DNC:
New Poll Shows GOP Broken Promises Hurting Our Troops
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following release
was issued today by the Democratic National Committee on a recent
poll by VoteVets.org:
At a time when our nation is asking great sacrifices of our
brave men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new poll
indicates that too many have not received the resources they
need and were promised. According to a poll released this week
by VoteVets.org Action Fund, 42 percent of the veterans who served
in Iraq and Afghanistan reported receiving sub-standard equipment
while on duty. Close to two thirds believe the wars have left
the Army and the Marine Corps overextended at this time. This
follows the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which found
that the President's approval rating has fallen three points
to 40 percent and "46 percent of registered voters believe
the war in Iraq has hurt the United States in its ability to
win the war on terrorism." (MSNBC, 10/3/06)
The VoteVets.org Action Fund poll also makes clear that, for
many of the men and women fighting to defend our freedoms, their
service has come with great sacrifice for their families. It
found that 32 percent of National Guard and Reserve veterans
said their families experienced economic hardship as a result
of their service, while 79 percent of all veterans of the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan said that National Guard and Reserve
veterans should receive the same access to Tri-Care as the men
and women serving on active duty. Instead of expanding the program,
the Bush Administration's budget cuts would drive a million veterans
off Tri-Care by hiking premiums and co-pays.
"Despite the president's rhetoric about supporting our
brave men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush
Republicans in Washington have not kept their promises to them
or their families," said Don Fowler, co-chair of the Democratic
National Committee's Veterans and Military Families Council.
"With so many giving so much in defense of our freedoms,
the president and Congress have a solemn obligation to keep our
promise to the, to our veterans and military families. It is
time for a new direction for America, one that honors our soldiers
and veterans by fully funding veterans' health care programs,
and making a commitment to never again send troops into harms
way without proper body armor."
The following is a fact sheet on the Bush Administration's
failure to stand up for our veterans:
The Bush Administration: Bad for America's Veterans
Health Care and Long-Term Care
Bush Proposed $10 Billion in Veterans Health Care Cuts Over
Five Years. Over five years, the budget cuts funding $10.0 billion
below the level the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates
is needed to maintain purchasing power at the 2006 level. Almost
all appropriated funding for veterans goes to provide medical
care and hospital services. (House Budget Committee, Democratic
Staff; 3/21/06)
Bush Tried to Impose New User Fees and Double Prescription
Drug Co-Payments For Veterans -- Driving 1 Million Veterans Out
of the System -- For Fourth Year in a Row. For the fourth year
in a row, Bush's proposed 2007 budget would more than double
the co- payment charged to veterans for prescription drugs and
would require some to pay a new user fee of $250 a year for health
care. Bush would also increase the co-payment for a month's supply
of a prescription drug from $7 to $15. Veterans' groups said
that at least 200,000 veterans would be driven out of the system
entirely, and this would cost veterans remaining in the system
more than $2 billion over five years. (Budget of the US Government,
2/06; House Budget Committee, Democratic Staff; 3/21/06)
Bush Blocked Access to VA Health Care for Some Veterans for
Third Year in a Row; Over 500,000 Locked Out of System. In 2003,
the Bush Administration also suspended new enrollments by veterans
in Priority Group 8, the one with the lowest statutory priority.
This group includes veterans who are not being compensated for
a military-related disability and who have "higher incomes,"
generally about $30,000 or more. The administration estimates
that 522,000 veterans will have been turned away by the end of
Fiscal Year 2005 as a result of this ban. (Defense Link, 1/24/03;
Senate Democratic Policy Committee, 3/17/05)
Bush 2007 Budget Cuts Medical and Prosthetic Research. The
budget cuts medical and prosthetic research by $13 million below
the 2006 enacted level. Among the R&D activities within this
program are efforts to help new war veterans -- to improve treatment
of post traumatic stress disorder, blast-related injuries and
Gulf War related illness. (Budget of the US Government, 2/06;
House Budget Committee, Democratic Staff; 3/21/06)
Bush 2007 Budget Cuts Funding for Nursing Homes; Leaving 28,000
Veterans Without Care. Despite growing demand for extended care
in VA nursing homes, the administration's budget request cuts
$351 million from nursing homes by serving 28,000 fewer veterans.
It also would significantly limit assistance to states, by cutting
state nursing home grants from $114 million to $12 million. This
cut would place the burden of extended care almost completely
on resource-starved state governments. (Senate Democratic Policy
Committee, 3/17/05)
52,000 Veterans on Waiting Lists Nationwide; Veterans Groups
Believe Number is Understated. As of third quarter 2005, VA reports
that 52,000 veterans are waiting to receive care at VA facilities.
However, independent groups believe that "the accuracy of
reported veterans' waiting times and facility wait lists is undermined
by variability in VA's compliance with outpatient scheduling
procedures." (The Independent Budget, FY2007)
Facilities Are Falling Apart and Veterans Must Wait Months
or Appointments. While Nicholson said VA health care has not
diminished, critics say otherwise. They point to a system already
in disrepair in which veterans must wait months for appointments
or surgeries. At the White River Junction VA Medical Center in
Vermont, three operating rooms were closed June 27 because of
a broken heating, ventilation and air conditioning system that
had not been repaired because maintenance funds were used to
cover the budget shortfall. San Diego VA Medical Center has delayed
filling 131 vacancies on it staff. The VA medical center in Portland,
Ore., is delaying non-emergency surgery for at least six months.
"Right now, medical facilities are literally falling down
around their patients," said Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin.
(Navy Times, 7/18/05)
Tax Hikes for Military Families
Bush Budget Refused to End the Disabled Veterans' Tax. The
president's budget fails to repeal the Disabled Veterans Tax,
which forces disabled military retirees to give up one dollar
of their pension for every dollar of disability pay they receive.
The budget continues to require nearly 400,000 military retirees
with service-connected disabilities to continue to pay the Disabled
Veterans' Tax. (Office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi,
2/06)
Bush Budget Failed to End the Military Families' Tax. The
Survivor Benefit Plan penalizes survivors, mostly widows, of
those killed as a result of combat. These individuals lose their
survivor benefits if they receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
benefits because their spouse has died of a service- connected
injury. The president's budget forces these 53,000 spouses to
continue to pay this unfair tax. (Office of House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi, 2/06)
Bush 2007 Budget Increased Health Care Tax on Military Retirees.
The president's 2007 budget also increases health care enrollment
fees and deductibles for military retirees under the age of 65,
saving $735 million for 2007, and $11.2 billion over five years.
Over two years, this proposal triples fees for retired officers
and doubles them for senior enlisted retirees. For junior enlisted
retirees, fees will increase more than 40 percent over two years.
(Budget of the US Government, 2/06; House Budget Committee, Democratic
Staff; 3/21/06)
Botched Response to Data Theft
Officials Kept Worst Breach of Government Data Ever Secret
for 19 Days. Authorities waited almost three weeks to alert the
public that personal data on more than 26 million U.S. veterans
had fallen into the hands of thieves, a government source said
Tuesday. The computer disk (that was stolen) contained the names,
Social Security numbers and birth dates of every living veteran
from 1975 to the present, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson
said Monday. The theft has been described as the worst breach
of government data ever. (CNN, 5/23/06; New York Times, 8/6/06)
Veterans Administration Offers to Monitor Credit; Then Renegs.
Initially, VA Secretary Nicholson said the credit monitoring
was part of his agency's effort to atone for the ''terrible,
unfortunate, regrettable'' data loss that appears certain to
cost taxpayers much more than $20 million. However, once the
data was recovered, the VA dropped the service. ''We are outraged
that the administration would renege on its offer,'' said Bob
Wallace, executive director of Veterans of Foreign Wars. ''There
is no 100 percent assurance that the laptop was not compromised.''
(New York Times, 6/22/06; New York Times, 7/19/06)
Second VA Laptop Missing. "The VA reported that a desktop
computer had disappeared (containing) unencrypted information
on up to 38,000 patients at the medical centers, including their
names, addresses, Social Security numbers, insurance information
and claims data. Local police, VA officials and the FBI were
investigating the disappearance, which Unisys had reported to
the VA August 3. In recent weeks, the VA has also acknowledged
losing sensitive data for more than 16,000 veterans in at least
two other cases in Minneapolis and Indianapolis. (Facts on File,
8/10/06; AP, 8/9/06)
------
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrats.org This communication is not authorized
by any candidate or candidate's committee.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
|
