VFW Will Defeat Bachmann Plan
January 31st, 2011 . by TexasFredVFW Will Defeat Bachmann Plan
“No way, no how, will we let this proposal get any traction in Congress.”
January 28, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2011 — America’s oldest and largest major combat veterans’ organization announced it will do everything within its power to defeat a plan introduced by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to cut $4.5 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“No way, no how, will we let this proposal get any traction in Congress,” said Richard L. Eubank, the national commander of the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
On her website, the three-term congresswoman lists more than $400 billion in suggestions to cut federal spending. The VA suggestion would cap increases to VA healthcare spending, and reduce disability compensation to account for Social Security Disability Insurance payments — in other words, an offset. She says her plan is intended to generate discussion.
“The only discussion the VFW wants is to tell the congresswoman that her plan is totally out of step with America’s commitment to our veterans,” said Eubank, a retired Marine and Vietnam combat veteran from Eugene, Ore.
“There are certain things you do not do when our nation is at war, and at the top of that list is not caring for our wounded and disabled servicemen and women when they return home,” he said. “I want the congresswoman to join us in a tour of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and Poly Trauma Center the next time she’s in her home district to witness firsthand the great work the VA does every day to heal their wounds and ease their pain. Then I want her to look those disabled veterans in the eye and tell them their service and sacrifice is too expensive for the nation to bear.
“The day this nation can’t afford to take care of her veterans is the day this nation should quit creating them,” said Eubank.
Story Here:
VFW Will Defeat Bachmann Plan
There are some things in this world that need to held as sacrosanct. Our troops, and their care after their duty has been done, after they come home, is one of the most important issues America faces.
Michele Bachmann – Obviously NOT a Veteran
I know we need to cut the budget. I know that the deficit needs to be brought under control, but do we do so on the backs of the American soldier?
Our troops, on far too many occasions, give this nation ALL they have to give, their lives. So, we give them a military burial, with honors, and on Memorial Day we honor their sacrifice. I think that is a wonderful observance, we should never forget our fallen heroes.
But what about those that have made great sacrifice on the field of battle, and lived?
What about those brave troops that have lost an arm? Both arms? A leg, or, in many cases, BOTH legs? What about the troops that have lost their vision? Or have been maimed and burned? Scared for life and in need of care that they just aren’t able to provide for themselves?
What about those that suffer unseen wounds? Mental damage, PTSD, nightmares, sheer terror at the sound of a loud POP, Gulf War illness, radiation sickness from exposure to depleted uranium? What do we do about them?
Michele Bachmann can generate all the discussion she wants with this little faux pas, but all she has done, in MY opinion, is show the American people that she’s not nearly as smart as we may have thought her to be. I had great respect for Bachmann until I saw this piece. No more.
Anyone that wants to discuss taking away money from our Veterans is not worth the time it takes to tell them to go STRAIGHT TO HELL! And that is exactly where Bachmann can go as far as I am concerned.
Do any of you remember this?
The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned� after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.
Obama to Bill Combat Wounded for Medical Care