Obama wants to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance
I'm betting many of you were wondering how the Obama administration is going to come up with all the money to cover the largest budget ever seen. Something along the order of 28% of the gross domestic product, which would be the highest seen since World War II.
Well, we already know he is going to increase taxes on families making more than $250,000 a year. That should bring in around a trillion dollars. Of course, this money is money that will not be spent by those particular wage earners, it will be spent by those who apparently can spend it more wisely - those folks sitting in Washington D.C. Increasing taxes for small businesses will help in paying the way for this government expansion. Unfortunately, that will have a negative impact on hiring additional workers, business expansion, and product development. And let us not forget, the $170 billion a year we will not be spending in Iraq. Obama counts that as going towards debt reduction. Still waiting to hear the potential costs of the Afghanistan escalation that is not factored into his figures.
There is another way Obama is looking at in achieving this debt reduction - and that is cutting certain elements out of the budget. In his "not the state of the union address", President Obama stated, ""My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs. As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time. But we're starting with the biggest lines. We have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade." Of course a few days later a senior administration official acknowledged that the budget does not contain $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. He went on to say the figure actually came from tax increases and the future Iraqi war savings.
However, this gem was uncovered as part of a budget cutting process.
According to CNN, "Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance." Found within the budget plan was an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something that could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.
Fortunately, cooler heads are prevailing in Congress. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington said, "the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress". Murray went on to say,"I believe that veterans with service-connected injuries have already paid by putting their lives on the line, I don't think we should nickel and dime them for their care." This sentiment seems to be shared among Republicans and Democrats alike.
Eleven of the most prominent veterans organizations including; The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have been lobbying Congress to oppose the idea. In a joint letter to the president they stated, ""is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much." Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.
I'm pretty confident this bill will never see the light of day. What appalls me though is it was even thought of! Soldiers injured in the performance of their duties and the President thinks the bill should be paid be the soldiers private insurance. Personally, I know of no soldiers who have private medical insurance. And I am not convinced private insurers will pay for injuries incurred in the military once the soldiers tour of duty is completed and he/she is working for a civilian business.
But this concept, this idea, tells you where the heads are in the Obama administration. What they are thinking. And just how little they think of, understand, or appreciate the military or their sacrifices.
I can be E-mailed at outrider@ohnoanotherconservativeblog.com if you have suggestions, questions, or would like to see a particular story written.
Obama thinks he was elected as the president of France.
/someone's got to pay for it and he's got a lot of catching up to do
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What Obama wants....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BkKtPCTrg4&feature=channel_page
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I do see your point, but still ... Obama is the best thing that could happen to america.
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You just keep chanting that particular mantra. It might get you over some of the hard times coming. It goes down real easy with kool-aid.
Most people would spell America with a capital A. Interesting.
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What are the things need to do while starting an insurance policy?
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We all better start the change we can all believe in process. When it comes to this Administration I can almost believe anything everyone better get used to slogan and philosophy there is people with rights and people with responsibilities.
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This would be a major hit for the private insurance companies. Service related injuries can be quite costly and they will surely increase the cost of the insurance policy.
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