Supporting our Veterans.....??
One of the great things about America is that we can support our government, and in particular our President, but still be vociferously opposed to some of the things they [He] does. I think President G.W. Bush is doing a magnificent job on many fronts including strong action against terrorism and those who oppose our way of life.
However......there are some things that gall me and I don't mind telling the public that I think some mindsets and priorities need to be changed in the Republican led government. Today's focus is on the treatment of our Veterans and the fulfillment of our promises to Vets in trade for their service in harms way. Almost every Republican candidate in the State of Texas courts the Veteran's vote, promising in an orgy of patriotic flag waving to "honor our Vets" and "take care of our Vets". We recently elected a new congressman, who during a public TV debate not more than two months ago intoned, "we need to honor our commitment to the Veterans". OK Randy, here's your chance.
As pointed out in Joe Galloway's syndicated column, to put it succinctly, Vets are once again being given the short shaft. Veterans who complete a military career are promised a retirement stipend based upon their years of service and pay grade upon retirement. That is unless the veteran is disabled. Then the Vet will have his retirement pay deducted by the amount of his diability pay. This means that a Vet who is judged to be 100% disabled is entitled to only his disability and his retirement pay is negated. For many this means they take home less money monthly than if they had never been disabled in the service of their country.
For the record most legislators [82%] know this and had intended to rectify this injustice by approving a bill to overturn the military retirement/disability law. That is until now. Now the President's office conjectures that this would cost the budget billions of dollars over the years and is putting pressure on congress to table this bill. The pressure may work, George is a popular President and his wishes have been their commands.
I urge the President to think twice. Veterans are, by and large, a conservative voting group, they are his supporters. But as a Veteran myself, I remind George that this sort of treatment, trading veterans rights for dollars, has been going on for decades and we've about had it! And what does this tell our current troops in the "all volunteer" Army. It's a great career, just don't get seriously wounded!
One of the great things about America is that we can support our government, and in particular our President, but still be vociferously opposed to some of the things they [He] does. I think President G.W. Bush is doing a magnificent job on many fronts including strong action against terrorism and those who oppose our way of life.
However......there are some things that gall me and I don't mind telling the public that I think some mindsets and priorities need to be changed in the Republican led government. Today's focus is on the treatment of our Veterans and the fulfillment of our promises to Vets in trade for their service in harms way. Almost every Republican candidate in the State of Texas courts the Veteran's vote, promising in an orgy of patriotic flag waving to "honor our Vets" and "take care of our Vets". We recently elected a new congressman, who during a public TV debate not more than two months ago intoned, "we need to honor our commitment to the Veterans". OK Randy, here's your chance.
As pointed out in Joe Galloway's syndicated column, to put it succinctly, Vets are once again being given the short shaft. Veterans who complete a military career are promised a retirement stipend based upon their years of service and pay grade upon retirement. That is unless the veteran is disabled. Then the Vet will have his retirement pay deducted by the amount of his diability pay. This means that a Vet who is judged to be 100% disabled is entitled to only his disability and his retirement pay is negated. For many this means they take home less money monthly than if they had never been disabled in the service of their country.
For the record most legislators [82%] know this and had intended to rectify this injustice by approving a bill to overturn the military retirement/disability law. That is until now. Now the President's office conjectures that this would cost the budget billions of dollars over the years and is putting pressure on congress to table this bill. The pressure may work, George is a popular President and his wishes have been their commands.
I urge the President to think twice. Veterans are, by and large, a conservative voting group, they are his supporters. But as a Veteran myself, I remind George that this sort of treatment, trading veterans rights for dollars, has been going on for decades and we've about had it! And what does this tell our current troops in the "all volunteer" Army. It's a great career, just don't get seriously wounded!
