Election is Over But Will We Hold Them Accountable?

What Do Veterans Hope For?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 25, 2016

In 2008, when most of the bad reports of how our veterans were being failed by members of Congress came out, it was stunning. That is, stunning for some folks. The rest of us had been living with all the problems for decades. 

To this day, there is absolutely no excuse for any disabled veteran to be unaware of all of this. Civilians, sure they have an excuse, considering they have better things to do than think about veterans, especially when they are too busy complaining about how "offended" they are over tiny little things. No time to care about the men and women risking their lives to make sure they keep those rights of free speech and the right to protest.

The thing is, with all the social media capabilities the younger veterans have in the palm of their hands, they seem more interested in what is happening to them right now than what has been happening all along.

Veterans are mostly Republican, according to reports, yet they are fast becoming more Independent than Democratic.

The stunner came when Military Times delivered poll results with this message to the would-be next Commander-in-Chief

In a new survey of American military personnel, Donald Trump emerged as active-duty service members' preference to become the next U.S. president, topping Hillary Clinton by more than a 2-to-1 margin. However, in the latest Military Times election survey, more than one in five troops said they’d rather not vote in November if they have to choose between just those two candidates.

Most of us figured out a long time ago, that it really doesn't matter much which party controls what because historically, both have been bad for veterans. This is something I wrote back in 2008 when there was another Presidential election with politicians yet again, making promises they didn't keep. Oh, no, this isn't just a slam against those seeking the highest office, but against all politicians we elected, then neglected to hold them accountable.

With all the hearings by the House and the Senate, why is there so little being done to correct these problems while the veterans are suffering? Good motives and plans do not put food on their table or a roof over their heads. Building new hospitals does not take care of the veterans facing wanting to end their lives today or having to deal with having their wound go untreated. Can't they understand that these veterans need help yesterday? They still need to work on the future but they have to take care of today first!

Not much has changed. Back then John McCain was talking about how bad the VA was and the need to privatize it instead of demanding the Congress be held accountable for fixing it. After all, since they have had since 1946, you'd think everything would be running perfectly because veterans like him deserved nothing less. Ya, right!

We need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care,” McCain told the National Forum on Disability Issues last month. “If you have a routine health care need, take it wherever you want, whatever doctor or health care provider and get the treatment you need, while we at the VA focus our attention, our care, our love, on these grievous wounds of war.”

The Republican senator argues that giving veterans a VA card that they can use at private doctors would shorten the long wait times many veterans face in seeing government doctors, who are nearly universally viewed as among the best in the world.

McCain and veterans groups aren’t always on the same page and he was yet again pushing for it. Guess it didn't matter that only about 20% of our veterans go to the VA, as it is, while the majority are in fact seeing private healthcare providers.

While about 40 percent of veterans get some health care from the VA, only about 20 percent of all veterans rely totally on the VA, according to a 2015 government survey of health and health care use.

Let that sink in for a minute.  Only 20%, yet every session of Congress, and every President elected, has promised to do the right thing for our veterans. We noticed. For the younger veterans, it is time you got caught up to what we've been living with for decades. This veteran was waiting 17 years.

POST FALLS, Idaho - It was a shocking scene outside a large church in Post Falls Sunday as hundreds of worshipers were gathered at Real Life Ministries, when a Gulf War veteran took his own life right outside the church doors. 59-year-old Dale Belieu had suffered from debilitating illness for years and spoke out against the lack of help from the Veteran's Administration.

Here are a few more reports to get you more informed on how things got so bad for your generation.

VBA's pending compensation and claims backlog stood at 816,211 as of January 2008, up 188,781 since 2004, said Kerry Baker, associate legislative director of the Disabled Veterans of America, during a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will treat about 333,000 sick and injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2009, according to VA statistics released last week. That number is a 14 percent increase over this year's casualty total. Yet, despite the Bush administration's promises to prioritize the VA even as other domestic departments' funds are cut, its annual budget request for next year places more financial burdens than ever on many returning soldiers.

Now what are you going to do about it? Will you hold the folks you just sent into office accountable or, will you once again, find it regrettable you didn't pay attention all along?