The Bush Plan: Every Veteran Left Behind

Last week it came to my attention that the federal government was once again failing our brave veterans by refusing to meet their obligations and promises.

My father taught me that there is no greater gift Americans can give to their country than being willing to fight and die for the ideals our nation was founded on. Every one of us owes a debt of gratitude to our veterans that none of us will ever be able to fully repay.

Our government owes its existence to their sacrifice. It's the government's greatest obligation to support and care for our veterans when they return from the battlefield.

Next week marks the first anniversary of the exposure of deplorable conditions for veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center. I think I can speak for all Americans when I say that we hoped this scandal would put an end to the mistreatment of our veterans by the Bush administration.

We all remember it too well: mold on the walls, leaky ceilings and veterans held in areas not fit for human habitation. It was a travesty and an insult. I hoped our federal government would turn the corner.

But last week we saw two distinct reminders that we still have a long way to go as a government, a nation and as a society when it comes to giving our veterans the dignity and respect they deserve.

First, the Bush administration began arguing in federal court that veterans have no right to mental health care:

Veterans have no legal right to specific types of medical care, the Bush administration argues in a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The arguments, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, strike at the heart of a lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans that claims the health care system for returning troops provides little recourse when the government rejects their medical claims.

This is absolutely outrageous. Our government made a promise to our veterans. The Bush administration, trying to weasel out of their obligations to our soldiers by inventing dubious legal arguments, is a disgrace. There appears to be no threshold of shame for this government.

Today we learned that over half of the veterans who took their own lives after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of the National Guard or Reserves, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The National Guard enables the states to respond to crises such as wildfires, floods and disasters like Hurricane Katrina -- and the Bush administration is arguing they shouldn't have mental health care.

We also learned last week that employers are reluctant to hire returning vets for jobs:

The 2007 study by the consulting firm Abt Associates Inc. found that 18 percent of the veterans who sought jobs within one to three years of discharge were unemployed, while one out of four who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 a year. Many had taken advantage of government programs such as the GI Bill to boost job prospects, but there was little evidence that education benefits yielded higher pay or better advancement. The report blamed the poor prospects partly on inadequate job networks and lack of mentors after extended periods in war. It said employers often had misplaced stereotypes about veterans' fitness for employment, such as concerns they did not possess adequate technological skills, or were too rigid, lacked education or were at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The report went on to urge the federal government to work with the private sector to encourage hiring and "re-branding" of vets. Last year, I worked with State Rep. Jeff Barker to pass a similar program in Oregon, giving vets priority in hiring for public service jobs. But it's clear that much more must be done.

The federal government should be doing all it can to support our troops when they return home. They must:

•Increase funding for mental health services to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. An estimated one-third of those veterans suffer mental health problems.

•Implement proper screening and treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury for returning veterans. The signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is TBI. An estimated 300,000 vets may return home with some form of this injury.

•Fully fund the VA health care system. Veterans are often forced to wait months for an appointment to see a doctor. They must sometimes travel great distances for care because there are too few facilities to provide effective treatment. The disgraceful conditions reported last year at Walter Reed Medical Center are symptomatic of a system-wide problem that must be addressed immediately.

We have a commitment to the men and women who have served this country in the Armed Forces. They left our shores to fight overseas for us. The absolute least we can do is fight for them when they come home. We can and must do better.

Comments

[walley]

It appears that Bush and his Gestapo feel that that it is wrong to waste money on those they no longer need when it would be better spent on furthering the interests of Big Oil and the Defense Industry. Why should they help some poor schmuck when their million heir buddies need all the help they can get. When forty-five cents out of every tax dollar goes into defense it is not unreasonable to think that a good part of that should go to help those who actually did the defending not to line the pockets of the corporate elite.

It is up to us, the citizens of this country, to take actions to end this insanity. We should all pay close attention to how all candidates running for federal office stand on this matter and vote accordingly. We must all keep pressure on Congress to end their political posturing and start to correct the wrongs suffered by the Constitution and this country over the past seven years. Impeachment should be the first step.

[avergejoe]

For another knife in vets backs,
lets see some bush budget priories

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2008/02/holocaust-memor.html

The Holocaust Memorial's annual funding from the U.S. government just went from $44 to $46 million, under Bush's latest budget.
A lot more than the Kennedy Center, which loses funding, from $42 million to $33 million.

the Holocaust Memorial has had higher priority in Washington than the WW II monument, the Native American museum, and a museum to African Americans—"the latter two groups having suffered here, at the hands of this country," as distinct from "the victims and survivors of a European horror."

[LeftRight]

As a veteran who left active Naval service shortly after Mission Accomplished, I was lucky to have never been in war. However, I can attest to the fact that veterans can have a hard time getting a job. When I got my first job (three months after getting out) I was making my state's minimum wage. Then I got fired a month later, because I re-injured myself at the site of an old wound from the Navy. I was unemployed for more than a year after that. I was finally able to get a gov't job, because at least the gov't is willing to hire the veterans.

[darker]

Yes, let's just get ANOTHER MAN to run USA into the ground some more!!

The men FAILED USA. They are spoiled BRATS who are irresponsible failures with no conscience.

It's time for a competent woman President.
Vote Hillary.

[ExPatriot70]

considering the poison oaks we have in washington this is not surprising at all.It is a damn disgrace, shame on the shrub and his administration

[Boris]

I am becoming...what is the word, Apoplectic?..over this crap. The Bush administration just sees soldiers as cannon fodder, just the way the Bush family has always seen us peasants.

Nothing they do or say surprises me, anymore. What does surprise me is why any idiot would join the service after seeing whats in store when they get home.

And people wonder why they hate recruiters in Berkely? I am beginning to think it is they who are the patriots.

[GoCards1978]

Most recruits live in areas where job prospects are next to nil, while the cost of higher education is prohibitive. I believe it's wrongheaded to characterize them as idiots. The people responsible for this catastophe should be tarred, feathered, but 1st impeached!

[realitytrumpsbull]

Who really stands to profit from any such program, or will servicemembers continue to be used as economic pawns, well beyond their termination of service? Translation: get your lips off the back of the 'defense' gravy train, there. Public accountability reforms should include a harsh look at any and all industries that are in any way involved with the military or its' veterans, full transparency, in plain english. An army of budget placeholders? Speaking AS a veteran myself, I heartily invite you to go blow it out your credit card statement. Nothing personal.

[PreemptiveKarma]

"Every one of us owes a debt of gratitude to our veterans that none of us will ever be able to fully repay."

Absolutely right and is precisely why BushCo's contempt for veterans is so deserving of our contempt.

And it can't be pointed out often enough that regardless of their individual political or religious beliefs, enlisted men and women don't have any say in where they are sent or what they are ordered to do once they get there. The very LEAST that we as a society can do is to hold up our end of the bargain and do right by them once they are out of uniform. Outrage of military fiascos belongs with the Chickenhawks and military leaders, not with the grunts who are following orders.

[Bobzmcishl]

The worst of the worst appears to be the US Marine Corp who are hard nosed about even admitting that Marines are coming back with PTSD. The latest Nation Magazine covers this issue in depth and it is a pretty damaging article against the corp. There may be some justification in the Berkeley City Council fighting the Marine Corp recruiters after all.

[freedomis]

everytime I put this out it breaks my heart because I know that the government has screwed GI's again and this same gov. enables private companies to break the law by not rehiring Guard and Reservists back.Tony
VETS

He looked for enemies on the streets of Baghdad, searching into every nook and cranny hoping to last a time .

Now he searches for friends in every nook and cranny as he walks the streets and alleys of city, USA .

In a jungle, a rice paddy and mountainous terrain he left a buddy, a mind, a part physical and hoped for understanding and only what was deserved . Is that a crime ?

It was a budgetary consideration said politics as you are only 11% of the population and not enough of you vote to get what you should and at the least try to make you ok .

These are the faces of today, still, from a time of 40 plus or minus years ago to a desert campaign of months and an occupation of 5 years to today where depleted uranium will rule the day for years to come .

Of course all Vets count but this is for all the ones left without a home, a family, a Doctor or even the barest amenities not even a crumb .

A heart hurts that any soul should be among these yet even Jesus averred that some of these would always be with us.

Yet those who go to war for a people, whether warrior or citizen soldier should have all that a representative government can do for them, all without a fuss .

All of this is for the ladies and the guys .
With love to all, A Vet, Tony 11/11/07

[chrislowe]

Now the box ran the links together on one line, so here we go again:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080218/dobie

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11609328

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18803151

(Moderator, if you would just paste these so that they show at the end of the original comment I'd be most grateful. CL)

[PaulAbrams]

Thanks, Jeff, for not letting this disgrace be forgotten. Imagine, sending people into a war of choice without body armor, claiming you go with the army you have, when you didn't have to go at all, and certainly not until you were prepared.
And, then, forgetting about those who are injured by not providing them the top care available NO MATTER WHAT the cost; and making them fight another fight to get the care they deserve.
And, they are not even ashamed. Of course, if they were, they could not have done it in the first place.
How did our country produce people like that? Time for an old word, this time used meaningfully--they are unAmerican.

[chrislowe]

It appears that the links I tried to include using html didn't come through on my previous post. So here they are plain:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080218/dobie
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11609328
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18803151

[chrislowe]

Thanks Jeff for taking a strong stance on this. Here is a link to an article in The Nation about a related issue in the Marine Corps. Here is a link to NPR stories about Army maltreatment of soldiers with PTSD at Fort Carson, Colorado. And here is a link to recent NPR reporting on the Army shutting down a successful program at Fort Drum to help vets get the appropriate level of benefits for service related disabilities (need to follow through several links to get whole story.

Jeff, I'm a Novick guy at the moment, but if you win the nomination, this strong stance certainly will make it easy for me to campaign enthusiastically for you in the general.

Stop the War, End the Occupation, Bring the Troops Home NOW!

[10ghostcommander]

What does America expect from a war dodging Fascist Criminal President. Plenty of borrowed money for the no-bid and over-inflated contracts for their cronies. No money for children's health care but plenty of money for the Health Insurance and Drug companies. Very little money for the crumbling infrastructure but plenty of money for some ridiculous earmarks. Minimal funding for solar, wind, and other alternative energy resources but big tax breaks non-payment of royalties, and subsidies for the oil companies. Very little money for the people but lots for companies. Soon, we may have to print our own money because wages are stagnant and prices are increasing. This is the Fascist legacy of the Republicans.