Pres. Obama Gets The Idea He Was Wrong On Veterans Insurance

Pres. Obama is not a dummy.. He got the picture. After the meeting at the White House he realized the idea, not sure who gave him the idea in the first place, of trying to bill private insurance for service connected injuries instead of the VA taking care of it was really stupid, and so he has now dropped it.

This has been released just a bit ago, and hopefully will help everyone feel better about this. I know everyone was pretty upset about it. It was a really stupid idea. Like I said not sure who could have ever thought it was a good one, or why anyone would have thought it was.

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Unopened claims letters hidden at VA offices

As if we haven't seen enough of the screw ups and wrongs of our military by the Bush Administration, here comes another one. I got this in my email today and it just makes me so angry I have no words to describe it. We owe our men and women who fight everything, and when they come home they should get what is owed to them with no problems at all. Instead this is what they get.

This article from Marine Corp Times tells about unopened letters and back dated claims in the Veterans Administration. More problems for President Obama to have to clean up. How much more can we pile up on his plate. Every time we think we find it all more keeps getting piled on.

A new report about Veterans Affairs Department employees squirreling away tens of thousands of unopened letters related to benefits claims is sparking fresh concerns that veterans and their survivors are being cheated out of money.

VA officials acknowledge further credibility problems based on a new report of a previously undisclosed 2007 incident in which workers at a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 documents turned up in New York in December during amnesty periods in which workers were promised no one would be penalized.

It is no wonder the article goes on to say that veterans have lost their trust in the VA.

Unprocessed and unopened mail was just one problem in VA claims processing mentioned by Belinda Finn, VA’s assistant inspector general for auditing, in testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Auditors also found that the dates recorded for receiving claims, which in many cases determine the effective date for benefits payments, are wrong in many cases because of intentional and unintentional errors, Finn said.

I know this is not a new problem. The fact that our veterans are treated terribly has been going on for years. My dad, uncles and others I know from WWII either are still or have just recently gotten their claims for disability compensation through the process.

Sixty years?? Yes, 60 years, and they are just now getting their claims. So many of them were either told they weren't eligible, or they never knew they could even file. Then, there were the ones who had not been able to document their injuries due to "heat of the battle" type things. Injuries and wounds happened that were not serious enough at the time to get them sent back to the hospital, or sick bay, but were treated by a corp man or medic and they kept on fighting.

Later, these same soldiers, sailors and marines found out these injuries were often much more serious and yet now there was no documentation. So, no claim could ever be filed. Too bad, says the VA. Unless you can find someone who served with you that remembers it and can help you document it and will testify for you.

These guys are in their 80's, lots of them are deceased, they are scattered, so they give up and get nothing for having served bravely in battle. Why do we not take better care of our veterans?? This is something I think the neocons and the republicans need to ask themselves, they claim to be such champions of the military, yet they do not take care of the veterans very well. It takes a Democratic President to try to fix the Veterans Administration.

MUST SEE on HBO, Starting FEB 21, Taking Chance

It is called Taking Chanceand it is the story of one Marine's journey "home" from the entry point at Dover, Delaware to his final resting place in the cemetary near his home town.

It is also the story of Lt. Col. Mike Strobl who saw Chance's name on the DOD's list and decided he had to Take Chance home. They came from the same small town, yet didn't know each other. It was not normally the job of an officer to be the escort of an enlisted man but something about this brought these two together.

I can't get the trailer for this movie to embed properly to see how the people react. This is a true story and this is what the Bush administration has kept us from seeing. This is the true cost of the war. But this is also the honor that is bestowed on our fallen heroes. For some reason none of the videos from HBO are embedding. So you will have to go to the web site to see them. I am sorry, but it is worth the visit.

I wish this was on more than just HBO.. I think it should be on regular broadcast TeeVee so everyone could see it. If you would like to see more clips, an interview with the real Lt. Col. Mike Strobl and see more behind the scenes you can check it out here at HBO: Taking Chance.

The honor that is given to a fallen Soldier, Marine, Sailor or Veteran is truly a moving experience. The beauty of it can't be described. The sound of Taps, the 21 gun salute, the folding of the flag. All done with precise movements, show a respect, an honor specially reserved for these fallen heroes.

But the fact that from the moment they fall, that once they return they are never alone is something that most people never know. They have an escort with them every moment of every day and every night. Ever vigilant.

Help For the IAVA

This is a copy of an email I got today. It is something that is a worthy cause and something that is worth giving $5 or $10 to in order to help these guys out. I was just at the VA hospital in Kansas City with my uncle, who is a WWII veteran. It is heartbreaking to see the number of 19 & 20 year old men and women coming in the doors, or even staying in the hospital.

We were there to see the mental health doctor, because my uncle is still fighting his war. Yes, over 60 years he is still fighting for benefits that was promised him for his service. And, so are these young people. That's why they are going to Washington, DC.

They will be fighting, too. I sat next to a guy about my age, who was a Viet Nam vet, he has been fighting for almost 30 years. Why are these men and women having to fight like this? They fight in the wars and then come home injured, physically, mentally sometimes both yet the war is never over for them, because they can't stop fighting. Our government won't give them what it said it would, what it promised them, that it would take care of them after they took care of us.

What is it going to take for us to realize these people put their lives on hold for us every day for years and ask very little in return and get very little in return. Their families sacrifice is more than most of us ever even think about. We don't even stop to think about what they go through every day. What those children give up not seeing their mommies and daddies, what those mommies and daddies give up not seeing their kids. What those wives and husbands give up not seeing their spouses.

So, yes, we are all having trouble right now, yes times are tough. But, is $5 too much to ask for what they have given up for you?? Think about that as you read this request from the IAVA.

Imagine struggling to pay your mortgage, keep your job and feed your family, all while serving a year-long deployment thousands of miles away.

These difficult times are taking a toll on all Americans, but troops and veterans carry an extra burden.

Today, the Senate begins debating the economic stimulus bill, and IAVA is calling on Congress to make Iraq and Afghanistan veterans a part of it.

We will work with both parties to implement our recommendations for the final bill, which include retroactive payments to help cover veterans' student loans, a plan to triple the number of outreach coordinators employed by the VA, and funding to provide job training and childcare for homeless veterans.

Investing in our nation's veterans is a smart and patriotic way to get the economy back on track. Can you help ensure our voice is heard?

Next week, we're sending veterans from across the country to meet face-to-face with members of Congress and present IAVA's legislative priorities for 2009.

If you haven't already, can you chip in $5 for a taxi ride, or $10 for a meal to help send veterans to "Storm the Hill"?

The vets will be meeting with over 125 members of Congress to talk about veterans' issues, including how the economic crisis is impacting their lives. Help make sure Congress listens. We can't do it without your support.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us.

Sincerely,

Paul

Paul Rieckhoff
Iraq Veteran
Executive Director & Founder
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Program

The plan for the new stimulus package, American Recovery and Reinvestment Program, has been released and you can check out the entire package here.

One of the things I found very interesting was this part about the EPA:

Environmental Cleanup
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Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup: $800 million to clean up hazardous and toxic waste sites that threaten health and the environment. EPA has 1,255 sites on its National Priority List, selected based on a hazard ranking system. There are many Superfund sites ready for construction, but not funded due to budget shortfalls and over 600 sites with ongoing construction that could be accelerated.
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Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: $200 million for enforcement and cleanup of petroleum leaks from underground storage tanks at approximately 1,600 additional sites. There are an estimated 116,000 sites with the potential to contaminate important water supplies.
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Nuclear Waste Cleanup: $500 million for nuclear waste cleanup at sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s past nuclear activities. Accelerating the completion of projects will reduce long-term costs.
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Closed Military Bases: $300 million for cleanup activities at closed military installations allowing local communities to redevelop these properties for productive use. The Department estimates that there is a $3.5 billion environmental cleanup backlog at bases closed during previous BRAC rounds.
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NOAA Habitat Restoration: $400 million for ready-to-go habitat restoration projects.
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Brownfields: $100 million for competitive grants for evaluation and cleanup of former industrial and commercial sites - turning them from problem properties to productive community use. Last year EPA was only able to fund 37% of Brownfields applications.

Hopefully this will start us on some of the cleanup needed in these messes we have around the country left over from the Bush years.

Here is what I referred to earlier about the COBRA benefits:

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$39 billion to support those who lose their jobs by helping them to pay the cost of keeping their employer provided healthcare under COBRA and providing short-term options to be covered by Medicaid.

And this is very important I think...it has been neglected so very long. We need our roads and bridges rebuilt.

Highway Infrastructure: $30 billion for highway and bridge construction projects. It is estimated that states have over 5,100 projects totaling over $64 billion that could be awarded within 180 days. These projects create jobs in the short term while saving commuters time and money in the long term. In 2006, the Department of Transportation estimated $8.5 billion was needed to maintain current systems and $61.4 billion was needed to improve highways and bridges.

Something that is near and dear to my heart and should be very important to all of us. We need to make sure this is done and this is probably just a drop in the bucket to what is really needed.

Veterans Administration Facilities
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Veterans Medical Facilities: $950 million for veterans’ medical facilities. The Department has identified a $5 billion backlog in needed repairs, including energy efficiency projects, at its 153 medical facilities.
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Veterans Cemeteries: $50 million to put people to work making monument and memorial repairs at cemeteries for American heroes.

One of the things Bush was supposed to have done and ignored as he "kept us safe after 9-11" was to secure our ports and borders. Well he neglected to do so. The 9-11 commission instructed him this needed to be done. Yet, he still never did it. Well, it is now going to be done.

Border Ports of Entry: $1.15 billion to construct GSA and Customs and Border Patrol land ports of entry to improve border security, make trade and travel easier and reduce wait times, and to procure non-intrusive inspection technology at sea ports of entry, which is used to scan cargo containers to reduce the risk that containers can be used to smuggle weapons of mass destruction.

Again, this is looking good. The total is big...yes it is. But we as a country are in big trouble. We know that. We, got into a mess, thanks to Bush & Co., Iraq, cutting taxes to the wealthy and spending money on things we shouldn't have. Things were out of control for 8 years.

PE Obama has a great team behind him and he has a good group supporting him. He also has bipartisan support across the country. He is taking office as the most popular president ever.

Again, you can read the entire report here, it is a pdf file. There is much, much more. For education, health care, housing, National Treasure repair and for the Arts.

Check it out. I am sure your favorite thing is there too. If not, write or call your congress person and express your opinion. Now is the time. As long as it isn't something silly, and is something that really needs to be taken care of and is worthwhile, it should be at least looked at.

Remember, PE Obama is OUR President. We elected him, and he wants and needs our opinions and our feedback. That's the only way he knows what is going on.

So, read it, share it and then let me know what you think. I think it is great and it should help get our country going again. And that's what we need, to get our Country going again, to make us strong, safe and secure, something I never felt before, but I am starting to with President Obama.

Add another mess to Bush's List.

As if we didn't have enough against the Bush Administration, here comes another charge we can lay at their feet.

It has come to light that some of our returning veterans from the Indiana National Guard are suffering from bloody noses, tumors and rashes. And tragically, one soldier has already died.

The link these soldiers have is they were all part of a unit that guarded a power plant for KBR. Yes, that KBR, subsidiary of Haliburton, formerly Dick Cheney's company. KBR had this power plant in Southern Iraq and the Indiana National Guard was used as guards for the employees and the plant itself. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't know why some of the mercenary soldiers couldn't have been used for this, but instead we used National Guard.

After several months of this guard duty, the soldiers were notified that they had been exposed to hexavalent chromium, which is a known carcinogen. This is one of the same toxins that Erin Brockovich became famous for campaigning against.

CBS has run a story on this and is doing more investigating. If this is true, then KBR needs to pony up. They need to tell the truth, they need to pay the medical for these soldiers and they need to find ways to take care of these families.

Our soldiers, sailors, marines and air force do their jobs and give up so much to protect and serve their and our country every day. Their families give up a lot too. I don't mean to take away from them at all. To see this is just another example of what Bush & Co has done to them.

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana has announced that he will reintroduce legislation to create a medical registry for military personnel exposed to toxins. That's a vital first step towards discovering the full extent of toxic exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is critical to preventing a replay of the Agent Orange situation after Vietnam.

Every day we are finding other things that our troops have been exposed to. Burn pits and now power plants can be breeding grounds for toxic waste. One of the blogs I read and have been voting for is Army of Dude, and one of the things he has talked about is the filth he dealt with on a day to day basis while he was in Iraq. This week he was doing the 5 senses and how they reacted with everything.

Add your name to IAVA's petition, and tell KBR to come clean now.
Please take a minute and sign the petition and if you know someone who might be interested send it to them so they can sign up too. We need to protect our veterans and their families. They have protected us. They did their job. Now lets do ours.

Parts of this story was taken from a story in Huffington Post.

A new kind of president

Check it out for yourself just click here: Change.gov

We seem to have a new kind of president. Of course I and others thought he would be different. That's why we supported him, donated to him, made phone calls for him, went door to door for him and finally voted for him.

Of course it is early. Things could always change, but we are hopeful that it won't. And that is all we can do. So many people were hopeful 8 years ago that we would have a different kind of president. He promised to be a "uniter, not a divider", yet he wasn't really. But, this is not about that. This post is about PE Obama.

At his new web site you can see his entire plan. You can actually go there and put in your ideas, your suggestions, see his weekly address, see announcements, and meetings PE Obama has with other people and what they talk about.

It has a place you can put blogs up of your story, what you are struggling with that others may have suggestions to help you. A place you can write up your ideas and are asked for them many times. Even encouraged to give them. You can even apply for a job on the site, however be prepared, they received over 200,000 applications in just a few hours and only had 8,000 jobs to fill. So, I don't think the odds are very good in that area.

Each of the new members of the team as they are announced are introduced on this web site and a short bio is given along with a video of the intro. No matter how much rumor is out there about appointments I usually don't believe them until either I see PE Obama on TV or I see it there on the site.

This is part of the transparency PE Obama said we would have if he was elected. He has done well keeping his promises so far I believe. He also said all along that we would have a say in the running of the White House, that he wanted our ideas and our suggestions as to things we would like to see done. They have asked for suggestions about Health Care, the Economy, Veterans Affairs, and others are to come.

This is important to us all. We should all take the time to look at this and give our ideas and thoughts to PE Obama and his team. Lets all work together to make this difficult time better for all of us.

Here is the post I made on how the economic situation has effected me and my family:

"My son-in-law was out of work for 7 months until he finally went to work for a local sheriff's department as a deputy. Now they are trying to catch up and with 2 children in school it is hard for them. Now after purchasing uniforms for work he finds they are changing them all after January 1 and he has to spend over $1,000 more to buy all new uniforms again. So the money he spent on Oct. 1 when he went to work was for naught. In this economy this is hard. But this is how it works. __I live on SS. Disability, it isn't much but you have to make due with what you can. I tried to get assistance to make my rental unit more energy efficient. Because my landlord would not sign off on it, I couldn't get any help. This is not right and needs to be addressed. What is our recourse in this?? I can't afford to update my unit myself on my limited income, and can't get assistance without my landlords approval. __These are just some of the things people face every day. Home owners have all kinds of assistance available to them but renters are subject to their landlords and as such are unable to do much. Then add to that low income and it makes it even more difficult."

Emails from a friend.

Well today I got 2 emails from a friend. She is a Republican. Told me she was a fan of the Gov. awhile back. Thought she was the best person in the race. Her words not mine...lol She had also told me a few years back how great she thought President Bush was. Of course I expressed my dismay with him. We have been friends, well let me explain this a little.

I say friends, we are on line friends. We have never met face to face. We communicate by email. We have spoken on the phone, we planned to meet a couple of times but it just never worked out for us to get together. She lives in Florida and even when I was there it was still a couple of hours drive and it just never was convenient for me to get to her.

Anyway, we have talked for a long, long time. Well over 10 years, she has known I wasn't happy with, as I called him, her president for all this time. But even though I didn't agree with everything he was still my President too and I respect that. We have discussed it. We discussed my opposition to going to Iraq, she knew I didn't think it was a good idea, I never believed in it, never thought they had WMD's, never believed the story that they were involved in 9-11, never bought the whole story that Pres. Bush and Co. put out. But, what could I do, other than voice my displeasure as I did, often and loud...lol Even to my own daughter who also is a fan of the current President. But that is another story. So, my friend and I have agreed several times to disagree. Mostly we have gotten along pretty well. We just don't discuss politics.

We have an agreement or had an agreement, that we wouldn't send each other political emails, jokes and the like. Well for the most part things have gone on very well until today, when she sent me two. The 1st was to all who you think or know that voted for Obama. It is a letter about the Tax Revolt of 2012. Granddad's letter to his granddaughter.

Basically it says, that due to the tax increase they believe is coming their way they had to fire the Hispanic maid. They can't buy her (the granddaughter) gifts, give her handouts, all the thousands of dollars in food, housing, cash, clothing, etc, etc and they are just going to be next to living on the street themselves. Just because the granddaughter was one of the youth vote in the election who voted for Obama, she caused this. It is all on her head. So if she needs money for gas, tires, assistance for rent or anything else, call the switchboard at the White House and let President Obama help you out in return for your vote cause Grand is broke due to the tax increase.

So, that was the first email I got. Of course I was a little miffed to say the least. But I didn't email her back yet. I let it go. Just thought about it and went on. Thinking to myself about the economic situation we are in. Thinking about the deficit we are in right now. Thinking about the spending that has gone on over the last 8 years while the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has been there. But still didn't bother to send an answer to her email.

Then I thought about the war in Iraq, how many lives have been lost, the cost of the war, both human and money. The injuries and the soldiers who will suffer for the rest of their lives, the families who will care for them, the families who won't care for the ones that won't come home. I thought about my dad, my uncle and then my other uncle. Who all fought in WWII. Both my uncles were in the Navy, on different ships. Uncle Johnny a cook on an LST, injured, reported missing, awarded the purple heart. Came home with metal fragments still in his body. Died in the VA hospital in Wilmington, DE. Never got a dime of compensation from the VA, because they said he wasn't in a combat zone, had no proof of his injury, due to the fire at St Louis that destroyed all the records. He fought in the war, then fought for 60 years to get what was owed to him and died with it still owed to him. My uncle Fred, stationed in the Pacific on board the Saginaw Bay. He was in Seeadler Harbour when the Mt. Hood blew up. Injured his back, given a bottle of aspirin and told to come back if he needed more. But they didn't have time to write it up, he wasn't bleeding, they were trying to take care of the dying and the ones more injured. Now, he has had 4 back surgeries, has stomach problems from all the aspirin he took, yet because they never documented it he can get nothing. So, again, fought for his country, 1st denial, he wasn't in a combat zone. On board a ship, in the Pacific Ocean, the Saginaw Bay was awarded 5 battle stars for her service, yet he wasn't in a combat zone, they were at Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Leyte Gulf, and the South China Sea. Fight for your country then fight for 60 years to get what they promise you, to take care of you. This was a promise made by Abraham Lincoln.

My dad was in Europe. He finally got his 100% Service Connected Disability. He thought Mom would be taken care of after he was gone. Well, guess what dad, they changed the rules, instead of 5 years it's 10 now. so mom gets nothing. Again, he had to fight for almost 60 years to get his disability. But, he finally got it. How sad that we treat our vets so badly.

Then is when I got mad. At the bottom of this email was her signature. It is on all her emails, but today it just hit me really wrong. After complaining in this email about the so called raising of the taxes that might be done. Because with all that is going on that is not really even being discussed and really everyone grabbed onto that and it was really just letting President Bush's tax cuts expire. Big whoopee...3 whole % It was this that really set my teeth on edge.

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO GIVE THEIR LIVES TO KEEP US FREE!

How sad and pathetic is that? We are all for being patriotic and waving the flag and being all noble, but don't expect me to pay for it. Well who is supposed to pay for it then?? If not the wealthy or the most affluent, who, the Hispanic cleaning lady they are complaining about firing?? The granddaughter they are griping about helping out?? The student, the cashier at the gas station, at Wal-Mart, at Walgreen's, who???

These men and women who are fighting and the families who send them off without thought or pause, or without us even taking the time to consider what they are sacrificing. Oh sure we give lip service to it, but do we really think about it? Most don't, we take for granted what they give us every day. Just as we do our taxes. We don't think about it, and we won't think about it if they go up or even if they go down. Yes, we might notice it the first time. But, after that we won't even notice, it will become second nature and no one will even care. It is just something to gripe about, something to pick at like a scab on a sore.

The 2nd email soon. I promise....lol

This one is long enough