for fixing his nightmares.

[whistle]

33. BushCo supports the troops until they need real attention, then

...the Dick Cheney doctrine kicks in which is "the veterans can go f**k themselves"

[dembotoz]

34. make em pay

how about everytime a repug shows up to wave a flag, glad hand a vfw, the candidate or politian gets asked rather loudly, if he(she)it supports the reduction in veteran benefits being pushed by w in 09. the public sure ain't gonna hear about this on fox.

[blondeatlast]

57. Absolutely! There must be a way to organize such a thing.

And welcome to DU, btw. :toast:

[Roland99]

35. Oh, pass out some yellow ribbons. Those vets will be fine.

:sarcasm:

[B Calm]

36. Why would the cuts start two years from now?

[Monk06]

48. A better question is why are VA benefits part of the budget but Iraq war expenditures aren't

[tom_paine]

37. This is just more Busheviks lies and False Numbers

The lie like Soviets. They ARE Soviets at the bottom of their black hearts. "Capitalist" Soveits, if you get my meaning.

Authoritarian criminal scum.

[Wapsie B]

38. And this supports the troops how?

Seems konservatives are constantly whining about evil liberals bashing the troops. But what I'd like to know is how cutting VA healthcare is supporting our armed forces? We can see fit to send troops in harm's way under false pretenses but once some of them need the services of the VA they're sol. What a fucked up set of values is that?

[DollyM]

39. Then perhaps . . .

he should stop creating Veterans!

[benny05]

41. This warms my heart. or...

NOT.

W is a no champion for the vets. Jim Webb and Patrick Murphy will see to this type of di-investments.

Yea, big gravatas experience. Send kids over, have them serve, give little in their healthcare in return.

:argh:

[PittPoliSci]

43. what an evil bastard.

that's all i can even say.

[sakabatou]

44. "By cutting funding and giving it to 'active soldiers...

The Iraq war will never end! BWAHAHAHAHAH!"
-Bush (in some other dimension)

[SpiralHawk]

45. Why do republicons hate our honorable Veterans?

I think it is because so many republicons are ashamed of their chickenhawk status.

Commander AWOL Bush
Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney
Rush "Anal Pimple Excuse' Limbaugh
Bill 'Never Served a Day' O'Reilly
Sean 'Serving would muss up my Gucci loafers' Hannity

etc. etc. etc.

Not a one of them served American in any kind of honorable capacity.

That, I feel, I why the rpeublicons hate and trash honorable US Veterans...

[2QT2BSTR8]

47. I am just not surprised at what this idiot does anymore......

GREAT POST!! People THIS is the stuff that we MUST write our Congressional leaders about. If we are to survive as a country, we have to stop him. For the love of America, will someone PLEASE stop this mad man. Impeach him and put him in Abu Gharaib!

[lonestarnot]

50. Keep enlisting there folks.

[porphyrian]

51. Then he's a fucking traitor. - n/t

[Monkeyman]

52. As we show our love here with our hearts

Bush shows his hate for the troops and veterans. He shows himself to be the coward we all knew he was and is.

[GeneCosta]

53. It won't make a difference

If a Democrat takes office in 2008 and calls for universal health care.

But this is pretty disgusting to even suggest.

[tofurkey]

54. Nice. He sends 'em in to be blown to bits...

and then lets 'em rot after.

[tabasco]

55. No problem. The whack job heads of the VFW and Legion will praise Boosh

for his decisiveness in a time of war!

[Monkeyman]

58. They are getting payback their clubs are closing

[tabasco]

67. It was several years ago but I stopped paying dues and being a member.

The VFW and Legion are full of rear-echelon pukes who consider themselves war heroes for scraping rubber off a runway 500 miles from the action. Still, if it wasn't for the leaders being political toadies for war profiteers, I would stop in for a beer now and again and maybe join again.

[blondeatlast]

59. Can't they just use those yellow stickers to patch themselves up?

My father and his SIX brothers all graduated college through the GI Bill. Bought homes, too. They also pooled there resources to send their sister through college as well.

My father must be spinning in his grave now and I am sick and heartbroken.

GWB simply has NO conscience. None. He is a black hole of morality. :mad::mad::mad:

[Zambero]

60. How many mindless yellow car magnets does it take,,,

...to legitimize balancing the budget on the backs of those who have put their lives on the line, often for repeat tours of duty, and all for the sake of a war based on lies and deceit? Cost is no object when it comes to spawning an illegimate war, draining the treasury, increasing deficits, rewarding cronies with no-bid sweetheart contracts, and proposing a "surge" in the face of a certain defeat for which the final die was cast long ago. And how long will it take for apologist groups like VFW to realize this administration has no other concern for veterans other than to award each of them the "Purple Shaft with Barbed Wire Cluster" medal. And one of those plus a buck will get you a cheap cup of coffee at any VA cafeteria.

[lakercub]

61. unbelievable

Bush is a bastard.

Here's a thought, George, you incompetent twit. Stop going to war with everyone and stop corporate welfare. That might balance the budget in a hurry. Oh wait...you and your friends won't get rich that way. Never mind.

Prick.

[Kurovski]

62. Par for pitiful course. Impeach.

Impeach them now.

K&R.

[GOPS Worst Fear]

63. I think Bush Watched "It's A Wonderful Life" and Twisted It..

Yeah I think Bush watched It's Wonderful Life and twisted it around. Instead of: "Everytime a bell rings, a angel get's it's wings,"...Bush sees:"Everytime a troop dies , Halliburton hears ..Cha-ching! Cha-ching!"

[wicket]

64. kick

:kick:

[In Truth We Trust]

65. IMPEACH!!!

[tabasco]

69. I'm sure this lady is very upset at how vets are being treated.

[wicket]

70. To this day...

To this day that picture still makes me burn with rage :grr:

[Sapphire Blue]

71. ***** Swamp the switchboard ***** w/toll-free calls to Congress @ 1-877 851-6437 or 1-800 828-0498

***** Swamp the switchboard ***** w/toll-free calls to Congress @ 1-877 851-6437 or 1-800 828-0498: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x189636

[Norquist Nemesis]

72. As the Cons whine not to cut funding for troops, the Majority

should put up a resolution not to cut funding for veterans! Make the Cons vote on THAT!

[SemperEadem]

73. completely unconscionable

how dare bush push for an escalation and also push for cutting their medical benefits upon their return? Why isn't this being hung round bush's neck? He should never gain any distance from this point in his push to escalate and further enflame and destabalize Iraq.

They're asking the troops to sacrifice too much already... now they want to kick them to the curb when they return? How fucking patriotic they are.

Support the troops my ass--you support the troops by SUPPORTING THE TROOPS, not abandoning them when they no longer serve your purpose.

[Charleyski]

74. Here We Go Again - Anti War Video

This video says its all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl7BWc3c4bE