I can't tell you how ANGRY I GET posting stories like these!
"Veterans’ disability claims go neglected; Agency struggles as demand rises" by James Dao, New York Times | July 13, 2009
Less swift was the government’s response when Todd submitted, a month later, a disability claim that would entitle him to a monthly benefit check. Nearly 18 months went by before the Department of Veterans Affairs granted it last month.
Todd, 33, is part of a flood of veterans, young and old, seeking disability compensation from the department for psychological and physical injuries connected to their military service. The backlog of unprocessed claims for those disabilities is now above 400,000, up from 253,000 six years ago, the agency said.
Oh, they can SEND 'EM in there fast enough, but when it comes to CARING FOR THEM when they have been pulled out they get the finger!
See: An Army Life
The Fighting Females of Camp Homeless
The department says its average time for processing those claims, 162 days, is better than in at least eight years. But it does not deny that it has a major problem, with some claims languishing for many months in the overtaxed bureaucracy.
But we got TRILLIONS UPON DEMAND for BANKING LOOTERS!!!!
Michael Walcoff, deputy undersecretary for benefits in the Veterans Benefits Administration:
“We know that veterans deserve better.’’
Walcoff said the department recently finished hiring 4,200 claims processors, but many will not be fully trained for months. The Government Accountability Office reported last year that the Veterans Affairs Department had about 13,000 people processing disability claims. The larger significance of the backlog, veterans groups and officials said, is that resources for veterans are being stretched perilously thin by a confluence of factors beyond the influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yup, SUPPORT the TROOPS!!!
Aging Vietnam veterans with new or worsening ailments are requesting care. Layoffs are driving unemployed veterans into the department’s sprawling health system for the first time. Congress has expanded certain benefits. And improved outreach efforts by the department have encouraged more veterans to seek compensation or care.
Walcoff said most of the 82,000 claims the department received each month were not from veterans returning from the current wars. “We’re still getting a lot of Vietnam vets,’’ he said.
We are STILL PAYING for THAT WAR and we haven't even started on these latest ones. America, you are going to be LIVING with BUSHBAMA'S LIES for DECADES!!!!!!
Advocates say the actual backlog is nearing 1 million, if minor claims, educational programs, and appeals of denied claims are considered.
Do they DENY KBR it bonuses or demand repayment from the war looters?
NO! They JUST PAY IT! I'm about to blow my stack, readers!
They point to the discovery of benefits applications in disposal bins at several department offices last year as evidence of shoddy claims handling. And they assert that they routinely see frustratingly long delays on what seem like straightforward claims.
So they JUST THREW AWAY your claim, 'eh, soldier?
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And (unsurprisingly) the women are treated worse:
WASHINGTON - Veterans Affairs Department hospitals and clinics are not always ensuring that female veterans have privacy when they bathe and receive exams, government auditors said yesterday.
As thousands of female veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan and enter the VA’s health system, the Government Accountability Office reported that no VA hospital or outpatient clinic under review is complying fully with federal privacy requirements.
GAO investigators found that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door, including one door that opened to a waiting room. It also found instances where women had to walk through a waiting area to use the restroom, instead of it being next to an exam room as required by VA policy.
Nothing new, is it, ladies? Related: Happy Mother's Day
At four hospitals investigators visited, women were not guaranteed access to a private bathing facility. In two of those cases, there wasn’t a lock on the door.
(Blog editor just shaking his head)
Female veterans told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee that VA workers need to be better educated about combat situations that women face in the two ongoing wars. Beyond privacy concerns, there are other issues as well, they said, such as a lack of child care at VA hospitals and difficulty in finding diaper-changing tables.
“Many VA facilities are not prepared to accommodate the presence of children,’’ said Kayla Williams, an Iraq veteran and author. “Several friends have described having to change babies’ diapers on the floors of VA hospitals.’’
Yup, TRILLIONS for BA.... oh, never mind!
A majority of the female veterans who have turned up at VA facilities are between the ages of 20 and 29, and on average are much younger than the average male veteran, the GAO survey found. Nearly 20 percent have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many experienced sexual trauma while serving.
Translation: they were raped!
Patricia Hayes, chief consultant of the veterans strategic health care group at the VA, said the agency recognizes the care given to women is not as good as what’s offered to men, but it has made changes and will continue to do so. She said space constraints and the layout of buildings pose challenges, but the VA is putting together long-term plans for construction improvements.
Maybe you guys SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT of that BEFORE letting the leaders LIE US into WARS, hanh?
And WHAT are they FIGHTING FOR? Democracy, right?
"Senate panel OK’s easier military voting" by Associated Press | July 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - 25 percent of would-be military voters are disenfranchised because of communications and bureaucratic problems.
--more--"So they DON'T EVEN GET a SAY, huh? Sigh!
But here is what they DO GET!
"Memorial honors veterans who have died since 9/11" by Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent | July 16, 2009
Yeah, that don't cost the government nuthin' -- although it has cost you plenty, hasn't it, America?
A memorial honoring the servicemen and women who have died in combat since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, will be installed inside the State House, officials said yesterday.
Don't get me wrong; there SHOULD BE MONUMENTS to our war dead; however, the LIES should be MEMORIALIZED, too, so it DOESN'T EVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!!!
It will feature an interactive display, allowing visitors to enter a name or hometown “to learn about people who answered the nation’s call when asked,’’ said Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray. King and Kenneth Isaksen, both Marines who served two tours in the Middle East, founded OIF/OEF Veterans of Massachusetts to serve those returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yesterday’s ceremony was the first for the group, which remembers those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Eleven months ago, Dom and I met with a similar interest,’’ Isaksen said after the event. “We wanted to help fellow veterans, but we didn’t know how, so, in traditional Marine Corps fashion, we met in a bar and we formed this organization.’’
From an office on the fifth floor of the State House, King and Isaksen’s organization will work with legislators and veterans’ groups to lobby for improved benefits, educate the public about ongoing conflicts, and help connect veterans with state, federal, and private programs.
Which I'm all for; however, HOW COME OUR KIDS don't get the same treatment?
Instead, they enlist and.... (return to top of post and start reading).
Today’s soldiers face new challenges, like multiple deployments, longer tours in combat zones, limited resources, and higher suicide rates, said Coleman Nee, state undersecretary of Veterans’ Services, who served in the first Gulf War....
Nevertheless, the war-mongering government and enabling MSM continue to push for more wars with their damn lies!
THEY don't even CARE about the TROOPS -- except as a TOOL for ISRAEL'S AGENDA!
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And while YOUR CLASSES and TEACHERS are being CUT, kiddo:
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - With a fattened GI Bill covering full tuition and more, the number of veterans attending college this fall is expected to jump 30 percent from last year to nearly half a million. That’s left many universities looking for ways to ease the transition from combat to the classroom.
As the high schools look to turn out from classroom to combat -- and the whole process starts over again! So WHY can't OUR KIDS get the SAME DEALS before they are lied into wars?
Veterans already in school have run into problems including campus bureaucracy, crowds that can trigger alarm instincts honed by war, and fellow students who don’t understand their battlefield experiences.
Just a matter of time before some vet is Manchurianed for a campus shooting -- and out comes the gun control bill that is waiting inside a closed drawer, right?
In response, colleges across the country are offering veterans-only classes, adding counselors, and streamlining the application and financial aid process....
Colin Closs, a former Fort Campbell soldier studying at Cleveland State University in Ohio, said that after leaving the military, he had trouble interacting with people who don’t understand his wartime experiences. But when he takes classes with other veterans, they can talk about problems they may have, whether educational or personal.
“It’s like the VFW hall without the alcohol,’’ Closs said. The University of West Florida in Pensacola, not far from Eglin Air Force Base, is adding counselors to help service members with post-traumatic stress disorder or other emotional problems, but administrators recognize that veterans don’t want to be categorized as disabled....
I'm ALL FOR giving our vets everything they need -- as long as it is matched when it comes to OUR KIDS!
The University of California at Los Angeles has short orientation sessions for veterans and is creating an Iraq and Afghanistan veterans readjustment group in the fall. Universities that have traditionally served military students are also finding that their new and returning students need help navigating the bureaucracy of the enrollment process.
At Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., they’ll be adding faculty in some departments, including political science, for the expected increase in students using the new benefits.
Could this country just once stop the war worship?
When the universities buckle to the war-promoting agenda and its lies, America is done.
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Not all are so lucky:
