[Vision2020] Veteran Health Care

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (April 13, 2005) Spokesman Review.

Veteran health care is about to experience major budget cuts effecting to
local VA hospitals (Spokane and Walla Walla) that are currently at
"emergency" status.

As President Bush pursues his "privatization of social security" agenda,
thousands of veterans are being swept under the rug.

But then, what do you expect from an alcoholic druggie that lied and cheated
his way out of his military obligation?

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Veteran health care proposal fails in Senate 
Murray says VA hospitals at 'emergency' status
E. Katherine Underwood
Staff writer
April 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - Sen. Patty Murray lost what she called "a last-ditch effort"
Tuesday to get the federal government to spend another $2 billion on
veterans' health care, including $525 million to help treat mental illness
and post-traumatic stress disorder for those returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan.

The Washington state Democrat tried to amend an $80.6 billion emergency
proposal for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate this
week is debating the spending package, which also includes funding for
tsunami relief and foreign aid programs. The bill offers slightly less
funding than President Bush requested and passed the House last month. 

This is the third time this year Murray has lead a highly charged debate on
veterans' health care funding.

All attempts failed on near party-line votes, with Arlen Specter of
Pennsylvania the only Republican siding with Tuesday's amendment, which
failed 54-46. 

The bill, which President Bush is expected to sign, is already padded with
member perks. Other senators have proposed amendments for "emergency"
projects, some of which have nothing to do with the military. 

With the Senate debating what is and is not an emergency, Murray's amendment
faced criticism from Republicans who argued that the VA system did not need
any immediate health care funding. That argument left her "stunned," she
said.

Murray described VA hospital beds held together with duct tape, broken
operating tables, poorly maintained medical equipment and budget shortfalls
in VA hospitals across the country, including in Washington state.

"I am just appalled that this is what this argument has come down to on this
floor," she said during the debate. "If this is not an emergency, then I
don't know what is."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who led the debate against the Murray
amendment, said an emergency request is unnecessary in this tight budget
year. She presented a letter from Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson
which said his department already has the money it needed for veterans'
health care needs. 

Hutchison and other Republicans questioned Murray's attempt to appropriate
money for soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan who are not yet
part of the VA system. It could take months for these soldiers to enter the
VA system, and they instead receive medical treatment under a Department of
Defense plan.

But Murray's spokeswoman Alex Glass said that 240,000 soldiers who served in
Iraq and Afghanistan had already left the service, and 50,000 of them were
now receiving VA care. 

"We were trying to avoid an impending crisis that is going to happen," Glass
said. "We are about to see a train wreck in terms of what is about to happen
to our VA hospitals."

Murray is running out of options to get money added, and it is unlikely
she'll have another chance this year to make her case on the Senate floor. 

When the budget goes to a conference committee to reconcile differences with
the House, Glass said Murray may be able to convince them to add some money.

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It is time that somebody stepped up to the plate and spoke for our veterans.

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

PS - Vote YES on April 26th and tell your children you care.


"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they
are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

-- Robert F. Kennedy