Successes this week in Iraq (5-11 Aug., 2005)

Today it's clear to many veterans that the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress think of them on other days of the year besides Veterans Day. They're thinking of veterans as they work to cut off VA healthcare. They're thinking of veterans when they refuse to address lingering health problems from the first Gulf War. They're thinking of veterans when they block full retirement and disability benefits. And they're thinking of veterans when Bush decides, yet again, not to attend a solider's funeral or pay a visit to those who are recovering from injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center just a few miles from the White House.

All that thinking has only hurt veterans of this country. Obviously, they deserve much better. And they deserve our full support.
Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, 6,239 troops had been wounded in action, according to a recent Pentagon count. Of those, 57% were so severely injured that they were unable to return to duty. Medically retired from active duty military service, they need immediate assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

The surge of newly disabled veterans represents a challenge of a magnitude unseen since Vietnam.

President Bush has not submitted an adequate budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs since he took office. Year after year, he has offered budgets that have sought to make veterans pay more and more out of their own pockets for health care. Not only has the Bush Administration tried - and been successful in one case - to dramatically increase copayments for prescription drugs, the Administration has also proposed various methods of generating additional revenue and artificially reducing demand for VA health care.

The Administration uses the projections from these measures to pad their inadequate budget requests for veterans' services so that they can claim budget increases. Some examples of this include the counting of revenue from copayments and third-party insurers as part of the President's request, which has become standard practice for the Administration, and shifting retirement funds from another government agency. The following is a year-by-year summary of the President's budget proposals for veterans' programs.

Today it's clear to many veterans that the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress think of them on other days of the year besides Veterans Day. They're thinking of veterans as they work to cut off VA healthcare. They're thinking of veterans when they refuse to address lingering health problems from the first Gulf War. They're thinking of veterans when they block full retirement and disability benefits. And they're thinking of veterans when Bush decides, yet again, not to attend a solider's funeral or pay a visit to those who are recovering from injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center just a few miles from the White House.

All that thinking has only hurt veterans of this country. Obviously, they deserve much better. And they deserve our full support.
Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, 6,239 troops had been wounded in action, according to a recent Pentagon count. Of those, 57% were so severely injured that they were unable to return to duty. Medically retired from active duty military service, they need immediate assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

The surge of newly disabled veterans represents a challenge of a magnitude unseen since Vietnam.

President Bush has not submitted an adequate budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs since he took office. Year after year, he has offered budgets that have sought to make veterans pay more and more out of their own pockets for health care. Not only has the Bush Administration tried - and been successful in one case - to dramatically increase copayments for prescription drugs, the Administration has also proposed various methods of generating additional revenue and artificially reducing demand for VA health care.



Lets hope your son does not need care when he comes back....As the asshole you support will not be there for him.

Swallowings not my job....thats yours!
Oh right you just bend over and take it up the ass..

I don't give a shit about Kerry Hamster if you can't post a logical argument again STFU.

WOW they really keep their promises to the soldiers...

Guardsmen may not receive education benefits

National Guardsmen returning from duty in Iraq are finding that the funds promised them for tuition reimbursement are in short supply.

The federal program that is supposed to defray up to 75 percent of their college expenses is short of funds, and until recently had no new funds in sight.

National Guard Col. Mike Caldwell said money recently was found for spring and summer students but that the fund remains about $180,000 short for fall term.

That's put Oregon National Guard leadership in an awkward position, as soldiers were promised the 75 percent tuition deferral, up to a maximum of $4,000 per soldier per fiscal year, as an enlistment incentive.

The benefit is described in National Guard literature, and new enlistees are still being promised this benefit when they sign up.

"This could not have happened at a more critical juncture," wrote Brig. General Raymond Byrne Jr. in a March 22 letter to Army National Guard Director Roger Schultz.

* * *

http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=66014

thats ironic,it the left that represent "taking it up the ass"??nasty.

Returning soldiers not getting help, critics say
Colorado Springs Gazette

As Army officials try to figure out what led a Green Beret based at Fort Carson to kill himself Sunday, veteran advocates say soldiers returning from war arenâ??t getting the help they need.

Chief Warrant Officer William Howell, 36, shot himself in the head outside his Monument home during a confrontation with police. Authorities had been called to the house by his distraught wife, who said the couple were having an argument.

Howell had been home for three weeks after serving a 10-month tour in Iraq with an elite fighting unit that experienced heavy combat, according to Maj. Robert Gowan, spokesman for the Armyâ??s Special Forces.

The unit lost a member in January when Master Sgt. Kelly Hornbeck was killed by a roadside bomb. Another member was charged with cowardice when he suffered a panic attack and wouldnâ??t go on missions after seeing a dead body. Gowan said soldiers in Howellâ??s unit received counseling to deal with Hornbeckâ??s death.

â??I know that when soldiers are departing a theater of combat, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, they undergo specific counseling about reuniting with their spouses, stress screening,â?� Gowan said.

Fort Carson officials say that all soldiers receive at least seven hours of counseling as a part of their redeployment. Some veteran advocates donâ??t believe it.

â??I would challenge you to go out and ask those (returning) soldiers if they have gotten their seven hours of counseling. Theyâ??re not,â?� said Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, an advocacy group for veterans.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...07/detail.html

Sen. Bob Graham of Florida argued last April that wounded soldiers were a certainty in the new Iraq war.

He asked for $375 million for their health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Appropriators bargained that down to $100 million in a 2003 war-spending bill and allowed the VA to use the money for other things.

Now thousands of Iraq veterans are using VA hospitals and clinics, but none of that $100 million will go toward their health care. The VA plans to spend it on processing benefit claims instead.

"Particularly with the large casualties that we've suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan, I'm stunned that they're not going to use it for that purpose," said Graham, the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Wounded U.S. veterans get a raw deal at home....


Still, the greatest shame is that America has the full capability to care for all its veterans, but the White House is too busy cutting taxes for people making more than $200,000 a year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/columnis...ne0208fnp1.asp

Way to go Bushites Support the troops. :mad:

Oh and for the record the age cracks come from your avatar...I have no idea how old you are....

This is from my hubby.....He says: You only wish you could kiss this"saggy" ass..

To quote you: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlueCat

Oh and for the record the age cracks come from your avatar...I have no idea how old you are....

This is from my hubby.....He says: You only wish you could kiss this"saggy" ass..

To quote you: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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Not saying I'd wish it but what the fuck, suppose I could do ya the favor!
And for the record, its....

BWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!don't forget the smiley! :D

So wheres your saggy ass? :p

Corrected:BWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlueCat

So wheres your saggy ass? :p

Corrected:BWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :D

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Well, I'm a little shy but here ya go!




BWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :D

yuck is that Fabio? He's nasty.

since we're posting pictures here.... here's me a few weeks ago at the beach.... do i look sexy? *rubs nipple* :D :D

OMG men have terrible tastes in men...I guess this is a good thing.