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Funding Victory for Veterans Holds Precedence over other important Stories of the Day!

Submitted by jmsjoin on Sun, 06/17/2007 - 15:59.

This morning I heard three issues I really wanted to talk about. 1. The expected negative Pentagon Surge Report, 2. a very titillating story I heard about Bloomberg and Arnold, and a third party 3. Supposed experts saying when all is said and done Guiliani would be facing Hillary in 2008. No friggen way. Maybe Romney VS. Edward's or Obama, Gore would be nice.

Anyway many here know how important treatment of our Veteran's is too me. I just got off the phone with one but I thought you should hear the latest on Veteran's funding in light of the overwhelming negative stories we hear, the latest being lost mail at Walter Reed. This is crossposted from http://www.anaveragepatriot.com/

From Senator Olver: Funding Victory for Veterans

I would like to share some important news regarding funding for our nation's veterans. Today, June 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the largest single funding increase for the Veterans Administration (VA) in the agency's 77 year history.

As you know, the current VA healthcare system is struggling to care for wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This dramatic increase helps fulfill our obligation to the men and women who risked their lives on behalf of a grateful nation. We must provide medical care that honors the gravity of their sacrifice. This bill is a momentous achievement for our nation's veterans, and it sets an important precedent to honor their service by fully funding veteran's healthcare in the years to come.

The Military Construction/VA spending bill passed today 6/15 by the House of Representatives:

Increases the VA budget by $6.7 billion above the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 level, the largest single increase in the 77 year history of the Veterans Administration
Ensures quality health care for 5.8 million patients, including about 263,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, which the VA will treat in FY 2008.

Reduces the 400,000 claims backlog for veterans waiting for disability and other benefits by adding more than 1,100 new claims processors.

Provides much needed maintenance of VA health care facilities. A recent VA report outlined 1,000 specific problems at VA health facilities around the country, with a backlog of $5 billion in maintenance.

Provides $600 million more than the President's request for mental health, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and makes five polytrauma centers and three Centers of Excellence for Mental Health and fully operational this year to care for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. An estimated one-third of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are facing mental health challenges, and up to 300,000 troops are expected to return from Iraq suffering from TBI.

Develops and operates a toll-free telephone and web-based hotline for veterans to report on deficiencies in VA medical facilities and care.

I am proud to join numerous veterans organizations in supporting today's spending bill. Providing the small dignity of proper healthcare is incumbent upon such a wealthy and prosperous nation.

Sincerely,
John W. Olver
Member of Congress

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
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Sadaam captor denied disability benefits

Submitted by Justanothercoverup on Sun, 06/17/2007 - 18:10.

Just glancing through the headlines at RAW Story, one story stood out, and even before I read the story, I was scratching my head in amazement.

The War Inside

Troops Are Returning From the Battlefield With Psychological Wounds, But the Mental-Health System That Serves Them Makes Healing Difficult

By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 17, 2007; A01

Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents' home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.

But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."

None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. "The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat," his rejection letter stated. LINK

Bush's phony "support of the troops" is nothing but hollow promises and photo ops - It's not only a crime of indifference, but a national disgrace and tragedy. Even as jaded as I thought I had become, there's hardly a week, or even a day that passes I don't read about something that makes me shake my head, wondering how far this great nation will fall until American's everywhere wake-up and take back our country.

JAC

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"The whisper becomes louder, then a voice is heard, and then crowds of voices, and eventually the whisper becomes the roar of change!" wjc

http://justanothercoverup.com

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