Buyer calls for limits to VA care

[AgadorSparticus]

<snip>

Associated Press
January 12, 2005

Incoming House Veterans Affairs Chairman Steve Buyer said not every veteran should have access to the VA system, which should focus its limited financial resources of serving its "core constituency" of disabled and indigent veterans.

Buyer, responding to concerns that some veterans organizations have raised over the direction of federal funding for programs, criticized some leaders of those groups, without naming them, for engaging in partisan politics and promoting a national health care system.

"They have a belief that everyone should have access to (the) VA system," Buyer said today during a news conference at the Indiana War Memorial Museum in downtown Indianapolis.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/208839-4528-093.html

[Spinzonner]

1. While we're at it

why not cut off politicians' access to the military health care system.

They can join the HMO's and hassle with gatekeepers like the rest of us slobs.

[leftofcool]

2. Excuse me, Steve................

ALL Veterans are entitled to the VA system...............such as it is.

Left of Cool

[indianablue]

9. Not so..

you still have to pass a means test...I am vet and in order to get VA health i have to qualify for HUD.

It the Clinton years you could but it was changed I think after the right wing take over.

I could be wrong but I do not think I am.

I have health insurance with my employer so I am sure I would to qualify I would not take it even if i could because I have insurance already.

[leftofcool]

11. Allow me to re-phrase this...............

ALL Veterans SHOULD be entitled.................

Left of cool

[indianablue]

12. before Clinton......who the Military hated..

You had to serve twenty years, be in war, or get hurt in order to receive health benefits.

[mcscajun]

3. I just Know this guy's got a "Support Our Troops" magnet on his SUV

bastard.

[radric]

4. This guy is going to be real popular.

If they serve they should be eligible.

[mcscajun]

7. "To care for him who shall have borne the battle,

and for his widow and his orphan."

Nothing in there says "...but only if he's disabled and/or indigent."

[mslux]

5. Buyer is a Reserve Officer

Send him to Iraq.

[AgadorSparticus]

17. i agree. ship his ass there pronto....

this pisses me off to no end.

[Orsino]

21. Can't imagine any troops...

...would be glad to see him.

[salin]

25. a Reserve Jag, if I recall

not likely to be in any combat situation. Perhaps he would be put to use defending the actions and fraud of the CPA?

[bluestateguy]

6. Just watch. When the draft comes back they won't get equal access

This is just setting up to make it harder for soon to be conscripts to get the same access to the VA.

[BlueCollar]

8. Maybe he'd like me to give up

my rights to be be buried in a military cemetary as well?

I'm sorry, but this does not sit well with me...

[MADem]

10. "They have a belief that everyone should have access to (the) VA system,"

WTF??? A BELIEF??????

It is part of the goddamn PITCH, fachrissake. It's one of the BENNIES of enlistment. How DARE he???

This is outrageous, egregious, and entirely unacceptable. I am REPULSED!!!!!

Fuck him, and the horse he rode in on!

[tsuki]

23. Oh, but the official explanation is...

Draft Personnel promised enlistees entitlements that the enlistees were not eligible for.

They misconstrued the military policy to make quotas.

So, the military lied, the politicians did not.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. How .... How ...... HOW ...... HHHOOOOOOWWWWWW do ANY

military active duty, vets or retirees support this fucking administration? HOW?

Many of my brothers have been homeless walking zombies since Vietnam and even before. Every fucking time a Republican administration gets in they pump up the arms and high tech budgets but the soldiers, sailors and airmen get diddly fucking squat.

Every FUCKING time they talk about things that affect the **individual** its a fucking INSULT.

GAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[MADem]

26. They DON'T

Look, everyone needs to understand something. Military personnel understand very clearly the chain of command. They understand that one CANNOT say anything in opposition to the Commander in Chief without being subject to sanctions under the UCMJ. Silence, in this case, does NOT imply consent.

The poor brainwashed bastards who are interviewed on TV are vetted. The Public Affairs or Public Information Officers limit access by the press, handpick the interviewees, and they get a good talking to before they go before the camera. The embedded reporters are NOT going to screw the pooch by fomenting dissent behind the lines--otherwise, they will never be asked back and their networks will fire them for messing up the relationship.

I've tried to say, again and again, on this forum that ALL MILITARY DO NOT SUPPORT THIS DICKHEAD. I know quite a few who don't--they are all my friends and shipmates. I was rather stunned to see a few fellows I worked for up on the stage at the Fleece Center during the Democratic National Conventiona, in fact. Had I known they were Dems (and I was convinced that at least one of the bastards was a diehard rightwinger when I worked for him) I would have worked a little harder!

[Eurobabe]

14. ANYONE who serves this country

deserves VA benefits. Nuff said. Comes with the package.

Christ, they think they can't get people to enlist now, WTF is the incentive with limited or NO benefits?? Oh, how silly of me, it's called the DRAFT.

[Ironpost]

15. So now they are going to take my V. A. access away.

I spent 15 months in viet-namn and didn't use V A until I was 54 years old. I had DVT and they treated me very well, no problems. When I enlisted in july of '67 I was promised health care for the rest of my life. I've worked since I was 13 years old and never had Insurance so it was not a worry for me because I have the V A. I work in construction and very few offer insurance. Actually myself and the V. A. entered into a contract at my enlistment, so please don't tell me the new Chairman wants to take that away... Bastards I say

[ignatius 2]

29. Thanks for your service Ironpost. I imagine you see a lot of similarities

in Iraq to what you lived through then.

Let your friends know about what Buyer(as spokesman for Bush and his neocon buddies) is trying to do. It would do my heart good to see a group of Vietman Vets on TV telling their brothers in arms about these dicks. Does Max Cleland know about this?

[Ironpost]

38. being lied to why we must do this,

we must stop communism, we have to draw a line, it is for the sake of our country. The most important thing is it was a lie then and it is a lie now. Most of all, to you my friend, Thank You, David

[Skittles]

32. just curious

when you use VA how do you prove you're a veteran?

[Ironpost]

33. dd 214 original copy

That you must covet, as it is hard to get a replacement, it is an offical record of your service.

[Skittles]

34. alas my original is gone (fire)

I did register it but they say they don't have it. Is it impossible to get a replacement?

[Ironpost]

36. I believe it is posible

but it will be a long hard fought battle. In knowing what I know today concerning the hard liners in the White House, I would say to start today in obtaining the replacement, and expect to be discouraged the whole journey. Perserverance is most important. Don't give up the good fight my friend. Maybe start at the court house records and go from there. We must never give up.

[MountainLaurel]

37. Try here

The National Archives is now responsible for military records:

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/veterans_service_records.html


http://www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs/

Good luck in your search!!!

[MADem]

39. YOU WRITE TO ST. LOUIS, they will SEND YOU A REPLACEMENT

Requesting Copies of Military Records (Including DD Form 214/215)

Requests must contain enough information to identify the record among the more than 70 million on file at the appropriate Center. The Center needs certain basic information in order to locate military service records. This information includes the veteran's complete name used while in service, service number or social security number, branch of service, and dates of service. Date and place of birth may also be helpful, especially if the service number is not known. If the request pertains to a record that may have been involved in the 1973 fire, also include place of discharge, last unit of assignment, and place of entry into the service, if known.

The SF 180, although not mandatory, is the recommended method to send a request for military service information. This form captures all the necessary information to locate a record. Provide as much information on the form as possible and send copies of any service documents that you may have.

Requests may also be submitted as a letter, containing the basic information listed above. For those records at the National Personnel Records Center, mail the completed SF 180 to:

Records Center
(Military Personnel Records)
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100

http://invsoa.homestead.com/DD214.html

[haele]

45. Hmmm - did you go through records or through the VA?

The VA reqires that you apply at the VA center in the County of your residence at the time of discharge. For those in the Navy, that means county of your home port or FPO/APO center. Of course, VA service quality ranges free depending on the county you were discharged from.
Your other option is to try the National Archives - they have a request form that goes directly to BUPERS records of retirees. My father was able to find his CANG records and discharge from 1963 there, so you might have better luck.
The online veteran's records section of the National Archives can be found here -

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs/index.html

Good luck. You might even want to order a wallet-sized copy (a couple of retired co-workers have done this) to keep in your home safe or in a safety deposit box. If you don't have a copy of your service records (as you're supposed to get when you're discharged), you should also get a microfiche copy, which you can order from both the Archives or through the VA.

Haele

[Orsino]

16. I was just thinking to myself...

"How can the VA be made to serve fewer veterans, and to offer fewer benefits?" Thank you, GOP!

They found their Uncle Tom, all right--one of their few veterans <http://stevebuyer.house.gov//biomil.htm>--to answer the musical question: how low can an officer go?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

18. Oh there is no limit to how low an office can go, trust me

I was just thinking how did he, as a Lawyer, get a Bronze Star for coordinating treatment of POW's?

Anyone know?

[DrZeeLit]

19. Wait... you think he's acting alone? No way... all those idiots who never

served are running this scam.
And we know their names.

I see a major protest march shaping up.
Let's try what the Vietnam Veterans Against the War did.
Somebody ought to get fired up right about now.
The numbers of amputees and disabled from the current idiotic war would make a great visual parade down the mall, wouldn't it.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

20. Oh, no, I am sure this is orders from der Fuher....

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Paper cut while filling out a courts martial

[AmandaRuth]

24. ya think Rush will be talking this issue on the armed forces radio?

ya think? Maybe? It could happen. It might.

not.

[ignatius 2]

27. Goddamn, do these bastards know no shame? I keep thinking that nothing

else they say or do can shock me, then stuff like this crap is said.

Sign up boys and girls,give years of your life away while your rich little playmates are getting their degrees and making those all important connections so you can come back to nothing. Unless,of course, you get messed up pretty bad, then you just might get some of those VA benefits.

God, my head is spinning..thi reads like bad fiction but it is really happening.Damn.

[mbperrin]

28. This is a total disgrace.

I did not serve. My grandfather did, my father did, and my son is now. Every single person who serves deserves care for the rest of their life, period. They all put themselves at chance of peril, whether that peril came or not.

If we're going to have a means test, I'd suggest repossessing Crashcart's pacemaker installed at government expense! I have a different priority!

Really trying to be calm, but I really am going to do something about this.

[eagler]

30. National Guard troops already have little

or no access to the system

[MsMagnificent]

31. More of the Bush version of *Supporting Troops*

and they still vote for him.

Simply amazing.

[TOhioLiberal]

35. This is outrageous!

All Vets should have access to the VA! And these people (Repubs) have the GALL to say that we don't support the troops!

[raysr]

40. My care through

the VA isn't from a military disability, this would take away the only health care I have.

[NuttyFluffers]

41. it is now the civilians' turn to fight, this time for our troops.

this is unreal, but it means that the progressive movement must work harder for our troops, they are our fellow citizens and our defenders. right now they are being abused beyond the pale and only we can fight for them here.

we need to slam this into the face of hypocritical supporters of the troops. magnets and ribbons are not talismans or substitutes for real effort in helping our people. i need to contact my representatives and rattle them with outrage at this statement. we need to find a way, one active and one passive, to shake the hubris out of this guy.

... can someone find out any of this chairman's economic allies? can we find a phone tree to spread this insult like wildfire to whip up moral outrage?

this abuse must be stopped, and it's our civilian fight to shoulder.

[Benhurst]

42. Let me propose something really radical: All Americans should

have decent health care, like people do in all the other industrialized nations in the world.

World's Only Superpower. Yeah. Sure.

[HuckleB]

44. Radical, man. Radical!

Indeed.

Salud!

:hi:

[HuckleB]

43. Sheesh.

Hypocrites United just keeps getting bigger and bigger every day.

:eyes: