Congressmen Filner and Grayson were asking for you today

Just back from meeting Congressman Filner and Congressman Grayson in downtown Orlando. They came together today to ask how you are doing, that is, if you are a veteran. For all the hard work both of these gentlemen do all year long for veterans, they want to know what you need and how what they are trying to do is working for you.

There were a lot of people there working on behalf of veterans and some really great questions but for me right now I want to tell you what I asked. I wanted to know why I was listening to CSPAN and hearing some people in congress say they couldn't increase funding for the VA because "there were two wars to pay for" at the time all the reports of inadequate care were the topic of many news stories beginning with the scandal at Walter Reed. Congressman Filner said he didn't have an answer as to why the general public didn't have a clue about any of this but I have a feeling he was just being nice. We know it is because the cable news shows had better things to talk about than just taking care of veterans or mouthing support to their faces at the same time they were stabbing them in the backs. If you want to know who was voting against veterans, look up the voting record of your senator and representative to learn all about them. If you noticed, then in 2007 when Filner took over chairmanship of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, things started to get better but there is a long way to go and there at too many people getting in the way.

Congressman Grayson added to Filner's answer by saying on the Presidential committee, there are some saying that stopping the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the answer to coming up with fixing the funding problems. They want to cut the pay to the troops and cut back on services to the veterans. Again, he was being nice because we know that has been the answer all along because the Republicans some of my friends elected were duped into believing they cared simply because they were told and never bothered to check the voting records. Filner and Grayson said it was a moral obligation to take care of the men and women we send into combat and their care should be part of the budget for any war as a debt that needs to be paid just like all other war spending.

I asked Congressman Filner about why he holds so many hearings on the problems our veterans face but doesn't seem to be getting any testimony on what works. Wives of Vietnam veterans were the same age as the newer wives of the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. We have years of experience to offer them in telling them how they can heal their marriages and help their husbands heal. After all we had to make all the mistakes learning because no one was talking about any of this when the Vietnam veterans came home. My own marriage is going on 26 years and yes, I remember what it felt like to be lost, alone, afraid and often even ashamed. I remember what it was like trying to explain all of this to our daughter and our families. I had the luxury, if you want to call it that, of knowing what PTSD was and why my husband changed because I was studying it since 1982 right after we met and my Dad said it was shell shock.

Congressman Filner said that people like me should be hired so that we can help other families cope and help the veteran heal. He's right. Taking care of the veteran and the families keeps families together and then it should help stop many veterans from becoming homeless. None of this has to be this bad.

Both Congressmen also brought up how the DOD says there are so many killed and so many wounded but the figures coming out of the VA do not match. The DOD says there are less than 50,000 wounded but over 100,000 filed claims for their wounds with the VA. The figures on the deaths do not come close because there are many not counted who committed suicide.

There is a lot that has to be done but these two men are trying and so are a lot of others across the country. I just thought it was important that you knew you were talked about today and both of these men wanted to know how you really are instead of waiting for the troubles your going through to become too great before someone does something more for you. They feel it is a debt that needs to be paid and not something any of you should have to do without, beg for or fight for.

AARP feeling heat over healthcare reform from Medicare Generation

AARP losing tens of thousands of members over support for health care overhaul

By Associated Press

7:07 p.m. CDT, August 17, 2009


WASHINGTON (AP) — About 60,000 senior citizens have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group's support for a health care overhaul, a spokesman for the organization said Monday.

The membership loss suggests dissatisfaction on the part of AARP members at a time when many senior citizens are concerned about proposed cuts to Medicare providers to help pay for making health care available for all. But spokesman Drew Nannis said it wasn't unusual for the powerful, 40 million-strong senior citizens' lobby to shed members in droves when it's advocating on a controversial issue.

AARP is strongly backing a health care overhaul, running ads to support it and hosting President Barack Obama at an online forum recently to promote his agenda to AARP members. However, the group has not endorsed a specific bill and says it won't support a plan that reduces Medicare benefits.
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AARP losing tens of thousands of members

Medicare.gov - The Official U.S. Government Site for People ...
Medicare.gov is a consumer beneficiary Website that provides access to information about Medicare, Medicare health plans

Healthcare debate, Use your brain for a change

My Mom was 85 when she passed away. She had AARP, Medicare and the VA's CHAMPVA. I can tell you right now, she'd be more than willing to smack some people over their heads to get their ears working.

First, to all the Senators and Congressmen out there saying that government should never be involved in healthcare and that socialized medicine is wrong, please explain to all the seniors out there why you don't think they should have it either? Then maybe you can explain it to the veterans why they should have it. After all, if it's bad for everyone else, then you must not think the veterans or the elderly should have it either.

I heard people complain about socialized medical coverage screaming they didn't want it followed by they didn't want their Medicare touched, as if that makes any sense at all.

One more thing that no one seems to be thinking about is that considering the price of private healthcare keeps going up, your paycheck isn't. The amount your boss pays for the share of the burden is not going into your paycheck at the same time you are taking home less because your share goes up as well. I know because I used to pay the bills for a company and faced having to search for healthcare options every year to make sure they were plans our employees could live with.

I had private healthcare thru my husband's job and then the VA too. I got a raise because I was not costing the company more money paying premiums for me.

See that's the biggest problem out there today is that no one seems to be thinking about what they would want if they were without healthcare. I heard one woman on TV complain she doesn't want healthcare and does not want to be forced to get it. I wonder if something happens to her and she ends up in the hospital, how she is planning on paying the bill? Does she expect the rest of us to pay if let's say she ends up with some kind of serious illness? Then why wouldn't she expect that we would be saying we don't want to pay for her because she was irresponsible? She said she could afford it but didn't want it. That's irresponsible.

Too many others don't have a choice. They just can't afford it or they cannot get it because they have some kind of pre-existing condition that the insurance company will not cover. Others lose their jobs and end up working a couple of part time jobs to make up for the lost income and part time workers don't get health insurance. We expect drivers to have vehicle insurance in case they hit us, but because some people decide they don't want it, it drives up the premiums we pay. It works the same way with healthcare but drivers decide to drive without insurance, they don't have to drive. No one gets to decide if they live in a body or not.

Temps don't have health insurance.

Now I'm also sure you've noticed we all have the same body parts that need to work right and when they don't, they need to be taken care of. Our bodies don't know the difference if we have healthcare or not, they just know they need medical help when accidents happen, when illnesses come and when they just don't work right. Since everyone has the same body, why should anyone be treated any differently? Where you live is a choice. What you do for work is a choice. What your soul lives in is not a choice because this body has had the same design since the beginning.

If we don't all have healthcare, the links in the chain keep getting out of control. Aside from it's the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do. Use your brain and wonder who gains if there is not healthcare reform? Is it the insured or the companies? What do Senators and Congressmen have to gain by standing in the way of something that is needed for every American citizen in this country? Donations from rich companies. Anyone saying that socialized medicine is bad, needs to say that to someone on the programs we already have and then explain why one body is worth more than someone else's body just because they can afford to pay for healthcare.

By the way, I'd also like to hear them tell a veteran they are under socialized medicine and should give it up because it's wrong for them to have it. After all, they offer the same argument they used when the VA began and when Medicare began too.

Police Called To Health Care Reform Meeting
Monday, August 17, 2009 9:09:20 PM

Reported By Adam Longo

ORLANDO -- Hundreds of people showed up up Monday night, trying to get into a town hall meeting on health care.

Congressman Alan Grayson is hosting the meeting at a union hall on Virginia Drive as part of a series of informational events on the health care reform proposals out there.
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Police Called To Health Care Reform Meeting