Here's today's Daily News editorial, which as you know I feel strongly about. Please don't miss the Action Item at the end.
WHILE THE White House and Congress express shock and dismay at recent revelations about the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center, the problems with care for those who serve in our nation's military is no shock to those who have been through the system. And as horrific as the conditions at Walter Reed are, they represent just the tip of the iceberg.
It would be a critical error for either the White House or Congress to address Walter Reed without taking the opportunity to address the larger issue: Troops and veterans are not getting the care they deserve, in both the system for active-duty soldiers, which costs about $50 billion a year, and the Veterans Health Administration, which has a budget of about $35 billion for health care for 5.3 million vets, but still generates complaints of waits for all services.
Indeed, former Sen. Bob Dole and ex-Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala have indicated that the commission they are heading on the matter will go deeper than just Walter Reed, and examine the entire system, including the VA.
This is a good start, and long overdue. Yet, the commission will take months to write a report. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of veterans of Iraq, and the millions overall, will continue to be shortchanged by the current system.
For them, one of the scariest propositions is the budget submitted for the coming year by the Bush administration. According to the Independent Budget, a document created by the nation's top veterans advocacy groups, the VA needs just over $44 billion this year to handle the current load, and help ensure that the agency isn't in the red as it prepares for an influx of new troops from Iraq.
Not only does the White House proposal fall short by more than $10 billion, but after a slight increase to the VA budget this year, it proposes cuts to the VA in 2009 and 2010. That would be just around the time the next president most likely finds a way out of Iraq, and a flood of troops come home. While Democrats in Congress propose adding a couple of billion to the president's request, it is still woefully short of the need.
What does this mean for our veterans, in real terms?
Already, because of cuts in previous years, VA centers have closed, forcing veterans to travel long distances to get care. Some centers have reported that they had to put "kill orders" on new equipment they needed, meaning diagnosis of veterans could be delayed, or flat out wrong.
Too many veterans are facing ridiculously long waits at VA centers for care because there simply isn't enough staff to handle the caseload. Shockingly, some amputees have even reported the need to fiddle with their prosthetics because their VA center couldn't find one that fit.
The financial shortchanging of the Veterans Affairs Department is something that doesn't need a commission study to fix immediately. Yes, there are larger systemic issues with bureaucracy that must be fixed, and that is something Dole and Shalala will address.
In the meantime, however, both the White House and Congress should reexamine their willingness to underfund the VA out of much needed resources for the the purpose of budgetary games.
We urge all who support the military to call on their members of Congress and Sens. Bob Casey (202-224-6324) and Arlen Specter (202-224-4254) to let them know that those who served our nation deserve nothing less. Citizen Hunters outside Pennsvylvania, you can find your members of Congress and their contact info here.
UPDATE 4/11: Cost Cutting and neglect led to Walter Reed Problems
UPDATE 4/15: Returning Troops Face Obstacles to Care
UPDATE 4/18: Pentagon Unveils Changes to Troop Care
UPDATE 4/25: Army's Veteran Care Problems are Widespread
Comments (14)
I am a Marine and someone who likes public discourse, but Arn, you had some offensive words to say and have made an unfair generalization of a segment of our American population. I am trying to not make sweeping generalizations myself (I apologize to those who I have been judgmental towards) and at times I find myself making them in my head, but I am finding out that there are decent people everywhere of every creed, race, sex, income levels, and political affiliation, etc.
Posted by: Joe on March 10, 2007 14:09
Arn, you really are very rude and don't seem that interested in the issues. This site has been talking about issues concerning vets well before Walter Reed--it was the first place I learned about PTSD before other folks were even talking about it. Clear to me that Flavia put a lot of time into making sure our men and women could find the resources they need and help us find ways to help in that Support and Defend section--what have you done?
Posted by: juliepall@yahoo.com on March 10, 2007 15:09
If you're looking for intelligent discourse from Arn, don't bother. He's a troll that swings by this blogs just to repeat the same insults and talking points over and over again. It really doesn't matter what the topic is, he can be counting on to say the same things:
1) That the owner of the blog is liberal bimbo who hates American.
2) Democrats are socialists who hate America.
3) The "MSM" is controlled by Democrats/socialists who hate America.
That's pretty much all he ever says.
Posted by: Den on March 10, 2007 23:22
The solution here is to rework eligibility. Every single World War II veteran seems to be eligible for all services. Other war veterans have different eligibility, depending on which war you were in. They have begun to means test veterans, but that is not enough. Why should every World War II veteran be down there getting non - critical care, when they have medicare, and their own health care plans, while unemployed and impoverished (non World War II) veterans can't get needed care without a 30 or 49 per cent disability?
Posted by: Frank DiSalle on March 11, 2007 17:49
Again with the "bimbo" comment. Flavia is NOT a bimbo!
Anyway, I was disgusted but not surprised our Veterans are still being treated like second class citizens when they return from war. It has been happening forever in this country. Eventually it takes guys like Bruce Springsteen to step up and give them a voice.
I can actually say I do not blame Bush and his administration for this fiasco. Any administration who could be that heartless does not deserve to be called American.
Accountability is the issue. Bush just needs to step in and correct it, which he is doing.
Posted by: TheBoss on March 11, 2007 20:59
It never helps when people descend into partisan sniping, and unfortunately, I see it happening on this site too.
I learned in law school that argument for the sake of argument will get you a good grade, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have a handle on the truth.
It would be a good idewa for some of those who want to blame this administration for everything (including a rise of the price of tea in China) to step back, take a deep breath, and make some intelligent comments about what can be done to improve the situation, instead of constantly harping against the Republicans.
But I suppose mine is wishful thinking.
And as far as Mr. Gonzalez's claims that Saddam was actually 'good' for us? That might be true from a political perspective, but I thought that liberals and internationalists were concerned with human rights and not how certain actions benefitted the US. My brother, who was on the prosecution team which successfully brought Saddam to justice, has a slightly different take on that subject.
Posted by: Christine on March 13, 2007 13:03
Accountability is a part of problem resolution. You cannot have true problem resolution without holding people accountable or they will make the same mistakes again. People should be held accountable for their mistakes. You, me, and everyone.
Posted by: Joe on March 13, 2007 15:24
Accountability is good, Joe. Let's just make sure we spread the blame around, since it certainly isn't limited to one party, cabinet official, branch of the armed forces, senator, President or administration.
Christine
Posted by: Christine on March 13, 2007 15:42
Again Arn, still don't understand how any of the below or all the action items on how to help soldiers in your area is political.
Military Tax Center. A resource for figuring and navigating through the tax system with the military servicemember in mind.
GI Bill information. Helpful for the servicemember who is interested in furthering his/her education.
Civil Relief Act info. This helps servicemebers know what their rights are concerning their finacial obligations as they deploy and the relief they are entitled to as a serveicemember.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): The name says it all, the site is pretty comprehensive. I have pulled out some of the critical links and explained them below or found sites that I thought were more user frendly, as I found it a bit daunting to navigate. I will use another time and place to gripe about how we are currently under-funding the Veterans Administration by the tune of about $11 Billion dollars so those coming home and our vets nationwide don't get all the care they need.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: The only organization started by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to support other Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. At their website, you can learn what important issues affecting the troops and veterans are being debated in Washington, and how you can help. You can also join their online Army by signing up, and be kept up to date on important initiatives that will tangibly support the troops. TroopNet is their online community of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. If you are a vet of those wars, you can join TroopNet. If you support the troops, you can browse their profiles and read their unedited stories.
Military One Source: This is a valued resource and relatively new including: Parenting and child care, Personal and Family Readiness, Education, Midlife and Retirement, Older Adults, Disability, Financial, Legal, Everday Issues, Work, Inernational, Managing People, Health, Emotional Well-Being, Addiction and Recovery
MyPay: Very Important: This is the site to get your W-2's, check your pay, and print out stubs, to name a few things. MyPay allows the servicemember to make changes to allotments, view changes and updates to VA benefits and provides numbers and other resources to answer any pay related issues. Very helpful.
Tips for Military Members: Here's info regarding job conflicts, talking to the boss, federal law (employment and reemployment rights for Reserve component members) Drill Schedules. Annual Training Schedules. Extra training. Non-Training Active Duty. Emergency/contingency duty. Scheduling. Vacation. Vacation Accrual. Pay. Federal Employee Paid Military Leave. National Guard and Reserve Members that are Students. Reward the Boss for Supporting Your Service etc.
Legal Assistance Advisories: A clearinghouse of the latest tips to keep service-members in the know about current legal issues effecting them ranging from scams (a problem facing service-members) to changes in laws that may affect them if they are not on top of it.
Military Pay: This is good because the rates and benefits change regularly. There is also TSP here (military 401K) and Survivor benefits info.
TRICARE: Important - deals with medical service, numbers, for hospital visits for the members and their families. This is the military insurance HMO type deal. Don't get me started on the fact that reservist and guard do not have it when they are inactive and they should! Find the latest news on it and keep up to date.
Soldiers' Angels: I heard about this way to support our troops through a Citizen Hunter. The organization provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations. Our wounded heroes can operate their laptops by speaking into a microphone making it possible for them to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field.
Federal Voting Assistance Program: This is a big one. I know how busy you guys can get, this site will make it easy for you to make sure you vote!!!! From what I understand sometimes voting officers are so busy with their regular jobs (it's an additional billet) they don't have time to register folks. Here you can do it yourself. It is helpful for the absentee voters and it gives the info and forms you need to vote wherever you are.
National Military Families Association: A political lobby on behalf of military families which interacts with various government agencies, Tri-care, DEERs. It has a political and legislative agenda and helps service members' families get in contact with their representatives.
Survivors: VA has created a new Web site for the surviving spouses and dependents of servicemen and women who died on active duty or after leaving the military. You can learn about benefits for the surviving spouse, dependent children, and dependent parents. You can also get info about and link to other federal agencies and organizations that offer benefits and services to survivors and dependents.
Humana Military allows the individual to track and see pending or old medical referrals in the Tricare system. Sometimes medical referrals take weeks to get the letters to our men and women. This site allows immediate access to the provider being referred along with the authorization number.
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans provides emergency housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance. Help end homelessness among veterans. Get active! You can find out where there is a shelter near you and volunteer to be a mentor, counselor, or legal aid. You can donate personal care items, clothing, and food, or make cash contributions. Another important initiative is one that ensures that homeless veterans receive proper burial with military honors.
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The most comprehensive site about PTSD, symptoms, treatment, and resources. There is an entire section dedicated to returning Iraq war veterans.
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society: Resource for spouses and families of Marines deployed in case of cash emergencies while the Marine is deployed. Also helps with employment and travel for medical emergencies in case of wounding or death.
Fallen Heroes Memorial: An online memorial for all of the fallen servicemembers of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, including photos and visitor-submitted messages.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart: The Purple Heart is combat decoration, and put simply it is given to those wounded in battle, or to the families of those who have been killed in battle. This is the only Vet organization composed strictly of "combat" veterans; it was formed to assist those who had received a Purple Heart.
Wives, mothers, and daughters of Purple Heart recipients can belong to the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which also does great work in Veterans' Hospitals. This site is full of helpful resources.
Posted by: Julie on March 13, 2007 15:45
Of course Christine. We are all accountable.
You, me, and everyone.
Posted by: Joe on March 14, 2007 09:58
Thanks Julie for reminding people of the resources available on this site.
Posted by: Joe on March 14, 2007 10:00
I agree, Joe. As Donne wrote, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."
We are each diminished by the pain of our servicepeople, we are all responsible for their suffering since they were wounded while protecting us, and it is not a partisan issue. That is all I am trying to get across.
Peace to you.
Christine
Posted by: Christine on March 14, 2007 16:51
And you are Christine. Thank you very very much. I am so glad for this site. It has its ripples. It is such a reflection of what is happening outside. I say outside, as in when we close our laptops and live the other 99.9 percent of our lives.
I want this place to reflect what is inside of me, and I love the peace I get when people do not agree, but still extend themselves and share, and add. I am beginning to see more clearly now, more than a year ago when I started sharing my thoughts, that we live in a world of people who all deserve respect and to be heard, if only because I myself have grown by listening. I see the answer in transcending beyond labels and seeing past what divides us.
Ya'll caught me in a very good and loving mood. I hope you and everyone here have a peaceful evening.
Posted by: Joe on March 14, 2007 19:26
Nice Joe. You too Christine. God is smiling upon both of you.
Todd
Posted by: Todd Levari on March 15, 2007 09:41