[Vision2020] Veteran Health Care

[Dick Schmidt]

Tom,

I'm going to email our Idaho republican puppets and get on them about this. 
I use the VA hospital in Spokane and there is a huge swell of guys coming 
back from Iraq who really need the VA help especially the mental health 
part. Because of body armor more guys are coming back who probably wished 
they were dead because of losing some or all of their limbs and not being 
able to have a decent quality of life. I guess if I was there I would just 
as soon leave the body armor to someone else instead of living in a maimed 
condition. Al Franken mentioned on his program that when he was over there 
visiting guys in the hospital he met a guy who had lost all his limbs and a 
huge part of his face. How sad.

Dick Schmidt


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 7:26 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Veteran Health Care


> >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?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
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