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Again Rick, I see you here slamming Bush Administration and using the Veterans to do just that...

I proposed to you on the other pic forum to stand up and be heard with your jibberish slander and write your congresspersons and again here's the link to Make a Difference Voice your Opinion There Way!!!!

http://www.vfwdc.org/NLS/1legishomepage.htm

And if you feel you cannot do this then Shut the Hell up because your no different the the turncoats closing their eye's to the Veterans

Hog

If you're really not just blowing Internet smoke and are willing to take action and throw out politicians over this single $1.8 billion dollar issue in the proposed budget, good for you. I support you and any effort to throw politicians out. Change is good.

You need to start with the US Senate since they haven't approved it yet and won't until September. If they change anything at all, the whole thing goes to committee for resolution before it ever gets to Bush's desk. You can't wait until it is just a giant bill for which Bush gets to vote yes or no, you have to start writing your senators now. Keep in mind, every other special interest is doing the same thing so you'll need to be forceful and persistent. Its OK to want more and its OK to throw politicians out for not providing it. Remember, since only a few Democrats voted against it, you'll need to throw them out as well. Get the voting record, it is published.

Just for your reference, here is the press release from the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations from July 21, 2003. You can find this and much more at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.


"Taking Care of Veterans:
Provides $27.2 in total budgetary resources for the Veterans Health Administration, a $1.4 billion increase over last year and approximately the President's request. For first time the bill categorizes funding for medical care by providing separate appropriations for the various components of the Veterans Health Administration budget. The largest component, $15.8 billion, funds medical services for veterans with service connected health needs. The second largest component, $5.1 billion, is for VA's medical administrative costs. The bill provides the following for the remainder of the Veteran's Health Administration budget:
$4 billion for VA medical facilities;
$2.2 billion for medical care for non-service connected veterans, offset by $1.5 billion from the Medical Care Collections Fund.
Does not contain the additional fees proposed in the President's budget.
Increases veterans medical and prosthetic research by $11 million over FY03, bring FY04 funding to $408 million.
Fully funds the Administration's request to expedite claims processing at the Veterans Benefits Administration bringing total FY04 funding is $1 billion.
Fully funds the President's request for the National Cemetery Administration, bringing FY04 funding to $144 million, $12 million above last year's level.
Fully funds the President's request for Veterans State Extended Care Facilities bringing total funding to $102 million, $3 million above last year's level."


Just for comparison purposes, here are a few other budgets as proposed:

Housing and Urban Development: $37 Billion
Environmental Protection Agency: $8.8 Billion
NASA: $15.5 Billion
National Park Operations: $1.6 Billion
Bureau of Land Management: $0.8 Billion
Indian Health Service: $2.9 Billion
Bureau of Indian Affairs: $2.5 Billion
Wildland Firefighting: $2.5 Billion
FBI: $4.6 Billion
Drug Enforcement Administration: $2.2 Billion
NOAA/National Weather Service: $3 Billion
Federal Judicial System: $5.2 Billion
Foreign Military Financing to Egypt: $1.3 Billion
Foreign Military Financing for Israel: $2.2 Billion
Economic Assistance to Israel: $0.5 Billion
Department of Energy: $22 Billion
Department of Agriculture: $17 Billion
Child Nutrition: $11 Billion
Nutrition-Women, Infant, Children: $4.5 Billion
Food Stamps: $27.7 Billion
Food and Drug Administration: $1.3 Billion
Labor, HHS, Education: $138 Billion
Homeland Security: $29 Billion
FAA: $14 Billion
Highways: $33 Billion
Defense Appropriations: $368 Billion
Further broken down as:
Missle Defense: $8.9 Billion
Special Operations: $4.6 Billion
Shipbuilding: $11.5 Billion
Chem and Bio Defense: $1.3 Billion
Personnel: $98 Billion (Includes 4.1% pay raise)
Operations and Maintenance: $115 Billion
Procurement: $74 Billion
Reseach and Development: $64 Billion
Defense Health Program: $15.6 Billion

Regardless of Republican or Democrat, putting together a Federal budget is not an easy task. Just move money from one bucket to another until everyone is happy! It is just a bigger version of the California budget game.

Now that you've become an activist, happy hunting and good luck with your lobbying efforts. I hope I've steered you in the right direction. Remember, every lobbying group wants more so the fight isn't easy. There is not a single lobby that will ever admit it got just enough funding and that they are content. That admission would put the lobby group out of existence. That includes every veterans association, police, fire, environmental, education, health care of all kinds, military, etc. Are these veterans associations wrong? No. Are these veterans associations right? No. They're trying to get what they can get just like everyone else. Remember, there are a lot of non-military and non-veterans who are getting burned by the rising costs of health care. This is not a veterans only issue. We are all sharing that burden, and lobbying to get the burden reduced.

By the way, we only got $48 million for Everglades restoration and we're not going to stand for it either.

All sources are cited in paragraph three.

http://www.house.gov (US House of Representatives)
http://www.senate.gov (US Senate)


Another interesting one is:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

But NEVER, NEVER try:

http://www.whitehouse.com (An adult site)

...More later.

A few billion here, a few billion there.... before you know it, you're talking about real money!

This is the sad but true state of affairs in American politics. EVERYONE is standing around with their hand out. That does NOT include those of us who want more of our money BACK from the government. It's like a neutron star collapsing under its own weight. The bigger it gets, the more it sucks in, the more it sucks in the bigger it gets...

I firmly believe our federal government will be this country's undoing. It may happen in my lifetime, or my son’s, but it will happen.

The sad fact is the title of a Van Halen song “Everybody Wants Some”. People could give a rats ass what it does to you, me, the military, our deficit, or anything else, they just stand there with their hand out saying “GIMIE GIMIE GIMIE” like a petulant child at the candy store, they refuse a negative response, stomp their feet, and demand “MORE” and they’ll continue to do so until they get it.

If they don’t get it from the current bunch of thieves, they’ll get it from the next… I apologize for the fact that this loquacious rant paints pallor on the future of this once great nation. Every dog has its day, and we’ve had ours. This country is on a highway to hell, and it’s going down… And it's not the Republicans, or the Democrats, it's everyone, and the beast won't be satiated until it's had it's fill on you and me…

Robby

"I firmly believe our federal government will be this country's undoing. It may happen in my lifetime, or my son’s, but it will happen"

i agree with what you said. i wish it were not true, but it is getting closer to the end every year.

that doesn't mean i am not a patriot, that i dislke this country. it means i am sad. we could have been a contender.

Sorry X, tennis was cut from the federal budget. It is a lean year.

Steve,

If you go to www.house.gov, there is a pull down menu near the top of the page for all committees' web sites.
For a broad overview of the budget, try the "Committee on the Budget" and then click "Congressional Budget Resolution" on the right side of the page, or:

http://www.house.gov/budget/congbudget.htm

From there you'll see a variety of topics related to areas of the budget.

Click on "Veterans" for a summary or:

http://www.house.gov/budget/04brbveterans.htm

One thing I failed to mention is the $27 billion number I cited for veterans was the discretionary portion, that which congress can change and generally is for health care. This is the portion at issue with wanting an extra $1.8 billion dollars. There is another mandatory portion for an additional $33 billion that congress can't touch. The mandatory portion is retired pay and pensions. All total $70 billion.

Now the press release will tell you the the discretionary portion of the veterans budget is increased by 10.7% over last year. That sounds great and I would strongly suspect it is one of the largest increases in the entire federal budget. That makes me think that this House of Representatives is very much pro-veterans. Then I take a step back and remember that the cost of health insurance for the miscellaneous company that I work for went up by 25% this year, like every year. That cost was passed on to me just like spiraling health care costs are getting passed on to veterans. Now I think we do need to get that $1.8 billion back in their budget just to stay even. We'll need it again next year. I hate when there are two sides to the story, absolutisms are so much easier.

That was the easy part. I think that with the issue taken in a vacuum, everyone in the country and all members of the senate and congress will be in favor of it. I can't recall an elected official taking a position of anti-veteran, pro-crime, anti-environment, or anti a lot of other issues. Now we have to find the money from someone else's budget. Now it just got tricky. I bet every department could make just as compelling an argument for an extra $2 billion, and I would agree with all but it might just not be practical.....That's where the 535 elected officials in the US House and US Senate have to make the hard choices.

We get to those elected officials through professional lobbying efforts. Granted, probably every organization out there looking out for a special interest has many wonderful volunteers doing a great job at something they feel passionate about. They also have professional lobbyists. That simply is how the game is played. I am a cash contributer to some of the very organizations that Rick's article mentioned so that they can go out and lobby for the extra $1.8 billion or even more. I've been a military brat much of my life and am a product of the military health care system. To give you an idea of where I stand, my father came home from a year in Vietnam with two Purple Hearts but, not disabled. Therefore, I contribute to the Disabled American Veterans. Not because my father was disabled, but because he wasn't. I was more fortunate than other kids.

To sum it up, I will not crucify the house, senate, or president over any single budget issue taken out of context of the entire federal budget. I am completely in favor of increasing the VA budget but I withhold final approval until I know what other budget was cut to pay for the increase. Saying the VA budget needs another $1.8 billion is the problem. Saying where the money is going to come from is the solution...Nobody is offering the solution. They're leaving it up to the 535 elected officials to figure it out.

As a mock solution, let's cut the $2.7 billion we give to Israel each year and transfer it to the VA. I would argue against this.

How about closing the National Park Service? That doesn't sound good.

How about a 25% cut to the EPA. It would be hard to sell that as pro-environment.


(All other sources can be found by using the same pulldown menu and selecting "Committee on Appropriations". Click on "News Releases" on the left side of the page and you'll get everything for the year or:

http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news.htm

Every budget number number I cited can be found in these releases. Look for titles like "Full Committee Approves..." They are by department so there are a number of them)

Here is the HUD/VA and this like all the others only covers discretionary funding, not mandatory funds.

http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04vafull.htm

Others:

http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04infloor.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04fopsub.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04cjsub.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04defull.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04agfull.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04lhfull.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04hsfull.htm
http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04hsfull.htm

...Just a quick follow up.

Two thirds of the federal budget is tied up on mandatory funding requirements. Congress cannot touch these. The remaining one third is what is open for appropriations debates every year.

The bulk of the mandatory fundings are:

Transportation: $46 Billion
Health: $190 Billion
Medicare: $262 Billion
Income Security: $273 Billion
Social Security: $496 Billion

Also, in the previous cited budget numbers, I forgot to mention that Egypt gets another $575 million in economic assistance. That brings Egypt's total to $1.875 billion dollars. Rick want $1.8 billion for veterans. Maybe this could be the solution? I probably would argue against this one as well.

Robby,

You are in denial.

I'm not goinng to bite down on a Sinai pill over it.

usahog

even if we disagree, you never have to defend youself. your take on anything is yours and is good as many and better then most.

"What does this have to do with the Troops? My medical benefits are just fine."

What about the Vietnam Veteran who came home hearing impaired? Should he have to wait two years for a hearing aid, even though his disability is service connected?

who exactly are we talking about, here?

We're talking about Veterans' health care.

Here's an introduction from Rick's first post to the thread:

Veterans plan to exact action at polls

GOP-led House reneges on pledge to pass $3.2 billion for VA medical care
WASHINGTON -- Veterans are condemning House Republicans' failure to deliver a $3.2 billion boost for the Veterans Affairs Department that would have shrunk the agency's waiting list for medical care.