[Vision2020] Budget cuts could slash $1B from vets health care

[Paul Rumelhart]

I shouldn't have to say this, but my response was in no way intended to 
say that cutting veteran's benefits was a good thing.  I was just 
pointing out that *everyone* is going to be displeased with 
across-the-board cuts.  You basically said "these blokes aren't going to 
like this" and I replied with "well, nobody is going to like this, since 
it affects everyone".  Not exactly attacking anyone, just bringing up a 
point.

On a personal note, why must you immediately assume that if I said 
something, it must be exactly aligned against whatever your point is?  
This black and white divide, perpetuated by both sides of the aisle, is 
what is killing this country.  This just serves the purposes of those in 
power, by the way.  Throwing hot-button issues our way wouldn't be as 
much of a distraction as it is if we weren't all primed to attack each 
other over the smallest thing.  A country neatly divided in two is 
perfect for those that live off of the status quo.

Not trying to be combative, I'm just wondering how I turned into the 
Antichrist.

Paul

On 01/02/2012 10:03 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
> Paul Rumelhart so warmly suggests:
>
> "Well, that's the problem with across-the-board budget cuts, isn't 
> it?  Nobody is going to be pleased."
>
> That's right, Mr. Rumelhart.  Many of us will be unjustly displeased; 
> especially that retired veteran sitting in an ICU waiting room . . . 
> hoping for news about his/her spouse that will give his mind some rest 
> . . . as health insurance support that (s)he depends so heavily upon 
> is reduced . . . so as not to cause a tax burden on the filthy, 
> unimaginably rich.
>
> Happy New Year, America.
>
> Seeya later, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Spokane, Washington
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
> On Jan 2, 2012, at 9:50 AM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
>>
>> Well, that's the problem with across-the-board budget cuts, isn't 
>> it?  Nobody is going to be pleased.
>>
>> We have to cut budgets, and since nobody in Congress can agree on 
>> which way is up, this is our only real solution.
>>
>> We have to cut back on how much we spend, since our spending is out 
>> of control.  It's ridiculous.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> On 01/02/2012 09:31 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
>>> Nice, huh?
>>>
>>> Courtesy of the January 9, 2012 edition of the Army Times.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> *Budget cuts could slash $1B from vets health care**
>>> Lawmakers may reverse on promises not to cut VA*
>>>
>>> By Rick Maze
>>>
>>> As veterans groups face the pos sible automatic, across-the-board 
>>> cuts in federal spending that could begin in 2013, fear of the 
>>> unknown is strong.
>>>
>>> The Budget Control Act of 2011 is “imprecise,” says a House staff 
>>> member who has been trying to advise lawmakers on how the Vet erans 
>>> Affairs Department would fare if $1.2 trillion in automatic budget 
>>> cuts are ordered Jan. 2, 2013.
>>>
>>> Veterans disability, survivor, education and training benefits, and 
>>> low-income pensions are exempt from the automatic cuts, a process 
>>> known as sequestra tion. But it is unclear whether veterans health 
>>> care funds are protected.
>>>
>>> A 2 percent cut in veterans health care funding appears possi ble 
>>> under some readings of the law — and its references back to the 1985 
>>> Balanced Budget and Emer gency Deficit Control Act, more commonly 
>>> known as the Gramm-Rudman Act.
>>>
>>> “We have not heard any specifics, only vague references that earlier 
>>> pledges not to cut VA health care or benefits may not be honored by 
>>> Congress,” said David Autry of Disabled American Veter ans. “That is 
>>> worrisome.” With a health care budget of about $51 billion to serve 
>>> 6.2 mil­lion patients, a sequester could result in a $1 billion cut 
>>> at a time when the population of Iraq and Afghanistan combat 
>>> veterans seeking treatment for the physical and mental wounds of war 
>>> is on the rise.
>>>
>>> Some patients, particularly veterans who do not have 
>>> serviceconnected disabilities, could be turned away, say 
>>> representatives of veterans groups who have studied the potential 
>>> impact.
>>>
>>> Fear of devastating cuts from sequestration is partly why leaders of 
>>> the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees were willing in 
>>> October to propose cuts in veterans benefits.
>>>
>>> A joint letter signed by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Richard 
>>> Burr, R-N.C., and Reps. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Bob Filner, 
>>> D-Calif., the leaders of the committees, acknowledged that a 
>>> “plausible legal interpretation” of the budget law puts veterans 
>>> medical funds at risk for cuts.
>>>
>>> “We would rather make the difficult decisions now so that we may 
>>> never reach that possibility down the road,” the four lawmakers said 
>>> in a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that 
>>> tried but failed to come up with an overall $1.2 trillion deficit 
>>> reduction package that would have avoided sequestration.
>>>
>>> The four were so concerned about harm to the VA health care budget 
>>> that they were willing to take some controversial actions, including 
>>> capping annual increases in GI Bill benefits at a level below 
>>> increases in tuition.
>>>
>>> Miller, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, said any 
>>> automatic cuts “would have a negative impact on VA’s health care 
>>> system and its ability to properly care for our veterans.” He 
>>> expressed frustration that the White House and VA have not clarified 
>>> the situation. “I have raised this concern numerous times in the 
>>> past few months, but I am still waiting to hear,” he said. “It is 
>>> now incumbent on the administration to clarify this issue 
>>> immediately for veterans once and for all.” Ryan Gallucci of 
>>> Veterans of Foreign Wars said there is still time to fight to 
>>> protect veterans programs. “Since no one seems to know for sure, we 
>>> have a year to make our case to preserve our earned veterans 
>>> benefits,” said Gallucci, VFW’s deputy national legislative director.
>>>
>>> “It’s important for our members to call and write Congress to 
>>> explain why these programs are important and why our veterans need 
>>> them to remain intact.” In a Nov. 22 statement to its members, the 
>>> VFW warns that sequestration could lead to increases in co-payments 
>>> for medical visits and prescription drugs for veterans, and an 
>>> increase in the enrollment fee for veterans who sign up for VA 
>>> treatment but do not have service-connected health issues.
>>>
>>> Signed by Robert Wallace, executive director of VFW’s Washington 
>>> office, the statement encourages members to contact lawmakers to 
>>> press for a full VA exemption to sequestration.
>>>
>>> “Over the next year, many in Congress as well as thousands of 
>>> registered lobbyists will be working hard to protect their special 
>>> interests and programs,” the VFW statement says.
>>>
>>> “We must all work hard to protect the Department of Veterans Affairs 
>>> health, benefits and cemetery administrations, as well as all 
>>> military quality of life programs for the troops, their families and 
>>> military retirees.”
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> Seeya later, Moscow.
>>>
>>> Tom Hansen
>>> Spokane, Washington
>>>
>>> "If not us, who?
>>> If not now, when?"
>>>
>>> - Unknown
>>>
>>>
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>>

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