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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Disabled veterans are not victims

After the Romney tape came out where he said he thought 47% of Americans not paying income tax were "victims" I did the post asking Does Romney think disabled veterans are victims too? because I doubt he thought much about us at all.

My husband is 100% disabled Vietnam Veteran, so he gets compensation from the VA for what he paid for with his service and retirement because he had to stop working. The VA takes care of his healthcare and what is tied to his service but they bill our private insurance company for everything else. I get CHAMPVA but that is secondary to our private insurance. I don't get a paycheck for what I do because it is a charity but most of the time, I can't even break even so we are deeply in debt. I put in at least 70 hours a week. Mitt Romney made his comment and that included families like mine and every other disabled veterans' family out there. It also include military families.

Well, here is something from a disabled veteran that is also feeling as if Romney just slammed him too.

Disabled Veteran 47 Percenter: 'I Guess I'm One Of The Leeches On The System'
Posted: 09/20/2012
John Rudolf

CAMDEN, N.J. -- John Hoskins is not proud of his dependence on government. He scrapes by on a $900 monthly check from the Veterans Administration and $16 in food stamps. Sometimes he struggles just to pay his utilities and keep food in the fridge.

Hoskins, 67, enlisted in the Army's elite 101st Airborne division in 1963 and saw two harrowing years of combat in Vietnam, where his reconnaissance unit was repeatedly air-dropped into the jungle behind enemy lines. Today he is disabled, suffering from diabetes and confined to a wheelchair. A month ago, his left foot was amputated due to a blood infection.

He readily admits that he is among the 47 percent of Americans that pay no federal income taxes and rely on government assistance -- a group derided as freeloaders by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in comments secretly recorded at a high-priced fundraiser in May.

"I guess I'm one of the leeches on the system," he said. "But look at me. What can I do?"
read more here

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