The Speech

Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed
--Nobody Told Me, John Lennon

Yesterday, 1/10/09, GWB gave The Speech. In it, he committed U.S. soldiers to continued expectation of death and disabilities.

But instead of that speech, I'd like to address the speech that is the mantra at DVA Outpatient Clinics throughout the land. The spiel which veterans receive whenever a clinic cannot meet a need is, "You must understand our problems!"

In "Overdue Spending Bill Falls Short" (Dave Autry, DAV, Jan/Feb 1007), it is reported, "Only once in the past 12 years has the VA's appropriation been enacted before the start of the new fiscal year." As of now, the 2007 DVA budget has still not been approved by Congress.

There's a phony war going on killing and maiming GI's every day, but DVA funding is a lower priority than funding jobs for Iraqi citizens. This suggests that the war is more important than the warriors.

Incidentally, the budget request was $79.5 million less than the VA's true needs for care for sick and disabled vets. As a result, Congress is considering imposing additional fees upon veterans.

Ranger's position is that the fees imposed on veterans are a tool that enables the administration to make up funds, while at the same time granting tax cuts to the rich and super rich. For example, travel pay to VA facilities for attaining required care was cut from 35 cents per mile to 11 cents in 2001. This is the same time frame that saw the first Bush tax cuts benefiting the wealthy.

Following are some relatively minor recent problems which I've confronted at my local VA clinic, but they are indicative of systemic failures.

Our local clinic cannot seem to keep a dentist for longer than a sneeze. In short, a 100% disabled service-connected vet cannot get mandated dental care without traveling 100 miles to the next nearest dentist-serviced clinic. However, this care is seldom available due to overcrowding of the facility there.

This is during the same period that the DVA is reported to send dentists to Iraq and Afghanistan for civilian care on mobile dental missions. So the DVA can fund and provide dental care to foreigners, but can't do so reliably to vets. Thanks for your service.

Another time a medical test was scheduled 19 moths out (first available.) Then it was canceled, and set back another 5 months.

I know these two examples pale in comparison to the multitude of horror stories which exist out there. But as examples of routine roadblocks, can this possibly be what is considered the best health care available for our veterans? Bear in mind that I am a priority 1 vet. So what treatment do priorities 2 through 6 get? Whose priority takes priority in this system?

Generally, I have quit reading the DAV, VFW, American Legion, MOPH and VVA publications in order to avoid the depression that these sheets invariably bring. My new policy is to share these stories here.