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“Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”

~General Douglas MacArthur 

 ”…

February 27, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

The White House

Washington, DC

Dear President Obama:

On behalf of the millions of veterans represented by the veterans and military service organizations that have joined our effort, we write to express our serious concerns about a policy proposal that has been discussed this week in conjunction with the release of your first budget. We have been told that your Administration may be considering a proposal that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system to bill a veteran’s insurance for the care and treatment of a disability or injury that was determined to have been incurred in or the result of the veteran’s honorable military service to our country. Such a consideration is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government’s moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.

As you know, the mission of the VA is “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” Similarly, the VA emphasizes that it will “provide veterans the world-class benefits and services they have earned—and to do so by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship.” Unfortunately, the proposal to bill veterans for the care of their service-connected disabilities ignores the most important aspect of this vision—that their care has been earned.

This proposal ignores the solemn obligation that this country has to care for those men and women who have served this country with distinction and were left with the wounds and scars of that service. The blood spilled in service for this nation is the premium that service-connected veterans have paid for their earned care.

We understand and accept that the VA bills third-party insurers of veterans who are treated for non-service connected conditions. However, we cannot and would not agree to any proposal that would expand this concept any further. There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. …”  

http://www.dav.org/news/documents/LettertoPresidentObama.pdf 

 

Fox & Friends claims President Obama will force War Veterans to pay for their medical coverage

 

Rachel Maddow on Obama’s Veterans Adm. Controversy

  

The current President of the United States, Barack Obama, has a well deserved reputation for being arrogant, a liar, teleprompter reader and a radical socialist.

It was only a matter of time before he would make a big awful mistake that would outrage the vast majority of the American people.

The issue is a proposed policy that would charge a veteran’s private health insurance for service-related injuries and ailments.

This would shift the cost for medical care of veterans from the Federal government to private insurance carriers and in turn employers and employees.

Everyone’s health insurance premiums would go up including that portion paid by the employee.

The change would mean that veterans would now be responsible for paying for medical treatment for their service-related injuries and ailments.

This has truly outraged all veterans and veteran organizations, who view the policy as a betrayal of veterans.

Only an totally inexperienced, incompetent and clueless radical socialist like President Obama would propose such a change.

This is a national disgrace.

Both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, will quickly realize that this proposed change is a big vote loser for it will be remembered when Americans vote again.

If President Obama goes forward with this new policy, I urge General  Shineseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to do the right thing and resign in protest:

 

Gen. Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs

 

Once Obama is correctly perceived as the enemy of veterans, he will soon become an enemy of the American people.

When the unemployment rate exceeds 10% in July with over 17 million unemployed, the hope and change President’s honeymoon will be over.

The Tea Parties all of the United States are growing in number and size daily as the American people protest One Big Awful Mistake America!

Join the second American Revolution!

 

Second American Revolution–Tea Party Celebrations–Washington Fair–July 4, 2009–An Open Invitation To The American People 

 

American People’s Plan = 6 Month Tax Holiday + FairTax = Real Hope + Real Change!–Millions To March On Washington D.C. Saturday, July 4, 2009!

 

“It’s a betrayal,” 

 ”My insurance company didn’t send me to Vietnam, my government did.

The same holds true for men and women now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the government’s responsibility.”

~Joe Violante, legislative director of Disabled American Veterans

 

 Dear Mr. Obama

 

 

 UPDATE:

Look like even President Obama knows when he has a real loser of a proposal.

Obama drops vet medical plan

Heeds public, military outcry

Sean Lengell (Contact)
Thursday, March 19, 2009

“…The Obama administration dropped a proposal to require some disabled veterans to pay for medical treatments through their private insurance companies, heeding a chorus of outrage from veterans groups and Capitol Hill lawmakers who said the idea was immoral, unconscionable and un-American.

The White House decided to scrap the plan after meeting with a contingent of veterans and military advocacy groups on Wednesday for the second time this week.

“In considering the third-party billing issue, the administration was seeking to maximize the resources available for veterans,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. “However, the president listened to concerns raised by the [veterans groups] that this might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families’ ability to access health care.”

The proposal, which the administration said was never a certainty, called for generating an estimated $540 million in savings by tapping veterans’ private insurance for service-related injuries and ailments that for decades the government has been obligated to pay. …”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/19/obama-drops-disputed-vet-medical-plan/

 

 

 

Background Articles and Videos

 

The President has Crossed My Line

Posted by USWeapon on March 17, 2009

“…It boggles the mind that any administration, even one so in left field (pun intended) as that of Barack Obama, would even consider such a thing. One of the sacred trusts that a grateful nation gives to the men and women who choose to place their bodies between the rest of us and those who mean to do us harm is that the wounds and ailments they receive during their service will be treated by that grateful nation. To try to shed that obligation is a violation of that trust.

What this means is that it will be harder for veterans to get private insurance. What private health insurance company wants to take on a veteran with a pre-existing condition that the government (the one payee the insurance companies have to pay when requested) is going to require them to pay for treatment for? What private insurance company is going to want to insure a veteran currently serving their country when his or her job requires being put in harm’s way? As it is they jack up your insurance premium if you smoke because it might cause you health problems in the future. How much will they jack up the premium for someone stepping into the line of fire?

Additionally the costly care for service related injuries could quickly max out the limits of what private health insurance companies will provide, leaving veterans and their families struggling to come up with the money to pay for children’s flu shots or an arm broken while playing in the back yard. Add this into the fact that the service to the country has already cost this veteran a limb, or an eye, or even their sanity. The list of jobs they are able to do is already dramatically shorter than it is for most of us. And you want them to pay more?

I could chalk this up as just another lie from Obama, who campaigned on the promise that he would work to take care of veterans. From the “Obama/Biden 2008″ website:

• Barack Obama will restore our sacred trust with our nation’s veterans: Obama and Biden are committed to creating a 21st Century Department of Veterans’ Affairs that provides the care and benefits our nation’s veterans deserve.

• Help returning service members: Obama and Biden will improve the quality of health care for veterans, rebuild the VA’s broken benefits system, and combat homelessness among veterans.

• Improve mental health treatment: Obama and Biden will improve mental health treatment for troops and veterans suffering from combat-related psychological injuries.

But I am not going to just chalk this up as another lie from Obama. This is more than just a lie to me. This is a blatant slap in the face of every veteran in the United States from a President who has never served his country in the military. Let us hope that perhaps this is on the advice of some crazy cabinet member and that he will have the good sense to tell them to go to hell. But it sure doesn’t look that way.  …”

http://standupforamerica.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/the-president-has-crossed-my-line/ 

 

Obama VA: Let’s charge vets for care on service-related injuriesposted at 10:57 am on March 12, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

“If the Obama administration wanted to come up with the most politically offensive policy it could imagine, within the bounds of reason and reality, what elements would it have to include? Insulting veterans and looking like cheapskates in a time when massive government outlays to private industry would certainly help it along. Comes now Hero of the Anti-War Left, retired General Eric Shinseki, who wants to save a few bucks at the Veterans Administration by making men and women injured in the service of our country pay for their care:
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance. …
No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.
The groups also cited an increase in “third-party collections” estimated in the 2010 budget proposal — something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.
Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under “consideration.”
“A final decision hasn’t been made yet,” he said.
Let’s see. The same administration that wants to give tens of billions of dollars to GM, Citigroup, AIG, and a host of other banks and manufacturers wants men and women injured in service to their country to pay for the medical care that arises from these injuries? In what universe does Shinseki and the Obama administration live, anyway?

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/12/obama-va-lets-charge-vets-for-care-on-service-related-injuries/    

 

Obama May Charge Veterans’ Private Health Insurance for Service-Related Ailments
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

“The Obama administration is considering a plan to charge the private health insurance of veterans for treatment of service-related ailments that currently are paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs — a potential change that has veterans’ groups outraged.

“Such a consideration is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government’s moral obligation and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom,” said a letter to President Barack Obama signed by the leaders of 11 prominent veteran organizations.

Several leaders of veteran groups met with Obama administration officials Monday at the White House about the overall budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Last week, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed to the House and Senate committees on veterans’ affairs that the idea to bill veterans’ private individual insurance was being considered by the administration but was not yet a formal proposal.

“It is a consideration. It is not in the budget, but it is a consideration, and I’ll be sure that your concerns are delivered,” Shinseki told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “And again, we’re talking — in health care — the two aspects of this are delivery of health care and the financing of it. This is about the financing. I want to assure you that there should be no concern about the delivery.”

Currently, the VA covers the full cost of medical ailments related to military service and bills third-party insurers for non-service related injuries. For example, if an injured veteran is treated for the flu, the veteran’s personal insurance is billed. If the injured veteran is treated for a service-related injury and requires hearing aids or prosthetics, for example, the VA covers the cost. …”

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/12/obama-va-lets-charge-vets-for-care-on-service-related-injuries/ 

 

Veterans Groups Blast Obama Plan for Private Insurance to Pay for Service-Related Health Care

President Obama’s plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of troops injured in service has angered veterans groups who say the government has a moral obligation to pay for service-related medical care. 

“

President Obama’s plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of troops injured in service has infuriated veterans groups who say the government is morally obligated to pay for service-related medical care.

Calling it a “desperate search for money at any cost,” Craig Roberts, media relations manager for the American Legion, told FOXNews.com on Tuesday that the president will “wish away so much political capital on this issue” if he continues to insist on private coverage for service-related injuries.

Cmdr. David K. Rehbein of the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans group, called the president’s plan to raise $540 million from private insurers unreasonable, unworkable and immoral.

“This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle,’ given that the United States government sent members of the Armed Forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies,” Rehbein said late Monday after a meeting with the president and administration officials at the Veterans Affairs Department.

“I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service-connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans,” Rehbein said.

Roberts said that 11 veterans service organizations were told to come up with another plan if they didn’t like this one. The groups met on Monday with Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Office of Management and Budget defense spending chief Steven Kosiak.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/17/vets-group-blasts-obama-plan-private-insurance-pay-service-related-health-care/ 

 

 Obama’s Plan to Cheat Disabled Troops out of Medical Care they Deserved

“…Again, the practice of reimbursement for non-service connected care has been going on for a while. According to Military.com, the VA already taps “third party” insurance plans for treatment of non-service related conditions. These collections in 2008 were about 2.4 billion. However Obama’s plan now calls for collection of my insurance for my service-connected disability and this is an outrage. Mr. Obama who never served has no right – even as President – to strip the benefit we had to suffer to get.

If Obama wants “war” over this issue he will surely see it. As a member of the Disable American Veterans of America we have sent Obama this letter. It won’t be the end. Veterans groups are going to begin to hold any public servant responsible for any effort to approve this measure, and brand them an enemy of veterans if they do so. We are also prepared to hold VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki responsible. He knows his responsibility to the veterans of America and he’d damn sure better live up to them.

http://macsmind.com/wordpress/2009/03/16/obamas-plan-to-cheat-disabled-troops-out-of-medical-care-they-deserved/

 

Department of Veterans Affairs

http://www.va.gov/

 

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION:  FEBRUARY 2009

   Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall sharply in February (-651,000),
and the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Payroll employ-
ment has declined by 2.6 million in the past 4 months.  In February, job
losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

   The number of unemployed persons increased by 851,000 to 12.5 million in
February, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent.  Over the past 12
months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by about 5.0 million,
and the unemployment rate has risen by 3.3 percentage points.  (See table
A-1.)

   The unemployment rate continued to trend upward in February for adult
men (8.1 percent), adult women (6.7 percent), whites (7.3 percent), blacks
(13.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.9 percent).  The jobless rate for teen-
agers was little changed at 21.6 percent.  The unemployment rate for Asians
was 6.9 percent in February, not seasonally adjusted.  (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)

   Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs increased by 716,000 to 7.7 million in February.  This mea-
sure has grown by 3.8 million in the last 12 months.  (See table A-8.)

   The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
increased by 270,000 to 2.9 million in February.  Over the past 12 months,
the number of long-term unemployed was up by 1.6 million.  (See table A-9.)

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

 

Obama Approval Index History

“…The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 37% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-two percent (32%) now Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +5 (see trends).

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates also available on Twitter.  …”

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/obama_approval_index_history 

 

Obama mulls making vets foot bill for service injuries

By David Goldstein

“…Few details about the plan have been available, and a VA spokesman did not provide additional information. But the reaction on Capitol Hill to the idea has been swift and harsh.

“Dead on arrival” is how Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington described the idea.

“ . . . when our troops are injured while serving our country, we should take care of those injuries completely,” Murray, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, told a hearing last week.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said at the same hearing that the plan was “a consideration.” He also acknowledged that the VA’s proposed budget for next year included it as a way to increase revenue. But he told the committee that “a final decision hasn’t been made yet.”

For veterans, that was little comfort.

Veterans claim that the costs of treating expensive war injuries could raise their insurance costs, as well as those for their employers. Some worried that it also could make it more difficult for disabled veterans to find work. …”

“…But the VA’s decision to float a potential change in its policy of paying for service-related injuries could signal a quick end to the honeymoon.

“It’s a betrayal,” said Joe Violante, legislative director of Disabled American Veterans, which signed the letter to Obama. “My insurance company didn’t send me to Vietnam, my government did. The same holds true for men and women now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the government’s responsibility.”

Meanwhile, a new poll by the independent Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has found Obama’s approval rating falling to 59 percent from 64 percent in February. It also found the ranks of Americans who disapprove of his job performance rising, to 26 percent from 17 percent.

Pew found that 44 percent think that the president listens more to liberals than to moderates in his party, while 30 percent think he listens more to moderates. In January, 44 percent thought he listened more to moderates and 34 percent more to liberals.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/180/story/610029.html 

 

No duh! White House “worried about bailout backlash”

By Michelle Malkin

“…With a few notable exceptions, the national media has ignored the tax revolt movement against the porkulus package, omni-pork spending bill, and bottomless bailouts that began in Seattle on President’s Day; continued in Denver on the day of the Generational Theft Act signing; spread to Mesa AZ during President Obama’s massive mortgage entitlement push; spurred protest in Overland Park KS; and evolved into the Tea Party movement across the country.

But local politicians and local newspapers/TV are definitely on notice. Thousands of folks converging in places like St. Louis (1,500), Greenville (2,000), Fullerton (est. 15,000), and Cincinnati (5,000) are getting harder to ignore.

And now, it seems, word is getting around in Washington. The White House, the NYTimes (which has mocked the tax revolters) tells us, is worried about a populist backlash against bailout-mania. Naw. Really? You don’t say: …”

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/16/no-duh-white-house-worried-about-bailout-backlash/

Obama: I’m not a socialist, I just play one on TV

By Michelle Malkin  

 

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