Bush Spits On Soldiers And Veterans

George Bush: Breaking Our Commitment to Those Who Served

May 28, 2004

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0528b.html


While John Kerry is in Wisconsin today holding a town hall meeting on his comprehensive plan to ensure that America keeps its commitment to our veterans and military families, we learned yesterday that the Bush administration’s plans would cut over $900 million from the Veterans Administration Budget in 2006.

Kerry Spokesperson Phil Singer said, “This White House regularly breaks its promises to America’s veterans. On the campaign trail, George Bush talks about the need to improve programs like veteran’s health care, but now we know that his administration’s plans would cut over $900 million from the Veterans budget in 2006. Veterans across this country deserve better. John Kerry will never break America’s commitment to those who serve or turn his back on America’s veterans.”

The Facts:
Bush’s Secret FY 2006 Budget Will Cut $17 Million for the Nearly 500,000 Veterans in Wisconsin. The Washington Post reported that the White House Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to its agencies advising them of spending cuts to be expected for FY 2006. In this secret budget memo, George Bush instructed the Veterans Administration that they will need to cut over $900 million from their budget. For the nearly 500,000 veterans in Wisconsin, this will mean $17 million less for vital services.

Wisconsin Veterans Impact Of The Bush Approach:

Bush’s 2005 Budget Falls $52 Million Short to Meet Wisconsin’s Veterans’ Health Care Needs. The National Priorities Project reported, “Veterans’ medical care comprises the vast majority of discretionary veterans spending. Wisconsin’s veterans health-care facilities would need $52.4 million more than has been proposed to meet its veterans’ health-care needs.”

Wisconsin Veterans Not Getting Fair Share of Federal Benefits Under Bush. The Wisconsin State Journal editorialized in May 2004 that, “Wisconsin military veterans aren't getting their fair share of federal benefits -- but there's something they can do about it…

The state ranks 40th out of 50 states in terms of benefits received by veterans, much too low… ‘Many veterans believe they are no longer eligible for benefits after being out of the service for decades,’ said Veterans Secretary John Scocos, ‘and are surprised to find that benefits have no time limits and new benefits have been instituted.’”

Bush Proposed to Cut $402,000 in Impact Aid for Wisconsin. In Bush’s FY 2004 budget, he proposed cutting $402,000 in Impact Aid money for Wisconsin in his 2004 budget, denying education funds for children in military families.

Wisconsin Soldiers Returning From Iraq Seek Health Care. “About one-fourth of the southeastern Wisconsin soldiers who came back from Iraq and received Department of Veterans Affairs services were being seen for mental health issues. One-tenth of the troops evacuated from the war zone to Germany were being treated for psychological concerns. It's likely that in central Wisconsin, our returning troops will struggle with postwar health issues, and they might not show up for months.”

VA Considered Privatizing Superior, Wisconsin Outpatient Clinic. The VA floated the idea of closing a outpatient care clinic for veterans in Superior, Wisconsin. The Associated Press reported, “Hundreds of veterans and supporters had rallied earlier in the week against the plan. Some veterans had said they already are getting the best available care.” The VA dropped the plan.

Bush National Budget Cuts:

Bush Tried to Impose New Costs on Middle-Income Vets. Bush’s 2005 budget will institute a new annual $250 enrollment fee and an increase in prescription drug co-pays from $7 to $15 for middle-income veterans. In 2003, The Bush Administration publicly opposed Senate efforts to block increases in health care costs for veterans, including a new $250 annual enrollment fee for VA medical care, a proposed increase in pharmaceutical co-pays, and the Senate's addition of $1.3 billion in emergency funding for medical benefits. And in December 2001, Bush more than tripled the prescription co-payments for nonservice-connected veterans from $2 to $7.

Bush Failed To Fully Fund Veterans Health Care. Bush's 2005 budget falls more than $2.6 billion short of the amount needed to fully fund quality veterans' health care, according to The Independent Budget, an annual collective assessment by four veterans service organizations of the funding levels and policy changes needed at VA.

Bush Cut Waiting List By Eliminating Veterans. The Bush Administration boasts of cutting waitlists for VA health care, but they have done so by excluding nearly 500,000 veterans (Priority 7 and 8) from enrolling in VA health care.

Bush Opposed Fixing The Disabled Veterans Tax. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recommended that Bush veto the defense appropriations bill if it contained a fix to the concurrent receipt problem that penalizes veterans who also receive disability assistance.

The concurrent receipt ban stops a veteran who receives disability compensation from also receiving military retirement pay, effectively punishing our disabled vets. Rumsfeld wrote that if the bill, “authorizes concurrent receipt of military retirement pay and veterans’ disability compensation benefits, or expands TRICARE, then I would join other senior advisors to the President in recommending that he veto the bill.”

Bush Does Not Support Fixing The Disabled Veterans Tax. After receiving the veto threat over the disabled veterans tax, some Congressional Republicans responded by proposing to gut the VA disability system to pay for it. The idea was so bad that the president’s own VA Secretary Anthony Principi opposed it. A compromise was struck that still leaves out approximately 400,000 veterans.

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FACT SHEET:

Republican Budget Shortchanges America's Veterans and Members of the Armed Forces

http://democrats.house.gov/news/librarydetail.cfm?library_content_id=148&levelid=361

On the battlefield, our troops pledge to leave no soldier behind. Here at home, Democrats know that we must also leave no veteran behind. We must ensure health care, pensions, and benefits for veterans and members of the armed forces. Yet the Republican budget fails to adequately invest in veterans' health care, refuses to end the Disabled Veterans' Tax, and continues the penalty on benefit to widows of military retirees. In addition, the President's budget proposes new increases in the cost of veterans' health care and slash long-term care funding.

Republican budget fails our promise to America's veterans' and soldiers. The Bush budget is completely inadequate, as is the budget drafted by House Republicans. The House Republican budget increases funding above the inadequate Bush request for veterans' health care, but is still more than $1 billion short of what veterans need.

It fails to repeal the Disabled Veterans Tax, which forces disabled military retirees to give up one dollar of their pension for every dollar of disability pay they receive, and contains an empty promise to end the Survivor Benefit Penalty, but only if cuts to other programs are made. And Republicans rejected Democratic efforts to increase family separation and imminent danger pay for men and women in uniform deployed around the world.

Democratic budget places priority on America's veterans and supporting our troops. The Democratic alternative significantly increases support for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democrat plan provides $2 billion to restore full survivor benefits to families of military retirees and to improve military housing for 50,000 families.

It also permanently permits many reservists to buy military health care through TRICARE and calls for continuing targeted pay raises for enlisted personnel. The Democratic alternative includes a $2.5 billion increase over Bush budget for veterans' health care next year, which veterans' groups critically needed to maintain the current levels of veterans' health care services.

Republican budget fails to adequately invest in veterans' health care. Right now, 30,000 veterans are waiting six months or longer for an appointment at VA hospitals. But the President's budget includes an increase of less than 2 percent for veterans' health care – not enough to maintain current services and nearly $3 billion less than veterans' organizations agree is needed.

It also proposes new increases in the cost of veterans' health care for up to 1 million veterans, and slashes long-term care funding. Similarly, the House Republican budget is $1.3 billion short of the needed investments in veterans' health, and House Republicans rejected efforts by Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) led Democratic to provide an additional $2.5 billion for veterans' health care to ensure that current levels of veterans' health care services can be maintained.

Republican budget refuses to end the Survivor Benefit Penalty. The Survivor Benefit Penalty penalizes aging survivors, mostly widows, of the veterans of our county. Military retirees pay premiums for years and rightfully expect that upon their death, their spouse will receive 55 percent of their benefit. But when their survivor reaches 62, a Social Security "offset" drops the benefit to a mere 35 percent.

The Bush budget forces the spouses of military retirees to continue to pay this unfair penalty, and the House Republican budget contains an empty promise to end the Survivor Benefit Penalty, but only if cuts to other programs are made.

Republican budgets refuse to end the Disabled Veterans' Tax. Both the Republican and the President's budget fails to repeal the Disabled Veterans Tax, which forces disabled military retirees to give up one dollar of their pension for every dollar of disability pay they receive. It continues to require nearly 400,000 military retirees with service-connected disabilities to continue to pay the Disabled Veterans' Tax.

Bush budget fails to expedite disability claims and threatens all veterans' benefits. The President's budget slashes funding for more than 800 employees needed to process disability and other benefit claims in 2005.

Today, more than 465,000 veterans are awaiting a decision on their claims for compensation and pension benefits, and an additional 148,000 have appeals awaiting action. More than 106,000 of those veterans have been waiting six months or more for their decisions. Despite this backlog, the budget makes it harder for veterans to get their disability, education, pension, housing and employment benefits by eliminating critically needed staff who process claims for veterans' benefits.

Bush budget slashes funding for long-term care. The President's budget slashes $294 million in funding for long-term care for America's veterans, which will reduce the number of patients treated by more than 8,000.

Bush budget cuts 50,000 VA home loans. The Bush budget cuts the number of VA home loans for veterans by 50,000 – denying VA home loans to veterans who have taken out a VA home loan in the past.

Bush budget slashes funding for medical and prosthetic research. The President budget calls for a $50 million cut in award-winning VA medical and prosthetic research. This would set the research grant program back six years, just as many of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home with terrible injuries that require this expertise.

Health services for Gulf War & Iraqi veterans fail to meet growing need. The President's budget calls for only about 6 percent more for the Gulf War programs to provide health-related services to veterans of the Gulf War, as well as veterans now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. To meet the needs of returning troops, these programs will likely have to increase significantly.

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Survivor Benefits Penalty
http://democrats.house.gov/issues/veterans/hot_topic.cfm?topic_id=63

Democrats believe that our troops should be taken care of when we send them into battle and that they should be given our respect when we bring them home. And we know that the spouses of those we send into battle make sacrifices too. But Republicans are refusing to keep their promise and provide veterans, military retirees, and their spouses with the retirement benefits they earned serving our country.

Survivor benefit penalty hurts military widows. The Survivor Benefit Penalty penalizes aging survivors, mostly widows, of the veterans of our county. Over one million military retirees pay premiums for years and anticipate that upon their death, their spouse will receive 55 percent of their benefit. But when their spouse reaches 62, the benefit drops to a mere 35 percent – forcing these widows to give up more than one-third of their retirement benefit when they are eligible for Social Security benefits. This reduction takes place even if the surviving spouse isn't eligible for Social Security.

Democrats Make Progress. Because of action by veterans' organizations and pressure by House Democrats, months of Republican opposition to ending the Widows' Tax seem to have ended, and soon hundreds of thousands of families of military retirees may be able to receive the benefits they have earned. Democrats are determined to ensure that this provision now is passed by the Senate, and enacted into law.

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May 28, 2004

McAuliffe, Vets bash Bush for secret plan to cut nearly $1 billion from Department of Veterans Affairs
On eve of Memorial Day weekend, DNC highlights the Bush record of failure on veterans: 3 years of broken commitments

Washington, D.C. - On the eve of Memorial Day Weekend, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe was joined at a press conference by several Veterans to highlight George W. Bush's secret plan to cut nearly $1 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs - should he win a second term in November.

"This weekend, we as a nation will honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in their service to our country," DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said today. "And while now more than ever, we should ensure that promises made to our Veterans are promises kept, we discover that President Bush has a secret plan that far from honors those who served. In fact, he actually has a secret plan to ambush America's Veterans if he wins in November."

An internal White House memo surfaced yesterday revealing that the Bush Administration quietly notified various government agencies that should Bush win a second term he would cut spending for virtually all agencies in charge of domestic programs, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. Specifically, Bush would cut the VA budget by nearly $1 billion. This comes after three years of continually shortchanging vets: squeezing the veterans' health care system, closing VA hospitals, and imposing new costs on and denying benefits to vets.

Chairman McAuliffe also outlined Bush's record of failure on Veterans' issues and detailed the following cuts and rising costs Veterans have been forced to shoulder under George W. Bush:

Funding for Veteran's Health Care - shortchanged by George W. Bush. Bush shortchanged the Veterans healthcare by more than $2.6 billion.
Cost of Prescription Drugs for Veterans - tripled under Bush, wants to further increase costs.
Veterans' Enrollment Fees would increase under George W. Bush and will cost veterans over $2 billion over the next five years.
Eleven VA Hospitals will close or partially close under George W. Bush, even in the face of waiting periods for medical care.
"President Bush likes to talk about the tremendous sacrifice offered by American veterans to defend this country, but words are all he's offered," McAuliffe said. "John Kerry is the only candidate in this race with a real commitment to honor and keep America's promise to our veterans."

Click here to read the full report.
http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/www.democrats.org/pdfs/veterans_bush_record.pdf


Me Book

that's why they support Kerry in overwhelming numbers...

Bush's only support at this point in time is coming from the die-hard fascists.

only to screw the veterans every time

http://gwbush2004.republican.com/


It's Okay to leave military kids behind
http://www.ausa.org/family/update_203.html#children

How to ruin a great army See Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/6857211.htm

Army foresees doubling up tours
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-08-24-army-tours_x.htm

Army Times Sees Through Bush
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292259-1989240.php

Bush Defense Cuts Loom
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/mcwethy010815.html

Bush may cut school funds for military
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/110009_military25.shtml

Bush shafts disabled vets
http://www.military.com/NewContent?file=Galloway_091903&ESRC=army.nl

Bush Shafts the Troops
http://www.dailytrojan.com/article.do?issue=%2FV150%2FN22&id=01-troop.22v.html

Bush, Republicans Losing Support of Retired Veterans
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0727-02.htm

Military Families Speak Out
http://www.mfso.org/

Pissed off troop in Iraq
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=42352;title=APFN

Rumsfeld Says Pay Cut Is A Raise
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=17174

Shafting The Troops
http://www.nhgazette.com/shafting.html

Troops in Iraq face pay cut - Pentagon says tough duty bonuses are budget-buster
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/14/MN94780.DTL

Troops in Iraq face pay cut
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0803/14paycut.html

What You See Is Not What You Get
http://www.military.com/NewContent?file=Youmans_091503&ESRC=army.nl

White House Suprised By Shafted Troops
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=445128

Wounded billed for hospital food
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/11/Worldandnation/Wounded_billed_for_ho.shtml

1/4 of US Troops lack Body Armor
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/11/Worldandnation/Wounded_billed_for_ho.shtml