Tag: Veterans Issues

About Your VA Health Issues

As a veteran I am always watching on how the government treats our veterans…..recently it has not been good news and then I read something that made me sick….

Doctors and other medical professionals working for the Department of Veterans Affairs can now refuse to treat Democrats and unmarried veterans.

VA hospital bylaws previously barred medical staff from discriminating against patients “on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status or disability in any employment matter,” The Guardian reported.

But now, in response to President Donald Trump’s January executive order on “gender ideology,” “national origin,” “politics,” and “marital status” have been removed from the list, allowing medical staff to deny treatment based on their personal politics, according to the newspaper.

Similarly, the bylaws on staffing decisions no longer prohibit discriminating against candidates on the basis of national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, membership in a union, or affiliation with a “lawful political party.”

With more than 170 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics, the VA is the largest integrated hospital system in the U.S. It employs 26,000 doctors and serves 9 million patients annually.

In an emailed statement to The Guardian, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not deny that doctors can refuse to treat patients based on their beliefs or that hospitals could fire physicians based on their marital status or political affiliation.

“All eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law,” he said in a statement, calling the rule changes a mere “formality.”

This sucks for our veterans that depend on the VA if the story is true…..

I am sure that this will be challenged in the courts and may make it to SCOTUS and if it does I have no confidence that the veterans will win that fight.

This is for all those veterans that voted for the idiot in the WH….WTF were you thinking?

Please keep abreast of the news around the VA and keep any affiliations to yourself or suffer the consequences.

I Reade, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is This How They Support Our Veterans?

I personally think that this country does not give enough support to our veterans…..especially those that suffer damage because of our moronic wars.

The GOP always plays hard to the veteran and lies to them every election and when they are elected they stab the vets in the back…..almost every time.

The GOP controlled House has done that exact thing while playing the debt game…..

When the new House majority passed its grab bag of government spending cuts last month, setting up an on-going game of chicken with the White House over any federal debt limit increase, they also directed their fire at essential services for military veterans, a constituency long courted by their own party. Included in the “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023,” was a proposed 22% reduction in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Right-wing Republicans scrambled to provide political cover for themselves by insisting that “our budget cutting plan doesn’t harm veterans.” Instead, claimed Mike Bost, a former Marine from Illinois who now chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, his  conservative colleagues were just trying to force a long-overdue discussion of whether VA funding is “actually helping veterans.”

Fortunately, a VA patient, elected to Congress last year, took the House floor to accuse the Republican majority of passing a “B.S. plan” that’s “an absolute betrayal and a disgrace.” As former Navy Officer Chris Deluzio (D-PA) noted, House Republicans are “threatening to blow up our economy and to push us into default unless we agree to cuts to the VA and veterans, and to so much else.  There is not a single protection, not a single one for veterans in their bill. …Millions of veterans are going to be screwed by this plan.  They won’t get the care they’ve earned, and they will have to wait longer for benefits.”

Deluzio’s fiery speech generated much media attention and set the tone for other Democrats, like Joe Biden and California Congressman Mark Takano, who have weighed in, with similar criticism of GOP hypocrisy. Democratic Party consultants and strategists are, no doubt, already sketching out the kind of attack adds—focusing on Republican support for VA benefit cuts—that will be aired to help the White House woo the “vet vote” away from right-wing candidates next year, who need to be defeated for myriad reasons.

Amid Debt Ceiling Debate: VA Cuts Passed by House Give Corporate Dems Political Cover

How f*cked up is that?

We have a Pentagon play war around the world that gets almost unlimited funds and our vets will have to deal with a possible 22% cut in need funds.

And yet this betrayal will be forgotten by 2024 vote…..now that is what is f*cked up!

Our vets deserve so much more than they get….thank you for your service is just a feel good tagline….if you really want to ‘thank them’ then make damn sure they are looked after as they should be.

On an unrelated note:  DeSantis announced Thursday that he would seek the presidency and in the first 24 hrs he has raised $8.2 million….that should scare any rational person into start looking closely at the candidates.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–26Sep22

I have written many times about the rate and the causes of the suicides by our veterans. It appears that the numbers are higher than have been reported in the past.

The number of US military veterans who have died by suicide could be far higher than the Department of Veterans Affairs has reported, a new study indicates. America’s Warrior Partnership, which works to eliminate veteran suicide, found that in eight states, the number of suicides was 1.37 times higher than reported for 2014 to 2018. If that rate holds throughout the nation, the number of veterans dying by suicide each day would be about 24; the VA’s reported average for that period was 17.7, per NBC News. “We’re not pointing fingers at anyone,” said Jim Lorraine, the nonprofit’s president. “We’re just saying it’s sobering to look at the numbers.”

The VA bases its count on information provided by the counties where the person died, per Stars and Stripes. The new study, which took four years, went further to gather details about the veterans, working with the Department of Defense and checking state records. Other states could not release relevant data because of confidentiality restrictions, the preliminary report says. The VA’s process, missed veterans about 18% of the time, the study said. The University of Alabama and Duke University worked with the nonprofit. “It’s not the VA’s fault, Lorraine said. “The issue is the counties.”

Veterans Affairs released a statement defending its process. “We take every step possible to make sure that our veteran suicide data is accurate, because the first step to solving this problem is understanding it,” said press secretary Terrence Hayes. Loraine said he hopes more states will take part in the next phase of the study. Broader collaboration would improve the accuracy of the data, as well as prevention methods, he said. The VA’s 2020 report said more than 46,000 US adults died in suicides in 2018, more than 6,000 of them veterans. Another organization has found that suicide has killed four times as many US veterans as combat so far this century.

This problem should be far more important to the government than it is….we asked these people to give their all and then we put band-aids on their wounds instead of giving them the help they deserve.

For a damn change do something besides giving our veterans platitudes in place of adequate health care.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Today’s Veterans Need Help!

I have been an antiwar person since 1970 and have been writing about the crappy treatment this country gives to its veterans that they pretend to cherish so much…..I have been writing about the plight of our troops and veterans since 9/11.

I first went to a Veterans Health Administration hospital for treatment in 1981, when I was assigned to civilian graduate school in the Boston area and no active-duty option was available. In the words of Ernest Hemingway, it was a “clean, well-lighted place,” not fancy but very functional. The medical teams were good at their jobs, and after a painful procedure or two, my problems were resolved. It left a lasting, positive impression of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Decades later, my daughter required a medical determination after her time on active duty as a Navy nurse. While there was a fair amount of red tape as she moved out of active duty and came under VA auspices, it was again a positive experience overall. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-16/iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans-need-help-with-jobs-health-care

These god forsaken endless wars are not solving any problems and creating more than the government is willing to solve.

War: Good for few, bad for most by Carlos Latuff | ArtWanted.com

We all pretend that being a vet is something special……but that is a lie.  We pretend that they are the saviors of our system….so we can justify the horrible treatment that they receive from the country they are protecting…..we blame the “other side” for the lack of benefits for our veterans…..that is easier than demanding that the vets get what this country owes them…..

This is not a new problem or a new bitch for me…..it has been occurring since Vietnam and just gets worse the more prosperous this country becomes….

Just a sampling of my thoughts on the lack of concern for our veterans….

https://lobotero.com/2017/11/13/americas-dis-regard-for-its-soldiers-and-veterans/

https://lobotero.com/2016/08/30/how-veterans-are-losing-the-war-at-home/

https://lobotero.com/2015/06/22/veterans-screwed-again/

There are many more on IST….just go and look around….

We say “thank you” for your service when we mean thanx for going so my kid can stay home and be a worthless lump of crap.

Kevin Larmee_anti-war art_antiwar__jesus_Protester.jpg Drawing by Kevin Larmee | Artmajeur

If you truly want to thank the Veterans then demand and demand again that they get the benefits they were promised for service this country in our time of need.

That would be a “thank you” that veterans would appreciate.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Disrespect Of Veterans

There is a report in the latest edition of the Atlantic magazine…..it seems that the president calls deceased soldiers as “losers” and “suckers”…..

When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.

 

Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

Belleau Wood is a consequential battle in American history, and the ground on which it was fought is venerated by the Marine Corps. America and its allies stopped the German advance toward Paris there in the spring of 1918. But Trump, on that same trip, asked aides, “Who were the good guys in this war?” He also said that he didn’t understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/

Just the hint of disrespect for our troops and veterans would be political fatal….so why is this acceptable today?  But I guess those days are gone to be replaced by hateful speech and Tweets.

Apparently Trump hates some vets….especially those that died in service to their country….if you will recalled his comments about Sen. McCain during the 2016 election cycle…..and by “logical truth” (For god sake look it up!) if you are a Trump supporter then you will disrespect veterans as well.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–14Jul20

The most often used political prop is the American flag…..and that is followed closely by the veterans and their issues.

Candidates take every opportunity to make it appear that they actually care about the plight of our brave veterans. This is is a LIE….if they all cared so much then why are our vets having to beg for the benefits that were promised to them for their service to the country.

And then there are all the wasted funds and give aways to buddies of the managing teams….like the one from 2018……

The Golden Horseshoe is a weekly designation from Just the News intended to highlight egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer spending by the government. The ward is named for the horseshoe-shaped toilet seats for military airplanes that cost the Pentagon a whopping $640 each back in the 1980s. 

This week, our award is going to the Department of Veteran Affairs for awarding a $5 million contract to a company whose owners, according to a report by the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), had a personal relationship with Peter Shelby, the VA’s then-assistant secretary for human resources and administration.The contract “resulted entirely in waste,” the OIG determined.

In February 2018, the recently appointed Shelby awarded a one-year contract to a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. The small business, which remains unnamed in the IG report, was supposed to provide leadership and development trainings, in addition to talent assessment services that could be employed for hiring and promotion decisions.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/waste-fraud-and-abuse/va-spent-5-million-entirely-wasteful-contract-went-friend-dept

So the moral of this story is when your politician uses the local vets as a prop and promises to do miraculous thongs for them…..he is LYING!

Our veterans deserve better than this country has done dating all the way back to World War One.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–10Jan20

As an amputee I found this report very disturbing…..

……there was a movie about the repossession of body parts for none payment….and I thought it was fiction……

It seems that a veteran has had his replacement leg repossessed for non-payment…..

Do I have your attention now?

A decorated military veteran who served in Vietnam and Iraq has claimed that his prosthetic legs were taken away after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would not cover the cost.

Jerry Holliman, 69, told the Clarion Ledger that he was in his room at the Veterans Home in Collins, Mississippi just a couple days before Christmas when a man walked in and took away his prosthetic limbs. According to Holliman, the VA said it would not cover the cost of the limbs, while Medicare said there’d be a copay required.

“Medicare did not send me to Vietnam,” Holliman, who received Bronze Stars in both wars in which he served, told the Ledger in an article published Thursday. “I was sent there by my country…with the understanding that if something bad happened to me, that it would be covered by the VA.”

The newspaper reported that Holliman received his prosthetics in August from the national company Hanger, which produces them. Holliman said, however, that after he received a few training lessons from Hanger staff, he was told the VA would not cover the cost and to check with Medicare.

According to Holliman, the Medicare paperwork said there would be a copay, and Holliman did not want to pay since he expected the VA to cover the costs in the end.

(Clarion Ledger)

Another example of just how badly the veterans are being screwed by the government…….do not blame Trump alone…this, sh*t has been going on for decades.

Every candidate, no matter the party, says they will protect our veterans and their words are hollow for they NEVER maker good on that promise…NONE OF THEM!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Message For Veterans Day

A day set aside to honor our veterans would be the perfect time for the resurrection of the antiwar movement….

It wasn’t supposed to be this way; wasn’t meant to be celebrated as such – as Veterans’ Day, that is. When the guns fell silent after more than four years of slaughter in the Great War – which consumed at least 9 million soldiers’ lives – in a widely celebrated, long-awaited armistice, veterans, and even many leaders, swore off war once and for all. Sure lots of the Wilsonian rhetoric of war “to end all wars,” was probably always hyperbolic and politically opportunistic. Nonetheless, it’s remarkable how many veterans and victims of that war truly believed it, were even dedicated to ensure this was so.

Thus, until the Second World War shattered those expectations, and governments around the world then waged near endless wars in the half century afterwards, the Americans, and other peoples celebrated the anniversary of the Great Wars’ end as Armistice Day. By it’s very nature, it was, then, imbued with meaning, with hopes, dreams, demands for a more peaceful future. Here in the U.S. those sentiments are long gone. Their morbid obituary America’s 19+ years of hopeless wars since 9/11. What we’re left with is a rebranded shell of a holiday: Veterans’ Day.

The Armistice We Need: Time for Vets To Reclaim Veterans’ Day

Reclaim the day for our veterans…..commercialization has turn the day into something it was never intended to be…..please help the Veterans For Peace to reclaim the day in the name of the veteran….

Veterans For Peace has been celebrating Armistice Day almost since the organization’s inception, with a few chapters doing yearly events.  However, in 2008 the effort became a national effort with the passage of an official Veterans For Peace resolution.  Since then, chapters across the country have been “Reclaiming Armistice Day” pushing the celebration of peace into the national conversation on Veterans Day.

Over one hundred years ago the world celebrated peace as a universal principle.  The first World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars.  Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”

https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/armistice-day

Our veterans deserve better than a ‘thank you’ once a year….or a “white Sale” named after them…..

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thoughts–06Aug19

Some good news from the Korean War….more than two dozen MIAs have been identified by the remains returned by North Korea….

Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing service members from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.

The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington.

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/08/02/more-than-two-dozen-missing-korean-war-troops-just-identified-from-returned-remains/

This excellent news for the families of these fallen heroes….may they now get the closure that they have waited so long to obtain.

This is one of the few positive things to come out of the dealings with Kim and North Korea…..these families deserved to know the fate of their loved ones.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–02Aug19

I have written ,much about the problems that our veterans are having….their mental health……suicides were on the rise at a time when the VA has its problems as well…..I have written about these problems often….

https://lobotero.com/2015/04/02/veterans-suicide/

https://lobotero.com/2019/06/24/suicides/

I revisit my post on veterans suicide because I read that the UK seems to be having a like problem with the veterans…..

A coroner has warned that more military veterans suffering PTSD may take their own lives unless urgent action is taken to improve their care.

Emma Brown, the coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, has written to NHS services and police highlighting a catalogue of failures in the treatment of Lance Corporal Dave Jukes in the months leading up to his suicide.

Earlier this month, she ruled the 49-year-old veteran from Birmingham, who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, took his own life last year after repeated calls for help were largely ignored.

In a strongly worded letter seen by The Sunday Telegraph, she has urged NHS England, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust and West Midlands Police to learn from mistakes in the soldier’s treatment.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/british-armed-services-veterans-suicides-200000175.html

It is a crying shame that these men and women made it home to their loved ones only to face PTSD that could just as lethal as any enemy on the battlefield.

Hopefully my readers in the UK will fill in any blanks that I may have in this issue.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”