People are underestimating these Buy-Outs of Disabled Veterans

[Monkeyman]

Politically-stacked Vets' Commission looka at lump-sum buyouts of veterans disability payments.

Fiscal conservatives called David Stockman "The Budget Wiz" and rallied round his concept of a smaller government which was enshrined in his phrase, Starving the Beast" Stockman was Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan Adinistration and is well -remembered for labeling military retirement pay as "scandalous," calling it a danerous drain on the economy. Stockman then proposed lump-sum buyouts of military retirement pay because he deemed it less expensive to pay once than pay for life. (He even toyed with the idea of buyouts for Social Security payments)

Stockman's buyouts never happened but his cost-cutting ideology lives on today in the person of arch-conservative Grover Norquist who urges the current administration to get government " down to the sixe where we can drown in the bathtub."President GW while spending hundreds of billions on the war in Iraq,is echoing the Stockman/Norquist mantra.

President Bush often speaks of controlling spending on entitlement programs and lumps Medicare,Medicaid and Veterans benefits under the "entitlement umbrella" by consistenly using them in the same sentence.This campaign of disinformation is used to sell the concept that three programs are some sort kind of welfare,are out of control. and therefore should fall under sharp budget knife. This ignores the reality that Medicare is an insurance program and veterans disability compensation is provided to those who have been wounded or injured while serving the Country.

http://www.vawatchdog.org

Guys Larry Scott is speaking out for all of us in this Country. Bush needs to go Now

[sarcasmo]

1. Kick and Nom. These corrupt Bastards will put the Veterans, Disabled and

the Elderly out on the street, all in the name of smaller Government. The average person could not manage their finances with a lump sum buyout.

[rubberducky]

2. What????? Buyouts for "our heros" ,but....

what about all the bennies for the congresscritters in retirement??? Makes me sick to my stomach!! We need a definite "housecleaning"!

[Turbineguy]

3. What about the President?

He can serve one term and pick up a nice retirement. Is Bush looking to economize there too?

(Is there a rhetorical question smiley?)

[Benhurst]

8. Our lords and masters deserve only the best -- and they've seen

to it that is exactly what they are getting.

A pox on them all!

[napi21]

4. Rarely is a buyout to the advantage of the worker/soldier.

Unless you already have a nice nest egg, the buy out sounds like a LOT of $$, but it disappears very fast!

I haven't read this offer. What is it supposed to cover? If there's even a mention of health care....RUN AWAY FAST!

[alfredo]

5. They don't want to bear the responsibility for all those

disabled veterans they made in Iraq.

[oscar111]

6. RECOMMEND button is at bottom of orig post. Please click it

T

[Jo March]

7. As a disabled vet, I can say that this is sickening

A lump sum? What about medical coverage for the disability? Does taking the lump sum mean that you give up your right to have medical coverage for your service-related disability?

This is insane. Veterans will end up in the gutter and this administration won't care one bit.

[Cha]

9. george fucking bush and his henchpuppeteers

are milking the teat of our US Government and driving it into banckrupcy. Anybody think about THAT? And killing people in the process.

[mopinko]

10. .