some of my fellow vets can support this misadministration....
Bush Honors Veterans By Slashing Veterans Affairs Budget by $1 Billion
by James Boyne
Guest Commentator for Irregular Times
June 1, 2004
I read today in an article by the Associated Press that President Bush’s 2006 budget (if he is re-elected) has a provision in it that will cut funds for Veterans Affairs by 3.4% or roughly $1 billion. The total VA Budget is $28.7 billion a year.
Let’s put this in perspective.
Many (although not all) veterans are pro-Bush, pro-Republican, and pro-Iraqi war. They are patriotic in the sense that patriotism is often confused with "supporting your President in time of war no matter what." President Bush therefore can take advantage of this fact and can continue to cut the VA program with little regard about whether or not a majority of veterans will vote for him. A majority will. After all, he is the Commander-in-Chief and as Commander-in-Chief he gets to distribute a load of his P.R. and give a load of campaign speeches to orchestrated and controlled groups of our young men and women currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines as well as prime time TV coverage at the War College. This plays well on TV on the nightly news and on the major newspapers’ front-page photos of President Bush.
In return for Veterans' lost lives, the sacrifices, the suffering, the dislocation, the burdens, the family disruptions and related family crises the President proposes a $1 billion cut in a $28.7 billion VA budget.
The only logic I could determine behind this significant budget cut is that the President needs more money to take care of his various fiscal messes: <Snip
http://irregulartimes.com/solvingveterans.htmlVA officials say Bay Pines computer system may never work
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Department of Veterans Affairs now says the troubled $472 million computer system at Bay Pines VA Medical Center may never work correctly, documents show.<Snip
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/8957023.htmAnother VA Official Involved In Bay Pines Problems Resigns
By RICHARD LARDNER rlardner@tampatrib.com
Published: Jul 14, 2004
http://tampatrib.com/News/MGBY1JQYMWD.htmlShaw & Wexler Question VA Budget Cuts
Washington, D.C.--Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-Florida) and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-Florida) today sent a letter to Togo D. West, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), questioning the recent budget cuts at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.
"I am very concerned about the proposed budget cuts at the West Palm Beach Center. Our veterans deserve quality care. We cannot stand by and let funding cuts prevent them from getting the care they have earned in service to our country," said Shaw. "The amount of funding given to the hospital by the VA reflects a misunderstanding of the unique population dynamics of South Florida. The hospital cannot provide quality care and absorb these funding cuts."
"I am deeply concerned about budget cuts and misguided funding policies for veterans' programs at the federal and regional levels," Wexler said. "Veterans facilities around the country have been forced to compromise on the quality of treatment they provide to deserving veterans. The drastic cut of 70 employees at the West Palm Beach facility will necessarily affect the quality of care and reduce the variety of services that the Center can offer. Our local veterans deserve better than that." <Snip
http://www.house.gov/shaw/pr_1997_2001/pr_012899_vets.html