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Because the Congressional "super-committee" couldn't agree on budget
cuts and we've since defaulted to across-the-board cuts. That was
all part of the deal that was passed when we were trying to shave
the smallest amounts off a small piece of the debt during the whole
"debt ceiling" fiasco.<br>
<br>
We did this to ourselves by electing such a contentious Congress.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
On 01/02/2012 10:09 AM, Joe Campbell wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:DA7D276E-08CC-445C-845C-FC144548E264@gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div>Why do we have to cut back on programs? We were fine with the
programs. It was the wars that got us in debt, right? <br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
On Jan 2, 2012, at 9:50 AM, Paul Rumelhart <<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">godshatter@yahoo.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
<br>
Well, that's the problem with across-the-board budget cuts,
isn't it? Nobody is going to be pleased.<br>
<br>
We have to cut budgets, and since nobody in Congress can agree
on which way is up, this is our only real solution.<br>
<br>
We have to cut back on how much we spend, since our spending
is out of control. It's ridiculous.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
On 01/02/2012 09:31 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:42041143-EA68-4C9A-95B1-90C71656374A@moscow.com"
type="cite">
<div>Nice, huh?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Courtesy of the January 9, 2012 edition of the Army
Times.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>------------------------------</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><span class="maintitle"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 1em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Budget
cuts could slash $1B from vets health care</b></span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><span class="subtitle"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold;"><b> <br>
Lawmakers may reverse on promises not to cut VA</b></span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span>
<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"
align="justify"><span class="abody" style="font-family:
Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em; color:
rgb(0, 0, 0);">By Rick Maze</span><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
The Budget Control Act of 2011</span><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> 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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
</span><span class="abody" style="font-family:
Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em; color:
rgb(0, 0, 0);">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.<br>
<br>
“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 </span><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 15px;">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. </span></p>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Miller, the
House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, said any
automatic cuts would have a negative impact on VAs
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, VFWs deputy national legislative director. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Its 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. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Signed by Robert
Wallace, executive director of VFWs Washington office,
the statement encourages members to contact lawmakers to
press for a full VA exemption to sequestration. </span></span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;
font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><br>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:
Times; font-size: medium;"><span class="abody"
style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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. </span></span>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>------------------------------<br>
<br>
<div>Seeya later, Moscow.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Tom Hansen</div>
<div>Spokane, Washington</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>"If not us, who?</div>
<div>If not now, when?"</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>- Unknown</div>
</div>
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