Bush’s Record on VA Funding

[hortysir]

I like to live in the here and now.
By the way Libs.... Bush is not the President.
There's someone else in the WH now...

There are problems now in the VA and Obama is President.
This is on his watch...

The guy that took the reigns in 2008 was well aware of the shortcomings of the VA and vowed to fix it.

Now our Liar in Chief tells us he just heard about it on the news

 

[whitehall]

It's interesting to note that the Obama administration never blamed lack of funding for the VA debacle. Maybe they thought Huffington and Media Matters would cover their sorry asses. One of the major issues is ....BONUSES.. for federal bureaucrats who save money for the Hussein administration. The VA saved money by not treating a list of (republicans?) (chronic patients?) and letting them die or commit suicide.

 

[HelenaHandbag]

It's interesting to note that the Obama administration never blamed lack of funding for the VA debacle. Maybe they thought Huffington and Media Matters would cover their sorry asses. One of the major issues is ....BONUSES.. for federal bureaucrats who save money for the Hussein administration. The VA saved money by not treating a list of (republicans?) (chronic patients?) and letting them die or commit suicide.

There is gold in them thar death panels!

 

[Plasmaball]

the treatment of veterans returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a national disgrace, highlighted most dramatically by the neglect and substandard care given wounded troops at Walter Reed and other military hospitals.

The budget increases that have occurred mostly were enacted over Bush’s opposition or related to the fact that injuries from the Iraq War far exceeded the administration’s rosy projections in early 2003. The Bush team especially underestimated how many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder to anticipate as well as the number of brain injuries, which have been endemic to the Iraq War where insurgents made effective use of “improvised explosive devices,” or IEDs.

Before Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, documents released by the Department of Veterans Affairs said it expected a maximum of 8,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, according to a study released last year by the RAND Institute, there are more than 320,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars suffering from major depression, PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. The report found that the VA has been and continues to be ill-equipped to deal with these cases when soldiers return from combat, especially after multiple tours.

An Army task force last year also found major flaws in the way the VA treated and cared for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Bush’s Record on VA Funding

For his part, Bush stacked the VA with political cronies, such as former Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, who as VA Secretary defended a budget measure that sought major cuts in staffing for healthcare and at the Board of Veterans Appeals; slashed funding for nursing home care; and blocked four legislative measures aimed at streamlining the backlog of veterans benefits claims.

Of the 84,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by VA, only half, about 42,000, had their disability claim approved by VA. Instead of expediting PTSD claims, Bush's political appointees at VA actively fought against mental health claims.

Bush's appointees also obstructed scientific research into the causes of Gulf War illnesses dating back 18 years to Operation Desert Storm and opposed medical research on treatment for 210,000 of those veterans.

As for funding, Bush proposed a 0.5 percent budget increase for the VA for fiscal year 2006, which amounted to a “cruel mockery” of Bush’s promises to do everything to support veterans and soldiers, Rep. Lane Evans, D-Illinois, said at the time.

Evans called Bush’s proposed budget increase for the VA “grossly inadequate,” saying it would force the VA to “ration” healthcare to veterans.
VA officials had testified in 2005 that the agency needed at least a 13 percent increase to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of war veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and others who needed long-term mental health care.

In early 2007, the Washington Post put a spotlight on the human consequences resulting from the combination of Bush’s wars and the budget squeeze.

The Post published a series of articles documenting the substandard conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is located only 4.7 miles from the White House. Wounded vets were housed in rooms with moldy walls, leaky plumage and an infestation of vermin, underscoring how out of touch Bush had become regarding the nation’s veterans.

In response to complaints that some veterans under VA care were being neglected, Nicholson said in March 2007 that such cases were “anecdotal exceptions.”

“When you are treating so many people there is always going to be a linen towel left somewhere,” he said.

In May 2007, the AP revealed that while Nicholson was pinching pennies on treatment costs and coping with a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, he awarded “$3.8 million in bonuses to top executives in fiscal 2006″ — many as much as $33,000.

Simultaneously, Bush was resisting congressional efforts to beef up the VA’s budget. In May 2007, Bush threatened to veto legislation that sought a 10 percent—$3.2 billion—increase, calling it too expensive. Bush proposed a 2 percent increase, far below what lawmakers and VA officials said was needed to treat a dramatic increase in traumatic brain injury and PTSD cases.

After Congress passed the legislation with the higher VA spending, Bush backed down on his veto threat but that was largely due to the fact that every Republican in the Senate with the exception of Jim DeMint of South Carolina, supported the measure.

Amid the growing scandals about substandard VA treatment and inept management, Nicholson resigned in July 2007.

Suicide Epidemic

Even after Nicholson’s resignation, the Department of Veterans Affairs continued to be buffeted by scandals, including a cover-up in an epidemic of veterans’ suicides and attempted suicides.

Last year, internal VA e-mails surfaced that showed how top agency officials tried to conceal the information from the public about the sudden increase in suicides and attempted suicides among veterans that were treated or sought help at VA hospitals around the country.

And last November, internal watchdogs discovered 500 benefits claims in shredding bins at the 41 of the 57 regional VA offices around the country.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy group that sued the VA in federal court, said attempts by the White House to portray Bush as an advocate for veterans is beyond shameful.

“Bush is the worst failure for our veterans since Hoover,” Sullivan said, expressing shock that the President “would shamefully continue his legacy of lies to the American people as he and his political cronies are forced to leave office on Jan. 20.”

Sullivan disputed some of Bush’s claims as misleading, such as the assertion that he doubled funding for the VA. “However, President Bush failed to disclose that the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare doubled, from 2.7 million to 5.5 million, and that rising healthcare inflation actually resulted in a net decrease in spending per veteran by VA during the past eight years,” he said.

“If not for the intervention of Congress to substantially increase VA funding beyond Bush's inadequate budget requests, especially in the past two years, the situation would have deteriorated from a serious crisis to a catastrophe at VA.”

Read much more:
Consortiumnews.com

Why not discuss Nixon's VA funding...or Ford's, or fucking Adams???


500 benefit claims shredded?


How about 1.5 MILLION ????

The point is we're taking about THIS ADMINISTRATION'S failures.

You left-nuts have bemoaned Obamacare in saying that it didn't go far enough.....that you would have preferred a 'single payer' system/
Well, guess what, ass-hats? That's exactly what the fuck the VA is.
THERE is your single payer system.
This is what you fucking wanted?
Waiting lists and hidden and/or deleted waiting lists with people dying while they wait for care?

Ah, hell, let's try it out on our nation's heroes first...see how they fare.

because with everything these days you need context. Obama is to blame for doing very little. So is Bush. You can hold Obama's feet to the fire while not being so disingenuous about what Bush did. Blowing it off doesnt solve the issue. How about having some personal Integrity about the issue.

More to that point, Its pathetic, Pathetic that you people are making this into a political football about who did what. Just solve the damn issue and be done with it. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to toss our partisan dicks around and wave our flgs saying we love the troops the most..

Grow up. Bush did jack shit for the troops, Own it. Obama ignored and appointed or continued on the guy who failed to sovle these issues. Own it.

 

[Plasmaball]

A thread like this was bound to happen...so, how many vets have died under Bush's watch? Who cares, the biggie here is that Obama sat there and let it go on for more than six years.

why dont you go get yourself a nice warm cup of milk and lay down. Children shouldnt be up this late.

 

[Lakhota]

It is common knowledge among most vets that Bush was AWOL on veterans.

AWOLBush.com - Home Page

 

[Quantum Windbag]

the treatment of veterans returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a national disgrace, highlighted most dramatically by the neglect and substandard care given wounded troops at Walter Reed and other military hospitals.

The budget increases that have occurred mostly were enacted over Bush’s opposition or related to the fact that injuries from the Iraq War far exceeded the administration’s rosy projections in early 2003. The Bush team especially underestimated how many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder to anticipate as well as the number of brain injuries, which have been endemic to the Iraq War where insurgents made effective use of “improvised explosive devices,” or IEDs.

Before Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, documents released by the Department of Veterans Affairs said it expected a maximum of 8,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, according to a study released last year by the RAND Institute, there are more than 320,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars suffering from major depression, PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. The report found that the VA has been and continues to be ill-equipped to deal with these cases when soldiers return from combat, especially after multiple tours.

An Army task force last year also found major flaws in the way the VA treated and cared for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Bush’s Record on VA Funding

For his part, Bush stacked the VA with political cronies, such as former Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, who as VA Secretary defended a budget measure that sought major cuts in staffing for healthcare and at the Board of Veterans Appeals; slashed funding for nursing home care; and blocked four legislative measures aimed at streamlining the backlog of veterans benefits claims.

Of the 84,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by VA, only half, about 42,000, had their disability claim approved by VA. Instead of expediting PTSD claims, Bush's political appointees at VA actively fought against mental health claims.

Bush's appointees also obstructed scientific research into the causes of Gulf War illnesses dating back 18 years to Operation Desert Storm and opposed medical research on treatment for 210,000 of those veterans.

As for funding, Bush proposed a 0.5 percent budget increase for the VA for fiscal year 2006, which amounted to a “cruel mockery” of Bush’s promises to do everything to support veterans and soldiers, Rep. Lane Evans, D-Illinois, said at the time.

Evans called Bush’s proposed budget increase for the VA “grossly inadequate,” saying it would force the VA to “ration” healthcare to veterans.
VA officials had testified in 2005 that the agency needed at least a 13 percent increase to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of war veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and others who needed long-term mental health care.

In early 2007, the Washington Post put a spotlight on the human consequences resulting from the combination of Bush’s wars and the budget squeeze.

The Post published a series of articles documenting the substandard conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is located only 4.7 miles from the White House. Wounded vets were housed in rooms with moldy walls, leaky plumage and an infestation of vermin, underscoring how out of touch Bush had become regarding the nation’s veterans.

In response to complaints that some veterans under VA care were being neglected, Nicholson said in March 2007 that such cases were “anecdotal exceptions.”

“When you are treating so many people there is always going to be a linen towel left somewhere,” he said.

In May 2007, the AP revealed that while Nicholson was pinching pennies on treatment costs and coping with a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, he awarded “$3.8 million in bonuses to top executives in fiscal 2006″ — many as much as $33,000.

Simultaneously, Bush was resisting congressional efforts to beef up the VA’s budget. In May 2007, Bush threatened to veto legislation that sought a 10 percent—$3.2 billion—increase, calling it too expensive. Bush proposed a 2 percent increase, far below what lawmakers and VA officials said was needed to treat a dramatic increase in traumatic brain injury and PTSD cases.

After Congress passed the legislation with the higher VA spending, Bush backed down on his veto threat but that was largely due to the fact that every Republican in the Senate with the exception of Jim DeMint of South Carolina, supported the measure.

Amid the growing scandals about substandard VA treatment and inept management, Nicholson resigned in July 2007.

Suicide Epidemic

Even after Nicholson’s resignation, the Department of Veterans Affairs continued to be buffeted by scandals, including a cover-up in an epidemic of veterans’ suicides and attempted suicides.

Last year, internal VA e-mails surfaced that showed how top agency officials tried to conceal the information from the public about the sudden increase in suicides and attempted suicides among veterans that were treated or sought help at VA hospitals around the country.

And last November, internal watchdogs discovered 500 benefits claims in shredding bins at the 41 of the 57 regional VA offices around the country.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy group that sued the VA in federal court, said attempts by the White House to portray Bush as an advocate for veterans is beyond shameful.

“Bush is the worst failure for our veterans since Hoover,” Sullivan said, expressing shock that the President “would shamefully continue his legacy of lies to the American people as he and his political cronies are forced to leave office on Jan. 20.”

Sullivan disputed some of Bush’s claims as misleading, such as the assertion that he doubled funding for the VA. “However, President Bush failed to disclose that the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare doubled, from 2.7 million to 5.5 million, and that rising healthcare inflation actually resulted in a net decrease in spending per veteran by VA during the past eight years,” he said.

“If not for the intervention of Congress to substantially increase VA funding beyond Bush's inadequate budget requests, especially in the past two years, the situation would have deteriorated from a serious crisis to a catastrophe at VA.”

Read much more:
Consortiumnews.com

Yet Obama didn't care enough to fix it, and now he is mad as hell. So mad that he is personally investigating the entire thing, just like he did the IRS, Benghazi, and the Justice Department seizing the phone records of reporters in order t track down their sources illegally.

And Ed supports Obama 100%.

 

[SFC Ollie]

Please, Bush screwed up. Are all you Lefties happy now?


But that was 5 years ago and your Administration is still blaming bush instead of doing anything in the last 5 years to fix it...

So take your sorry ass Bush's fault shit and stick it. Obama now owns this mess.....Even if he still believes it's Bush's fault..........

Can any of the Obamabots own up to anything?

 

[hortysir]

the treatment of veterans returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a national disgrace, highlighted most dramatically by the neglect and substandard care given wounded troops at Walter Reed and other military hospitals.

The budget increases that have occurred mostly were enacted over Bush’s opposition or related to the fact that injuries from the Iraq War far exceeded the administration’s rosy projections in early 2003. The Bush team especially underestimated how many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder to anticipate as well as the number of brain injuries, which have been endemic to the Iraq War where insurgents made effective use of “improvised explosive devices,” or IEDs.

Before Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, documents released by the Department of Veterans Affairs said it expected a maximum of 8,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, according to a study released last year by the RAND Institute, there are more than 320,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars suffering from major depression, PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. The report found that the VA has been and continues to be ill-equipped to deal with these cases when soldiers return from combat, especially after multiple tours.

An Army task force last year also found major flaws in the way the VA treated and cared for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Bush’s Record on VA Funding

For his part, Bush stacked the VA with political cronies, such as former Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, who as VA Secretary defended a budget measure that sought major cuts in staffing for healthcare and at the Board of Veterans Appeals; slashed funding for nursing home care; and blocked four legislative measures aimed at streamlining the backlog of veterans benefits claims.

Of the 84,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by VA, only half, about 42,000, had their disability claim approved by VA. Instead of expediting PTSD claims, Bush's political appointees at VA actively fought against mental health claims.

Bush's appointees also obstructed scientific research into the causes of Gulf War illnesses dating back 18 years to Operation Desert Storm and opposed medical research on treatment for 210,000 of those veterans.

As for funding, Bush proposed a 0.5 percent budget increase for the VA for fiscal year 2006, which amounted to a “cruel mockery” of Bush’s promises to do everything to support veterans and soldiers, Rep. Lane Evans, D-Illinois, said at the time.

Evans called Bush’s proposed budget increase for the VA “grossly inadequate,” saying it would force the VA to “ration” healthcare to veterans.
VA officials had testified in 2005 that the agency needed at least a 13 percent increase to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of war veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and others who needed long-term mental health care.

In early 2007, the Washington Post put a spotlight on the human consequences resulting from the combination of Bush’s wars and the budget squeeze.

The Post published a series of articles documenting the substandard conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is located only 4.7 miles from the White House. Wounded vets were housed in rooms with moldy walls, leaky plumage and an infestation of vermin, underscoring how out of touch Bush had become regarding the nation’s veterans.

In response to complaints that some veterans under VA care were being neglected, Nicholson said in March 2007 that such cases were “anecdotal exceptions.”

“When you are treating so many people there is always going to be a linen towel left somewhere,” he said.

In May 2007, the AP revealed that while Nicholson was pinching pennies on treatment costs and coping with a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, he awarded “$3.8 million in bonuses to top executives in fiscal 2006″ — many as much as $33,000.

Simultaneously, Bush was resisting congressional efforts to beef up the VA’s budget. In May 2007, Bush threatened to veto legislation that sought a 10 percent—$3.2 billion—increase, calling it too expensive. Bush proposed a 2 percent increase, far below what lawmakers and VA officials said was needed to treat a dramatic increase in traumatic brain injury and PTSD cases.

After Congress passed the legislation with the higher VA spending, Bush backed down on his veto threat but that was largely due to the fact that every Republican in the Senate with the exception of Jim DeMint of South Carolina, supported the measure.

Amid the growing scandals about substandard VA treatment and inept management, Nicholson resigned in July 2007.

Suicide Epidemic

Even after Nicholson’s resignation, the Department of Veterans Affairs continued to be buffeted by scandals, including a cover-up in an epidemic of veterans’ suicides and attempted suicides.

Last year, internal VA e-mails surfaced that showed how top agency officials tried to conceal the information from the public about the sudden increase in suicides and attempted suicides among veterans that were treated or sought help at VA hospitals around the country.

And last November, internal watchdogs discovered 500 benefits claims in shredding bins at the 41 of the 57 regional VA offices around the country.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy group that sued the VA in federal court, said attempts by the White House to portray Bush as an advocate for veterans is beyond shameful.

“Bush is the worst failure for our veterans since Hoover,” Sullivan said, expressing shock that the President “would shamefully continue his legacy of lies to the American people as he and his political cronies are forced to leave office on Jan. 20.”

Sullivan disputed some of Bush’s claims as misleading, such as the assertion that he doubled funding for the VA. “However, President Bush failed to disclose that the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare doubled, from 2.7 million to 5.5 million, and that rising healthcare inflation actually resulted in a net decrease in spending per veteran by VA during the past eight years,” he said.

“If not for the intervention of Congress to substantially increase VA funding beyond Bush's inadequate budget requests, especially in the past two years, the situation would have deteriorated from a serious crisis to a catastrophe at VA.”

Read much more:
Consortiumnews.com

Why not discuss Nixon's VA funding...or Ford's, or fucking Adams???


500 benefit claims shredded?


How about 1.5 MILLION ????

The point is we're taking about THIS ADMINISTRATION'S failures.

You left-nuts have bemoaned Obamacare in saying that it didn't go far enough.....that you would have preferred a 'single payer' system/
Well, guess what, ass-hats? That's exactly what the fuck the VA is.
THERE is your single payer system.
This is what you fucking wanted?
Waiting lists and hidden and/or deleted waiting lists with people dying while they wait for care?

Ah, hell, let's try it out on our nation's heroes first...see how they fare.

because with everything these days you need context. Obama is to blame for doing very little. So is Bush. You can hold Obama's feet to the fire while not being so disingenuous about what Bush did. Blowing it off doesnt solve the issue. How about having some personal Integrity about the issue.

More to that point, Its pathetic, Pathetic that you people are making this into a political football about who did what. Just solve the damn issue and be done with it. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to toss our partisan dicks around and wave our flgs saying we love the troops the most..

Grow up. Bush did jack shit for the troops, Own it. Obama ignored and appointed or continued on the guy who failed to sovle these issues. Own it.

Bullshit, bro.

I've been here long enough (and other places). I gave Bush shit for his cutting of veterans' benefits, etc....

This president campaigned on the promise that he'd fix those VA woes.
Not only did he not fix any-fucking-thing, he didn't DO anything.
Now it's worse and vets are dying for bonuses.

Talk about "owning it"??
How about this POS POTUS "own" fucking SOMETHING!!!

He's great at messaging.
He'll stand at the microphone and tell us how outraged he is...VA, IRS, et.al....
He'll tell us he wants investigations.

Then, further down the road, they're all "phony scandals".
Motherfucker, last month you were just as pissed off as I was....now it's a "witch hunt"???


So you guys can try to deflect to Bush or Reagan or all the way back to Taft if you want.
None of that will magically glue back the one and a half million shredded appointments or bring back a single dead vet.

If firing the entire upper management of the VA will save one more from this bureaucratic behemoth, then so be it.
Thing is, this chickenshit motherfucker won't do it.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

the treatment of veterans returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a national disgrace, highlighted most dramatically by the neglect and substandard care given wounded troops at Walter Reed and other military hospitals.

The budget increases that have occurred mostly were enacted over Bush’s opposition or related to the fact that injuries from the Iraq War far exceeded the administration’s rosy projections in early 2003. The Bush team especially underestimated how many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder to anticipate as well as the number of brain injuries, which have been endemic to the Iraq War where insurgents made effective use of “improvised explosive devices,” or IEDs.

Before Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, documents released by the Department of Veterans Affairs said it expected a maximum of 8,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, according to a study released last year by the RAND Institute, there are more than 320,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars suffering from major depression, PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. The report found that the VA has been and continues to be ill-equipped to deal with these cases when soldiers return from combat, especially after multiple tours.

An Army task force last year also found major flaws in the way the VA treated and cared for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Bush’s Record on VA Funding

For his part, Bush stacked the VA with political cronies, such as former Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, who as VA Secretary defended a budget measure that sought major cuts in staffing for healthcare and at the Board of Veterans Appeals; slashed funding for nursing home care; and blocked four legislative measures aimed at streamlining the backlog of veterans benefits claims.

Of the 84,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by VA, only half, about 42,000, had their disability claim approved by VA. Instead of expediting PTSD claims, Bush's political appointees at VA actively fought against mental health claims.

Bush's appointees also obstructed scientific research into the causes of Gulf War illnesses dating back 18 years to Operation Desert Storm and opposed medical research on treatment for 210,000 of those veterans.

As for funding, Bush proposed a 0.5 percent budget increase for the VA for fiscal year 2006, which amounted to a “cruel mockery” of Bush’s promises to do everything to support veterans and soldiers, Rep. Lane Evans, D-Illinois, said at the time.

Evans called Bush’s proposed budget increase for the VA “grossly inadequate,” saying it would force the VA to “ration” healthcare to veterans.
VA officials had testified in 2005 that the agency needed at least a 13 percent increase to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of war veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and others who needed long-term mental health care.

In early 2007, the Washington Post put a spotlight on the human consequences resulting from the combination of Bush’s wars and the budget squeeze.

The Post published a series of articles documenting the substandard conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is located only 4.7 miles from the White House. Wounded vets were housed in rooms with moldy walls, leaky plumage and an infestation of vermin, underscoring how out of touch Bush had become regarding the nation’s veterans.

In response to complaints that some veterans under VA care were being neglected, Nicholson said in March 2007 that such cases were “anecdotal exceptions.”

“When you are treating so many people there is always going to be a linen towel left somewhere,” he said.

In May 2007, the AP revealed that while Nicholson was pinching pennies on treatment costs and coping with a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, he awarded “$3.8 million in bonuses to top executives in fiscal 2006″ — many as much as $33,000.

Simultaneously, Bush was resisting congressional efforts to beef up the VA’s budget. In May 2007, Bush threatened to veto legislation that sought a 10 percent—$3.2 billion—increase, calling it too expensive. Bush proposed a 2 percent increase, far below what lawmakers and VA officials said was needed to treat a dramatic increase in traumatic brain injury and PTSD cases.

After Congress passed the legislation with the higher VA spending, Bush backed down on his veto threat but that was largely due to the fact that every Republican in the Senate with the exception of Jim DeMint of South Carolina, supported the measure.

Amid the growing scandals about substandard VA treatment and inept management, Nicholson resigned in July 2007.

Suicide Epidemic

Even after Nicholson’s resignation, the Department of Veterans Affairs continued to be buffeted by scandals, including a cover-up in an epidemic of veterans’ suicides and attempted suicides.

Last year, internal VA e-mails surfaced that showed how top agency officials tried to conceal the information from the public about the sudden increase in suicides and attempted suicides among veterans that were treated or sought help at VA hospitals around the country.

And last November, internal watchdogs discovered 500 benefits claims in shredding bins at the 41 of the 57 regional VA offices around the country.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy group that sued the VA in federal court, said attempts by the White House to portray Bush as an advocate for veterans is beyond shameful.

“Bush is the worst failure for our veterans since Hoover,” Sullivan said, expressing shock that the President “would shamefully continue his legacy of lies to the American people as he and his political cronies are forced to leave office on Jan. 20.”

Sullivan disputed some of Bush’s claims as misleading, such as the assertion that he doubled funding for the VA. “However, President Bush failed to disclose that the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare doubled, from 2.7 million to 5.5 million, and that rising healthcare inflation actually resulted in a net decrease in spending per veteran by VA during the past eight years,” he said.

“If not for the intervention of Congress to substantially increase VA funding beyond Bush's inadequate budget requests, especially in the past two years, the situation would have deteriorated from a serious crisis to a catastrophe at VA.”

Read much more:
Consortiumnews.com

Why not discuss Nixon's VA funding...or Ford's, or fucking Adams???


500 benefit claims shredded?


How about 1.5 MILLION ????

The point is we're taking about THIS ADMINISTRATION'S failures.

You left-nuts have bemoaned Obamacare in saying that it didn't go far enough.....that you would have preferred a 'single payer' system/
Well, guess what, ass-hats? That's exactly what the fuck the VA is.
THERE is your single payer system.
This is what you fucking wanted?
Waiting lists and hidden and/or deleted waiting lists with people dying while they wait for care?

Ah, hell, let's try it out on our nation's heroes first...see how they fare.

because with everything these days you need context. Obama is to blame for doing very little. So is Bush. You can hold Obama's feet to the fire while not being so disingenuous about what Bush did. Blowing it off doesnt solve the issue. How about having some personal Integrity about the issue.

More to that point, Its pathetic, Pathetic that you people are making this into a political football about who did what. Just solve the damn issue and be done with it. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to toss our partisan dicks around and wave our flgs saying we love the troops the most..

Grow up. Bush did jack shit for the troops, Own it. Obama ignored and appointed or continued on the guy who failed to sovle these issues. Own it.

As I recall I started a thread blaming the entire fucking government, Republicans and Democrats, and you popped in and asked me if that was the way I really wanted to go. I said bring it on, and now you are blaming Bush in this thread.

You are a fucking hack, wear it proudly.

 

[SFC Ollie]

Read what the president said.....He is outraged at the Accusations of misconduct at VA,


Didn't say he was outraged at the misconduct, only the accusations of misconduct....I guess it was all OK as long as they didn't get caught.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

So I guess it's just another phoney scandal....
There aren't any problems with the VA...

Actually..it's a very real problem.

One both parties should COME TOGETHER to deal with.

Instead of playing games.

I hate to point out the obvious, (not) but the VA is what you get when the government works. I even started a thread about it, feel free to pop in and defend the government against the charges I can bring.

 

[hortysir]

Read what the president said.....He is outraged at the Accusations of misconduct at VA,


Didn't say he was outraged at the misconduct, only the accusations of misconduct....I guess it was all OK as long as they didn't get caught.

He's outraged that anyone would challenge his highness

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Obama's in trouble so what you going to do

bring up BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

I think after six years people are thinking maybe Obama might have a hand in SOMETHING

Do you mean like the Right blaming FDR, Carter and Clinton for the Bush housing crash???

I blame the government, which included Bush at the time, want to prove me wrong?

 

[Plasmaball]

Why not discuss Nixon's VA funding...or Ford's, or fucking Adams???


500 benefit claims shredded?


How about 1.5 MILLION ????

The point is we're taking about THIS ADMINISTRATION'S failures.

You left-nuts have bemoaned Obamacare in saying that it didn't go far enough.....that you would have preferred a 'single payer' system/
Well, guess what, ass-hats? That's exactly what the fuck the VA is.
THERE is your single payer system.
This is what you fucking wanted?
Waiting lists and hidden and/or deleted waiting lists with people dying while they wait for care?

Ah, hell, let's try it out on our nation's heroes first...see how they fare.

because with everything these days you need context. Obama is to blame for doing very little. So is Bush. You can hold Obama's feet to the fire while not being so disingenuous about what Bush did. Blowing it off doesnt solve the issue. How about having some personal Integrity about the issue.

More to that point, Its pathetic, Pathetic that you people are making this into a political football about who did what. Just solve the damn issue and be done with it. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to toss our partisan dicks around and wave our flgs saying we love the troops the most..

Grow up. Bush did jack shit for the troops, Own it. Obama ignored and appointed or continued on the guy who failed to sovle these issues. Own it.

As I recall I started a thread blaming the entire fucking government, Republicans and Democrats, and you popped in and asked me if that was the way I really wanted to go. I said bring it on, and now you are blaming Bush in this thread.

You are a fucking hack, wear it proudly.

i blame Obama as well, so again you fail

 

[Lakhota]

Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Deserter-Bushs-Military-Families-Veterans/dp/1560256273]Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past: Ian Williams: 9781560256274: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]


Bush was a disaster for veterans.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

because with everything these days you need context. Obama is to blame for doing very little. So is Bush. You can hold Obama's feet to the fire while not being so disingenuous about what Bush did. Blowing it off doesnt solve the issue. How about having some personal Integrity about the issue.

More to that point, Its pathetic, Pathetic that you people are making this into a political football about who did what. Just solve the damn issue and be done with it. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to toss our partisan dicks around and wave our flgs saying we love the troops the most..

Grow up. Bush did jack shit for the troops, Own it. Obama ignored and appointed or continued on the guy who failed to sovle these issues. Own it.

As I recall I started a thread blaming the entire fucking government, Republicans and Democrats, and you popped in and asked me if that was the way I really wanted to go. I said bring it on, and now you are blaming Bush in this thread.

You are a fucking hack, wear it proudly.

i blame Obama as well, so again you fail

You are wrong, asshole, it is the government, not Obama.

Let me repeat that for you, it is the government. You know, that think you think is better than anything else, yet are totally incapable of defending.


That makes you a hack, wear it proudly.

 

[HelenaHandbag]

So I guess it's just another phoney scandal....
There aren't any problems with the VA...

Actually..it's a very real problem.

One both parties should COME TOGETHER to deal with.

Instead of playing games.

I hate to point out the obvious, (not) but the VA is what you get when the government works. I even started a thread about it, feel free to pop in and defend the government against the charges I can bring.

The VA doesn't work, because government doesn't work.

I stole that from Harry Browne.

http://www.jrbooksonline.com/PDF_Books/why_govt_doesnt_work.pdf

 

[hortysir]

Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past

Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past: Ian Williams: 9781560256274: Amazon.com: Books


Bush was a disaster for veterans.

Disabled rep.

Go figure



Catch up to the present, LaKunta

 

[Plasmaball]

As I recall I started a thread blaming the entire fucking government, Republicans and Democrats, and you popped in and asked me if that was the way I really wanted to go. I said bring it on, and now you are blaming Bush in this thread.

You are a fucking hack, wear it proudly.

i blame Obama as well, so again you fail

You are wrong, asshole, it is the government, not Obama.

Let me repeat that for you, it is the government. You know, that think you think is better than anything else, yet are totally incapable of defending.


That makes you a hack, wear it proudly.

what?