Senate Veterans Affairs Committee forgot about CSPAN

This hearing by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee shows how long the problems with the VA has been going on, or at least, in recent time. The fact is, veterans have always had a harder time dealing with getting their care taken care of. Simple as that. While members of Congress have been able to pacify the press, pretending they were shocked by the recent crisis, the truth is far from it.

Members of the House and Senate have gotten away with the Sgt. Schultz excuse (Hogan's Heroes) of "I see nothing, I was not here and I didn't even get up this morning."
Fiscal Year 2007 Veterans' Affairs
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007 Veterans' Affairs budget. Secretary of Veterans' Affairs Jim Nicholson and other officials testified about administration funding requests, the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the operation of the department.

"Forced to take drastic measures to make ends meet."

Force other veterans out of the system.

Mandatory overtime and contracted out care plus cuts in research.

Budget for VBA, (Veterans Benefits Office) Not enough and the warning was given for increased need.

18,000 OEF and OIF veterans needing lifetime care. Medicare callers were told to go to the VA. Vietnam veterans entering into the system. Employers not providing health care.

Let's start with then Senator Obama now, President Obama.

.04% Increase in veterans spending last year then followed by needing $1 billion in emergency funds.

Significant fiasco.

$800 Million in the VA budget that was supposed to come from raising fees for veterans that the congress had turned down many times before and was not planning on doing but it was in the budget anyway.

Cuts funding for VA nursing home care and does not allow for building any more.

And then move onto Senator Lindsey Graham asking for veterans to make sacrifices.....Yes, he wanted veterans to make sacrifices if they could afford it.



You can watch the whole hearing with the link above. Here are some more you may be interested in.








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They wanted veterans to pay the price. Take a look at the folks on the Veterans Affairs Committee and then ask them how they thought they could pretend to not know what was was, what was coming and now, what happened as if they never even got up this morning.