Bush Honors Veterans By Slashing Veteran Affairs Budget by $1 Billion by James Boyne
It was reported today in an article by the Associated Press that President Bush?s 2006 budget (if he is re-elected) has a provision in it that will cut funds for Veterans Affairs by 3.4% or roughly $1 billion. The total VA Budget is $28.7 billion a year.
Let?s put this in perspective.
Many veterans are pro-Bush, pro-Republican, and pro-Iraqi war. They are patriotic and patriotism is often confused with ?supporting your President in time of war no matter what?. President Bush therefore can take advantage of this fact and can continue to cut the VA program with little regard about whether or not a majority of veterans will vote for him. They will. After all, he is the Commander-in-Chief and as Commander-in-Chief he gets to give many of his PR and campaign speeches to orchestrated and controlled groups of our young men and women currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines as well as prime time TV coverage at the War College . This plays well on TV on the nightly news and on the major newspapers? front-page photos of President Bush.
In return for the lost lives, the sacrifices, the suffering, the dislocation, the burdens, and the family disruptions and crises the President proposes a $1 billion cut in a $28.7 billion VA budget.
The only logic that one could determine is behind this significant budget cut is this---the President needs more money to accomplish the following:
President Bush has already spent over $200 billion on the Iraq War.
The ongoing costs of the Iraq occupation costs roughly $1 billion a week (the same amount that Bush wants to cut from the yearly VA budget).
President Bush (if re-elected) will in all likelihood need another $200 billion to pay for the total reconstruction of Iraq since he just spent $200 destroying it. This may be a low estimate.
President Bush, with much glee, recently passed a $350 billion tax cut. (Just think, he could have proposed a $349 billion tax cut and left the Veterans Affairs budget alone).
President Bush (along with all the special interest Republicans), with much fanfare and pride just passed what was to have been a $350 billion Medicare prescription drug program. Whoops! It turns out someone who is in charge of the White House calculator must have pressed the wrong buttons and the Medicare program is now estimated that it will cost not $350 billion, but rather $550 billion. Oh well, what?s a $200 billion error. (I wonder if someone got fired for that minor mathematical boo-boo). In all likelihood, they got promoted for the miscalculation, since some Congressional leaders said they would not have voted for the bill if they knew it would be quite that pricey. Doesn?t matter anyway. Nearly all of the $550 billion will end up in the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry and the health insurance industry, Bush?s most ardent campaign contributors. Senior citizens will see at the very best a paltry benefit that is confusing, complex and virtually impossible to understand. But, President Bush will get some extra pocket change of $1 billion from the Veterans Affairs budget. Yes, that makes sense.
The pay scale of our active, volunteer servicemen is a joke.
The VA benefits program dates back to World War II.
The VA hospitals and facilities should be the pride of our nation, not the dilapidated embarrassment they have come to be. Some of the hospitals date back to the 1890?s. The physicians, nurses, medical and support personnel at VA hospitals are under funded and lack the modern day support they need.
Just think. $1 billion (One Billion Dollars) cut from the VA program.
By the time the Iraqi war fiasco is over and we have liberated the 27 million Iraqis that didn?t want to be liberated it will have cost U.S taxpayers a half a trillion dollars or about $500 billion. If we stay there for 50 years like we have in Korea , Japan and Germany it will cost us much, much more than that.
I don?t know what the hell taxpayers did with their $350 billion tax cut but I don?t see people rolling around in the streets hooting and hollering about how rich they suddenly are. There are still 9 million reported unemployed, another 9 million long term, discouraged unemployed, 45 million working Americans who can?t afford health insurance, 1.6 million Americans who file for bankruptcy every year (many due to hospital, medical and prescription drug bills that have sucked their life savings away).
Today, June 1st is the day that the new Medicare prescription drug cards will be effective for senior citizens. The administration of this program is a nightmare come true for seniors. First they must pay a $35 a month premium, then a $250 deductible and then have to pay a co-pay of $20 or so. Then when their out-of-pocket reaches about $1250 the plan stops, and doesn?t kick in again until they have spent over $3000 or so. Then when their out of pocket reaches $5000, the plan will pay for almost all. I tried to explain all this to my 89-year-old mother----but she fell asleep! I told her it was June 1st and asked her where her new drug card was. She looked through her pocketbook for two hours and said, ?Well, I guess I don?t have it. How do I get it??
One can guarantee that Aetna, United Healthcare, CIGNA, Pfizer, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome, Pharmica, Ely Lilly, the large hospital chains, and prescription distribution and delivery corporations have had hundreds of accountants, lawyers, and administrative managers working day and night on the best way to extract their fair share of the $550 billion dollars.
But alas, Veterans Affairs is going to be slashed by $1 billion. Boy, that makes sense. Especially in light of the fact that it is the VA hospitals that provide prescription drugs to eligible veterans.
It was reported today in an article by the Associated Press that President Bush?s 2006 budget (if he is re-elected) has a provision in it that will cut funds for Veterans Affairs by 3.4% or roughly $1 billion. The total VA Budget is $28.7 billion a year.
Let?s put this in perspective.
Many veterans are pro-Bush, pro-Republican, and pro-Iraqi war. They are patriotic and patriotism is often confused with ?supporting your President in time of war no matter what?. President Bush therefore can take advantage of this fact and can continue to cut the VA program with little regard about whether or not a majority of veterans will vote for him. They will. After all, he is the Commander-in-Chief and as Commander-in-Chief he gets to give many of his PR and campaign speeches to orchestrated and controlled groups of our young men and women currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines as well as prime time TV coverage at the War College . This plays well on TV on the nightly news and on the major newspapers? front-page photos of President Bush.
In return for the lost lives, the sacrifices, the suffering, the dislocation, the burdens, and the family disruptions and crises the President proposes a $1 billion cut in a $28.7 billion VA budget.
The only logic that one could determine is behind this significant budget cut is this---the President needs more money to accomplish the following:
President Bush has already spent over $200 billion on the Iraq War.
The ongoing costs of the Iraq occupation costs roughly $1 billion a week (the same amount that Bush wants to cut from the yearly VA budget).
President Bush (if re-elected) will in all likelihood need another $200 billion to pay for the total reconstruction of Iraq since he just spent $200 destroying it. This may be a low estimate.
President Bush, with much glee, recently passed a $350 billion tax cut. (Just think, he could have proposed a $349 billion tax cut and left the Veterans Affairs budget alone).
President Bush (along with all the special interest Republicans), with much fanfare and pride just passed what was to have been a $350 billion Medicare prescription drug program. Whoops! It turns out someone who is in charge of the White House calculator must have pressed the wrong buttons and the Medicare program is now estimated that it will cost not $350 billion, but rather $550 billion. Oh well, what?s a $200 billion error. (I wonder if someone got fired for that minor mathematical boo-boo). In all likelihood, they got promoted for the miscalculation, since some Congressional leaders said they would not have voted for the bill if they knew it would be quite that pricey. Doesn?t matter anyway. Nearly all of the $550 billion will end up in the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry and the health insurance industry, Bush?s most ardent campaign contributors. Senior citizens will see at the very best a paltry benefit that is confusing, complex and virtually impossible to understand. But, President Bush will get some extra pocket change of $1 billion from the Veterans Affairs budget. Yes, that makes sense.
The pay scale of our active, volunteer servicemen is a joke.
The VA benefits program dates back to World War II.
The VA hospitals and facilities should be the pride of our nation, not the dilapidated embarrassment they have come to be. Some of the hospitals date back to the 1890?s. The physicians, nurses, medical and support personnel at VA hospitals are under funded and lack the modern day support they need.
Just think. $1 billion (One Billion Dollars) cut from the VA program.
By the time the Iraqi war fiasco is over and we have liberated the 27 million Iraqis that didn?t want to be liberated it will have cost U.S taxpayers a half a trillion dollars or about $500 billion. If we stay there for 50 years like we have in Korea , Japan and Germany it will cost us much, much more than that.
I don?t know what the hell taxpayers did with their $350 billion tax cut but I don?t see people rolling around in the streets hooting and hollering about how rich they suddenly are. There are still 9 million reported unemployed, another 9 million long term, discouraged unemployed, 45 million working Americans who can?t afford health insurance, 1.6 million Americans who file for bankruptcy every year (many due to hospital, medical and prescription drug bills that have sucked their life savings away).
Today, June 1st is the day that the new Medicare prescription drug cards will be effective for senior citizens. The administration of this program is a nightmare come true for seniors. First they must pay a $35 a month premium, then a $250 deductible and then have to pay a co-pay of $20 or so. Then when their out-of-pocket reaches about $1250 the plan stops, and doesn?t kick in again until they have spent over $3000 or so. Then when their out of pocket reaches $5000, the plan will pay for almost all. I tried to explain all this to my 89-year-old mother----but she fell asleep! I told her it was June 1st and asked her where her new drug card was. She looked through her pocketbook for two hours and said, ?Well, I guess I don?t have it. How do I get it??
One can guarantee that Aetna, United Healthcare, CIGNA, Pfizer, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome, Pharmica, Ely Lilly, the large hospital chains, and prescription distribution and delivery corporations have had hundreds of accountants, lawyers, and administrative managers working day and night on the best way to extract their fair share of the $550 billion dollars.
But alas, Veterans Affairs is going to be slashed by $1 billion. Boy, that makes sense. Especially in light of the fact that it is the VA hospitals that provide prescription drugs to eligible veterans.
