Michele Bachmann Undercuts Veterans

[dutchwrangler]

As I've repeatedly said, isn't anything going to be cut. Same ol' crap, different congress.

Guess I'm a minority of people who, even though they served, will take care of themselves without the damn government holding my hand. Their record of "helping" is dismal at best and anyone who trusts in them is a fool.

 

[Glocktogo]

Yup, I'm a lefty. I'm also a military retiree who's retirement check is reduced by the amount of my VA disability check since I'm not over 50% rated. So in other words, I don't see a dime of my disability $$, other than a modest couple bucks tax savings.

I will gladly give up the pension I earned through two major theater wars and numerous other conflicts in order to help the national debt/deficit problem. But only after some fat ***** in Detriot stops getting paid paid my tax money to sit on her ass, make kids, and do drugs without working a lick for it.

I understand the need to make deep, painful cuts but IMHO there's a whole lotta stuff to get to before we start eliminating stuff that has actually been paid for by the recipient.

Best post in this thread so far. I have no problem with the VA cut, but if any single item on her list escapes the axe, that one should too.

Anyone watch Prophets of Doom on the History Channel this weekend?

 

[dugby]

My son just got back from afghanistan a few days ago. I don't believe sustaining the pissing away of money on union entitlment mentality of the VA is quite so important as providing our soldiers with functional rifles. When I can believe they have that covered I will help worry about pensions.

Our problems are not a lack of money but a wholesale disregard for what things cost.

Michelle Bachmann is my hero. It is not a matter of which ox to gore but just that we are agreeing to start doing some real things.

We would all live differently with unlimited funds. Guess what USA, Your funds are not really unlimited either, time for some HARD choices............

 

[JRSherman]

Did you know that some veterans get disability benefits for conditions like acid reflux? I saw a guy the other day who had a 20% disability for GERD... he had other conditions, too, but his GERD was considered to be 20% disabling... really?

I'm not saying we should abandon our vets, but I think there is a lot of room in the system for improving efficiency in many areas. I think administrative costs are one of the biggest of these areas where waste is rampant.

I want to further outline this right here.

I got out in Dec. 2009 after 6 years in the Navy. I had spent 3 years on a submarine, 2.5 of which were in the shipyards, barely even floating in the water. When we started going to sea, the contained atmosphere, filled with oil, caused me to develop psoriasis. Bad. More than most people could deal with, in areas that caused me, a married man, to seriously retract from my wife. The psychological torment of it was unbearable.

It got me the boot from the submarine force, and stuck in a craphole brass base for the rest of my year of service. I went through several different types of treatment before finally finding a solution that restrained the majority of it.

On top of this, I have back problems that may or may not have resulted from being 6'2" and crammed in a 5'10" rack when sleeping, as well as slumping over all the time in the sub.


I, however, chose not to receive any VA disability. I am not disabled. There are thousands upon thousands of men and women going overseas, boots on the ground, and getting seriously torn up and becoming legitimately disabled, and they deserve that funding.

On the downside, and I seriously cannot tell you how many times I heard this, there are thousands of men and women in the Navy that itemize their health issues just to see how much money they can get out of VA disability bennies. Along with that, there are thousands of women that got into the military to have kids without having to pay the bill. I knew more than my fair share that had kids just to get off the damn ship because, low and behold, being a woman on a Naval vessel isn't all it's cracked up to be for most of them.

I have a pretty good friend that I went through boot and nuke school with, and he's a trust fund puppy at that, but he was telling me how he's trying to get the sleep apnea test passed so he can roll over %50 disability.



Just because someone entered the military doesn't mean they did it for the right reasons, don't let that honor become a mask over your eyes. I have more respect for the Marines and Army than I have for 90% of the other two branches these days.

 

[SMS]

Good, albeit simple, website that charts the numbers right from the .gov.

http://www.federalbudget.com/

Interesting that the Department of Education consumed nearly as much as the VA.

 

[Cinaet]

This thread is making me tired.

 

[dutchwrangler]

This thread is making me tired.

Go shoot your new .44mag.

 

[Nraman]

We are in trouble, obviously. Two things need to be done. Increase revenue, cut expenses.
To increase revenue we have to start producing here; oil, manufacturing jobs etc. To cut expenses we have to eliminate waste in many areas. There is a joke in DC; there is a man sitting in front the department of agriculture crying. When asked why, he replied "my farmer died", implying that there are as many bureaucrats as farmers.
We need to cut all the fat, subsidies, pork, waste etc. There are so many areas that have to be cut if for no other reason but because they waste resources, that to even consider touching the Veterans is a bunch of BS.
Foreign aid, welfare to people that are capable of working, benefits to illegal aliens, waste in schools; the problem I see is not what to cut, rather "how come we've been paying for all that crap till now". A single mother for example should not be subsidized with my money, if she can't handle it, she should ask her family for help, not me.
If she lives with her family she might get the help and pressure that she needs in order get ahead.
You eliminate the subsidies for ethanol and you don't have to touch the veterans and as a bonus your car will run better.

 

[dutchwrangler]

We are in trouble, obviously. Two things need to be done. Increase revenue, cut expenses.
To increase revenue we have to start producing here; oil, manufacturing jobs etc. To cut expenses we have to eliminate waste in many areas. There is a joke in DC; there is a man sitting in front the department of agriculture crying. When asked why, he replied "my farmer died", implying that there are as many bureaucrats as farmers.
We need to cut all the fat, subsidies, pork, waste etc. There are so many areas that have to be cut if for no other reason but because they waste resources, that to even consider touching the Veterans is a bunch of BS.
Foreign aid, welfare to people that are capable of working, benefits to illegal aliens, waste in schools; the problem I see is not what to cut, rather "how come we've been paying for all that crap till now". A single mother for example should not be subsidized with my money, if she can't handle it, she should ask her family for help, not me.
If she lives with her family she might get the help and pressure that she needs in order get ahead.
You eliminate the subsidies for ethanol and you don't have to touch the veterans and as a bonus your car will run better.

Never going to happen. Ever. Dream on...

 

[Nraman]

Never going to happen. Ever. Dream on...

I will not support any cuts for anybody that gets money he served/worked for.