Warrior's lament as veterans

Webster says to lament is to to mourn aloud : WAIL
transitive senses 1 : to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively : MOURN
2 : to regret strongly

This video is about how the GOP tried to tie oil drilling to the bill that was supposed to take care of veterans. Very telling when you get right down to it. They put drilling first and caring for veterans as part of a political ploy in order to get it done. Too bad it wasn't the other way around. They never do seem to put veterans first or even fight for them. Just as McCain votes against them but wants to use them for their votes, so do a lot in the GOP, but the good thing is that there are a lot of people in the GOP who do really care.
Florida veterans beware of being used by McCain he votes against you

McCain claims to not match voting record
These are just two recent posts on the fact McCain keeps voting against veterans. Take the time to learn about what you're willing to pay to elected him just because he's a veteran.


If you think you'll be in better hands with the GOP in office then you should also think again. The VA and Military constuction bill that meant so much to so many, well the GOP tried to tie oil drilling to it. Watch this and learn.

Rep. Edwards: GOP Tries to Derail Vets Funding with Drilling
Edwards of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs denounces Republican ... Chairman Chet Edwards of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs denounces Republican attempts to derail critical military and veterans funding in order to try and pass drilling legislation that would do nothing to help with gas prices. Rep. Edwards reads the urgings of the veterans organizations not to meddle with the legislation in such ways on the floor, prompting boos from Republican Members

We can read post after post about how the veterans support McCain but when have you ever read a report about how McCain supports the veterans? It's because it is not true. Oh, sure, you'll read a blog or hear some talk radio host spout off about McCain saying this or that but you won't be able to find any proof of any of what they claim. That's the key hear. Always fact check what you hear because what you've seen will only be made worse if veterans keep making the same mistake over and over again assuming the Republican candidate will ever really give a damn when their history has not proven it.



I've heard a lot about rumors about Obama and to tell you the truth, they make me very sad. None of them are true but some of the rumors are coming from veterans who believe the claims are real without ever checking on any of them. I just posted this video on the side bar at the top of this blog. Take a listen to what Obama has to say about veterans and learn some truth.



[TRANSLATED] Barack Obama: Keeping Our Faith With Veterans (Full)
[TRANSLATED]

Barack Obama: Keeping Our Faith With Veterans (Full)
speech on veterans' affairs in Charleston, WV on May 12, 2008. These are his full remarks. ... barack obama charleston


But this fight for veterans is not new. Obama was hitting Bush, McCain and the GOP hard for what they did not do. We had two occupations producing more and more wounded but it took the Democrats to fight for veterans and not the Republicans.

Sen. Obama Critical of "Accounting Gimicks" in Bush VA Budget

from Sen. Obama's Press Office, Feb 16, 2006
WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Thursday criticized President Bush’s budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), saying it was rife with accounting gimmicks that inflated the funding Veterans would receive.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed that the VA continues to use the same accounting gimmicks that it has used for years to obscure the real implications of its budget requests,” Senator Obama said.

Obama said that while the President was touting his request for $3.4 billion in additional funds for veterans’ health, that figure includes as much as $1.9 billion in revenue and savings that did not exist.

“Last year, we found out that the VA was short $1.2 billion dollars for 2005 because of budget tricks and accounting problems,” Senator Obama said. “Given the VA’s history of stunning budget shortfalls, we owe our veterans an honest accounting of this budget request.”

The president’s budget includes $1.1 billion in savings from “management efficiencies,” that the Government Accountability Office recently reported did not materialize in years past. The budget also includes $795 million in savings and revenue from a proposal to increase fees and copayments that has been rejected three years in a row by Congress. Medical inflation and payroll costs will carve out an additional $1.2 billion of the increase.

“Let’s not fool ourselves - or our vets - into thinking that this ‘increase’ is as large as the White House would like us to think,” Senator Obama said.

Senator Obama also criticized specific cuts in the VA budget including:

New Fees for Veterans Making More than $26,000
For the fourth year in a row, the President is proposing higher health fees and drug co-payments for veterans' health care that would drive more than 213,000 veterans out of the VA system. The President would force veterans who do not have service-connected disabilities and make more than an average of $25,842 to pay a new $250 annual enrollment fee for their medical care and would double their drug co-payments from $8 to $15, for a 30 day supply.

Continuing Ban on Middle-Income Veterans
The President' plan continues the ban on new Priority 8 enrollments; this includes veterans making more than $25,842 without a service-related disability. Through this ban, the VA denied health care to 8,944 Illinois veterans last year. Nationally, more than 260,000 veterans were denied access to VA hospitals, clinics and medications last year. The VA's income cutoff varies by county. In Illinois, this averages $36,600 and ranges from a low of $27,350 in 36 rural and low-income counties to $40,250 in the Chicago area. The 2005 national average for a single veteran was $25,842.

Cuts Benefit Claim Staff
The FY 2007 request cuts 149 full-time benefit claims processors, despite an expected hike in claims over the next year. This will increase the time veterans will have to wait to get their claims finalized from 167 days in 2005 to 182 days in 2007.

Flatlines Funding for State Nursing Home Construction
The President’s budget flatlines funding for state nursing home construction. Illinois has 391,000 veterans 65 and older, but only four state nursing homes that together have waiting lists topping 920. It is clear that VA does not have the capacity to care for the greatest generation of American veterans.

Cuts Funding for Medical and Prosthetics Research
The President’s budget cuts medical and prosthetics research by $13 million, a 3.2 percent cut. The budget proposal would cut 96 VA research projects. Research is a key mission of the VA, helping advance care for veterans and attracting quality doctors into the VA system.
http://illinoischannel.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B0DB128F5CD96151!478.entry

While men and women were coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, where were the Republicans when they controlled the House and the Senate? Where were they when they were faced with devastating financial trouble because they were wounded, couldn't work and couldn't get their claims approved? Where were they when the VA was so understaffed and underfunded they had to turn veterans away? Were they fighting Bush to increase the budget of the VA to take care of them all? What do you expect from any of the ones who wouldn't stand up for veterans when they had the power to do should they retake control over the White House? Do you really think suddenly they will care just because there is a Vietnam veteran in the chair? Remember he's the same one who voted against veterans all these years so it's really likely that you may just lament even thinking of voting for him but it may be too late if you don't appreciated the importance of the issues veterans face and who has not been fighting for you.