Here it is yet another election year and Americans have the ability to change the course of history. Not just for the next 4 years but likely forever.
I am not advocating one candidate over another but want to ask you whether you want another 4 years of "change" and put up with the same old establishment, captained by yet another non-thinker who will sell our country down the tubes. Are you happy with the free give-away mentality of the current administration?Are you happy with the erosion of your Constitutional Rights? Are you happy with the lack of respect by other nations? Do you agree with the butt kissing by the current administration in their foreign affairs?
Veterans, are you happy with the way the VA is run? Do you think the multiple assignments to head the VA have been beneficial to you? Do you think the people responsible for the deaths and mistreatment of veterans have been adequately punished? Is your life better with the current administration or worse? Do you think your health care is no better or worse than the lowest available under "Obamacare"? Do welfare recipients have better benefits overall than war veterans?
How about it, American workers...do yo think more of your pay is going to fund those who sit and refuse gainful employment than ever before? Do you think you have another family or two to support because of the administration's give away programs? Do you think the US government resembles California's government more and more, where give-away is king and politicians advocate more and more freebies for those who do not earn them? Do you think women who rely on welfare should be required to identify their "baby daddies" and the fathers held responsible for support. If the person is incarcerated should their work stipend be used to offset welfare? Do you think people in Section 8 housing should be required to work for some of those benefits? And that unannounced inspections are in order to catch multiple adult persons living in a single adult person household that you are supporting? And how many illegitimate welfare children should the taxpayers have to support while the parents contribute nothing? Shouldn't there be a limit somewhere? Multiple generations of families on welfare with no incentive to work or get off, just excuses that they have another child. Maybe the answer is birth control or just close your damned legs??
Are you tired of the open borders and the estimated 13 million illegal aliens in our country while they are coddled by the administration. Tired of the "anchor baby" syndrome? Tired of the lack of enforcement by Immigration and the Border Patrol because they have no backing from Washington? Tired of politicians and their hacks making excuses for the failure of programs like 'Fast and Furious" while an American dies as a result? And thousands of weapons are sent to Mexico to help curb...weapons smuggling? Tired of having appointed idiots in charge of many governmental departments while those who try and do their best are sanctioned and fired.
Are you happy with our foreign policies where we buy "friendship" by sending your tax dollars to foreign countries that hate us? Are you tired of sending Americans off to war to fight battles that the administration and foreign leaders know we won't win because of their policies? And to countries that cannot deal with their own issues so we act as their police force. And Americans die for misdeeds of the administration like Benghazi?
It's time to wake up and make a decision, America. If you don't do it now you will be faced with 4 more years of "change" that seems to be leading us into a socialist society where your work, savings and gains by the sweat of your brow is divided among those who will not work and support themselves. It's not those who really need the support temporarily but the millions who game the system knowing they can get away with it.
There is no more time America. The decision is yours.
Showing posts with label VA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VA. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Monday, October 20, 2008
Veterans Unite Now or Shut Up Later
Military Veterans will get one chance to vote for the new Commander-in-Chief on November 4th. One chance to have their say in how their benefits will be for the next four years and maybe long beyond that. One voice to give Washington direction as to what YOU want out of the Veterans Administration in the form of health care and support, benefits, compensation for service connected injuries and illnesses, rehabilitation, prosthetics, hearing, vision and dental and family benefits. Those things you and fellow military fought, suffered and died for the right to have!
Only one man in the running has the slightest clue what the military is all about and his name is John McCain. For want of a better description, and for brevity, John McCain has "been there and done that." He has been a warrior, a POW, a Senator and a proponent of veterans' rights. His opponent in this election, Senator Obama, has never served this country's armed forces, never been in combat, is a fledgling politician and doesn't know a damned thing about being a veteran or our health care system. That in itself should scare veterans to death!
It shouldn't matter whether you're a Republican or Democrat, folks, that should scare the hell out of you. Mr. Obama knows nothing about the military or the VA or veterans!
Anyone who says they'll have great advisers, and those are the ones they will count on for advice, is full of crap when it comes to us veterans. Remember what happened in Vietnam when we had all those armchair advisers directing the war from Washington? And how about those advisers sitting in plush chairs in Washington and Virginia while troops are taking incoming in Iraq and Afghanistan? And all the blue suited advisers while you're laying in a VA or military hospital, trying to recover from injury or illness, while some senate or congressional committee argues over whether they should fund enough so you can get a decent prosthesis this year?
VA health care is going downhill fast once again. For example, I used to get to see my neurologist every three months, then every four, then it was bumped to every six months. Now they don't make appointments and you have to call and try to get in and they're overbooked. My November appointment was never scheduled and the earliest I can be seen is March. That will be over ten months between neurologist visits! And, they never refilled my medications, twice! So I had to call in twice about that too. If you're not on top of them, frankly, you're going to fall through the cracks and you're screwed!
Plus, they have all new doctors every few years, using residents from the local university medical schools, which means we're getting trainees essentially. By the time you get comfortable with a physician, they're gone and you get a new one; I've had three and onto number four in March, the last at my request as docs who forget to refill prescriptions, tell you they don't believe in meds that have helped you in the past, and have to have a med student present to grandstand with at every visit somehow don't seem all that positive for me. So you walk out with a feeling that you haven't been helped at all. Kind of like facing the enemy and the only good thing is their Kalashnikov was empty.
I can't get to see a cardiologist even though I have a stent implant, since there aren't enough cardiologists in the system to go around. Bet those fat cat politicians in Washington have plenty of cardiologists lined up waiting for their butts when needed!
Care used to be excellent, but it is failing. The in-patient room I was in a few months ago was dirty; your feet stuck to the floors. The bathroom was nasty. You could write your name in the film on the windows. You couldn't understand the nurses on the night shift; none of them spoke fluent English. But they did swab your nose daily to test for MRSA. What about cleaning the damned room? Maybe that would help reduce infection potentials?
They tout the suicide prevention programs, and how they want to help all the troops with PTSD before it ends up like 'Nam? If they handle it with the same bureaucratic bull crap and bungling as everything else, it won't help a whole lot. They'll tell a great story to Congress and the Senate about the wonders they're accomplishing, while military personnel are coming home and offing themselves in a distant field or side road, because they never had anyone who really understood what the hell they went through. And it's been reported the VA under reported many suicides. Why? Probably because they didn't or couldn't do the job they were supposed to do. Funding or flat out F**k-up? It doesn't matter, but there are many families grieving that shouldn't be. And until the funding and people are in place to recognize those who need help and then help them and their families as needed in a timely manner, things won't change.
Truth is, the VA has some wonderful programs, people and facilities, but the system is busted and needs to be fixed before it falls apart. It's fragile, and if it's not fixed, it will crumble fast. I'm seeing that first hand, and I sure don't want to be a service casualty a second time, this time due to lack of medical care funding and follow through.
Fund it, fix it and hold it accountable. Simple enough even for a bunch of stupid politicians!
The VA states the problem is the influx of troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. But wait, they didn't expect this? Once again, no leadership at the VA and no foresight. That's something I'm sure John McCain will provide, leadership and someone to kick butt and get this house in order!
Regardless, if you don't get out and vote and make the right choice, you'll see this get worse and worse. Add to that the increased taxes you'll be seeing, and the problems will compound. The taxes won't hit us older people nearly as hard as they will our children and grandchildren, as they're the ones working and coming up in the world.
I can look them in the eye and say I voted for the man who could do the job for the veterans who gave so much for this country...will you be able to do the same?
Only one man in the running has the slightest clue what the military is all about and his name is John McCain. For want of a better description, and for brevity, John McCain has "been there and done that." He has been a warrior, a POW, a Senator and a proponent of veterans' rights. His opponent in this election, Senator Obama, has never served this country's armed forces, never been in combat, is a fledgling politician and doesn't know a damned thing about being a veteran or our health care system. That in itself should scare veterans to death!
It shouldn't matter whether you're a Republican or Democrat, folks, that should scare the hell out of you. Mr. Obama knows nothing about the military or the VA or veterans!
Anyone who says they'll have great advisers, and those are the ones they will count on for advice, is full of crap when it comes to us veterans. Remember what happened in Vietnam when we had all those armchair advisers directing the war from Washington? And how about those advisers sitting in plush chairs in Washington and Virginia while troops are taking incoming in Iraq and Afghanistan? And all the blue suited advisers while you're laying in a VA or military hospital, trying to recover from injury or illness, while some senate or congressional committee argues over whether they should fund enough so you can get a decent prosthesis this year?
VA health care is going downhill fast once again. For example, I used to get to see my neurologist every three months, then every four, then it was bumped to every six months. Now they don't make appointments and you have to call and try to get in and they're overbooked. My November appointment was never scheduled and the earliest I can be seen is March. That will be over ten months between neurologist visits! And, they never refilled my medications, twice! So I had to call in twice about that too. If you're not on top of them, frankly, you're going to fall through the cracks and you're screwed!
Plus, they have all new doctors every few years, using residents from the local university medical schools, which means we're getting trainees essentially. By the time you get comfortable with a physician, they're gone and you get a new one; I've had three and onto number four in March, the last at my request as docs who forget to refill prescriptions, tell you they don't believe in meds that have helped you in the past, and have to have a med student present to grandstand with at every visit somehow don't seem all that positive for me. So you walk out with a feeling that you haven't been helped at all. Kind of like facing the enemy and the only good thing is their Kalashnikov was empty.
I can't get to see a cardiologist even though I have a stent implant, since there aren't enough cardiologists in the system to go around. Bet those fat cat politicians in Washington have plenty of cardiologists lined up waiting for their butts when needed!
Care used to be excellent, but it is failing. The in-patient room I was in a few months ago was dirty; your feet stuck to the floors. The bathroom was nasty. You could write your name in the film on the windows. You couldn't understand the nurses on the night shift; none of them spoke fluent English. But they did swab your nose daily to test for MRSA. What about cleaning the damned room? Maybe that would help reduce infection potentials?
They tout the suicide prevention programs, and how they want to help all the troops with PTSD before it ends up like 'Nam? If they handle it with the same bureaucratic bull crap and bungling as everything else, it won't help a whole lot. They'll tell a great story to Congress and the Senate about the wonders they're accomplishing, while military personnel are coming home and offing themselves in a distant field or side road, because they never had anyone who really understood what the hell they went through. And it's been reported the VA under reported many suicides. Why? Probably because they didn't or couldn't do the job they were supposed to do. Funding or flat out F**k-up? It doesn't matter, but there are many families grieving that shouldn't be. And until the funding and people are in place to recognize those who need help and then help them and their families as needed in a timely manner, things won't change.
Truth is, the VA has some wonderful programs, people and facilities, but the system is busted and needs to be fixed before it falls apart. It's fragile, and if it's not fixed, it will crumble fast. I'm seeing that first hand, and I sure don't want to be a service casualty a second time, this time due to lack of medical care funding and follow through.
Fund it, fix it and hold it accountable. Simple enough even for a bunch of stupid politicians!
The VA states the problem is the influx of troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. But wait, they didn't expect this? Once again, no leadership at the VA and no foresight. That's something I'm sure John McCain will provide, leadership and someone to kick butt and get this house in order!
Regardless, if you don't get out and vote and make the right choice, you'll see this get worse and worse. Add to that the increased taxes you'll be seeing, and the problems will compound. The taxes won't hit us older people nearly as hard as they will our children and grandchildren, as they're the ones working and coming up in the world.
I can look them in the eye and say I voted for the man who could do the job for the veterans who gave so much for this country...will you be able to do the same?
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Veterans On the Front Lines, Then On the Back Burner!
Somehow, America, yes, you read that right A-M-E-R-I-C-A, seems to forget that when you send men and women off to war, we owe them a debt, not only of gratitude, but much more than that. I didn't say we "ought to give them" or "it would be nice to give them" but it's a DEBT, just as big or bigger than any debt we now or will ever owe anyone. It's a debt owed for the freedom we enjoy every day, for the ability to open your eyes in the morning and be free of tyranny and oppression, to have what you have in this country. No matter how much, or how little you have, it's because of THEM that you have anything at all.
We owe them a standard of care, and if needed, a standard of living, commensurate with their sacrifice to this country. They didn't ask for their wounds, external, internal or mental that resulted in their disabilities, whether those disabilities can be seen or not. Many veterans return home from overseas without any signs of traumatic injury, and are seemingly fine for weeks, months, even years, and then the unthinkable occurs. What they were exposed to, be it toxic materials or the traumatic stresses of combat, or even exposures beyond what a human should endure, pours out and they start to fall apart. This can occur slowly or all at once and they have no support system in place. Many vets turn to alcohol or drugs to try and cope. Sadly, some commit suicide. The suicide rate among veterans is high, although this has been underplayed for years by government agencies. Frankly, they don't want you to know how poorly they handle the veterans problems when they return home.
The Veterans Administration is underfunded every year, and organizations that are pro-actively helping the vets, such as the Disabled American Veterans and American Legion, to name two, constantly fight to to push the congress and senate to appropriate needed funds. But it's an uphill battle to secure funding, when the politicians would rather pork barrel money for precious personal projects in their districts, than help those who have sacrificed so much for their country. The politicians constantly attach pork barrel spending to Department of Defense annual appropriations, and lump the Veterans Administration spending in with this, so that when they start to line item some spending out, and it goes to the White House, monies get cut out and the VA loses. Thus, the veterans lose while the pork remains in the budgets for pet projects that don't help the vets one iota!
What is happening is longer waits for veterans to receive benefits from the VA; sometimes years for those benefits to be received. In some cases, the veteran dies before benefits are granted. This is now getting worse as all the new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are returning. Time to get a medical appointment is longer and the 30 day rule is being bent if not broken. Your visits to your primary care physician have changed from every three months to once every six months to once a year. Where you used to see a specialist every three months for a serious condition, the doctors' workloads have become so high that you're now lucky to see a specialist every six months. And, many of the doctors appear to be newbie residents who are not all that familiar with combat type injuries, although some are very good. You just don't know who'll you'll get as there is a big turnover as well. Don't even think about being referred to a cardiologist unless you're in the ER for a heart condition as they don't have enough in the system to refer you to. That's even if you have a heart condition, and that's from personal experience!
If a vet needs medications for a service related condition, the VA will provide the medication, but if the dosage is half what the VA formulary provides, he will have to split the pills in half, even if it results in an uneven dosage. Wonder how many times that results in medical problems in itself? But again, that saves the government money that can be better spent on political pork!
Americans need to DEMAND their government to appropriately fund the VA annually with a guaranteed budget, and DEMAND our veterans have an ombudsman to oversee their benefits are provided in a timely and fair manner. Every year, these valiant warriors who gave so much to defend your freedom, have to wonder and worry whether there will be funding to provide for them and their healthcare for another year.
Sometime, think of what would have happened in our history, where you and your family would be right now, if nobody had answered the call. If not one person had stepped forward to defend. From the revolution forward, if not one person had written that blank check to the United States Of America, placing their life on the payable to line, for the freedom of this country, and freeing others from oppression and tryanny.
Where would you be right now? .........
We owe them a standard of care, and if needed, a standard of living, commensurate with their sacrifice to this country. They didn't ask for their wounds, external, internal or mental that resulted in their disabilities, whether those disabilities can be seen or not. Many veterans return home from overseas without any signs of traumatic injury, and are seemingly fine for weeks, months, even years, and then the unthinkable occurs. What they were exposed to, be it toxic materials or the traumatic stresses of combat, or even exposures beyond what a human should endure, pours out and they start to fall apart. This can occur slowly or all at once and they have no support system in place. Many vets turn to alcohol or drugs to try and cope. Sadly, some commit suicide. The suicide rate among veterans is high, although this has been underplayed for years by government agencies. Frankly, they don't want you to know how poorly they handle the veterans problems when they return home.
The Veterans Administration is underfunded every year, and organizations that are pro-actively helping the vets, such as the Disabled American Veterans and American Legion, to name two, constantly fight to to push the congress and senate to appropriate needed funds. But it's an uphill battle to secure funding, when the politicians would rather pork barrel money for precious personal projects in their districts, than help those who have sacrificed so much for their country. The politicians constantly attach pork barrel spending to Department of Defense annual appropriations, and lump the Veterans Administration spending in with this, so that when they start to line item some spending out, and it goes to the White House, monies get cut out and the VA loses. Thus, the veterans lose while the pork remains in the budgets for pet projects that don't help the vets one iota!
What is happening is longer waits for veterans to receive benefits from the VA; sometimes years for those benefits to be received. In some cases, the veteran dies before benefits are granted. This is now getting worse as all the new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are returning. Time to get a medical appointment is longer and the 30 day rule is being bent if not broken. Your visits to your primary care physician have changed from every three months to once every six months to once a year. Where you used to see a specialist every three months for a serious condition, the doctors' workloads have become so high that you're now lucky to see a specialist every six months. And, many of the doctors appear to be newbie residents who are not all that familiar with combat type injuries, although some are very good. You just don't know who'll you'll get as there is a big turnover as well. Don't even think about being referred to a cardiologist unless you're in the ER for a heart condition as they don't have enough in the system to refer you to. That's even if you have a heart condition, and that's from personal experience!
If a vet needs medications for a service related condition, the VA will provide the medication, but if the dosage is half what the VA formulary provides, he will have to split the pills in half, even if it results in an uneven dosage. Wonder how many times that results in medical problems in itself? But again, that saves the government money that can be better spent on political pork!
Americans need to DEMAND their government to appropriately fund the VA annually with a guaranteed budget, and DEMAND our veterans have an ombudsman to oversee their benefits are provided in a timely and fair manner. Every year, these valiant warriors who gave so much to defend your freedom, have to wonder and worry whether there will be funding to provide for them and their healthcare for another year.
Sometime, think of what would have happened in our history, where you and your family would be right now, if nobody had answered the call. If not one person had stepped forward to defend. From the revolution forward, if not one person had written that blank check to the United States Of America, placing their life on the payable to line, for the freedom of this country, and freeing others from oppression and tryanny.
Where would you be right now? .........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)