American Legion commander “angered” after meeting Obama
posted at 7:00 pm on March 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Apparently, the Obama administration hasn’t backed away from its plans to start offloading costs for wounded veterans to third-party insurance, which will make acquiring such insurance nearly impossible. The commander of the American Legion emerged from a meeting with President Obama “angered” at Obama’s insistence on generating revenue from those who sacrificed for American security:
The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.
“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”
The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”
Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior officials from veterans service organizations joining the President, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group’s early afternoon conversation at The White House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the President earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part, ” There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”
The Obama administration explains that it wants private insurers who sell coverage to vets to pay their fair share, but there are two things wrong with that argument. First, the United States has a moral obligation to provide treatment for those wounded in the service of their country. That’s a commitment we make to the people who enlist in military, and should not get outsourced.
Second, vets with service-related injuries and illnesses can only get third-party insurance because insurers know the US will cover all service-related medical treatment through the VA. If the government reneges on that commitment, it will put insurers on the hook for veterans already enrolled — but it will make it a lot harder for the next set of veterans to get insured. It will also raise costs to the rest of the insured by those companies, when the burden should fall on all Americans equally.
If the country needs more revenue streams, it should find some other way to find them than the backs of our wounded veterans. They’ve sacrificed enough. Shame on the Obama administration for attempting to weasel out of our commitment.
Update: This Ain’t Hell wonders when General Eric Shinseki will resign in protest.
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As a senior, possibly facing medical rationing, and a Navy veteran, I am OUTRAGED by this development.
Our new allies, Iran, Syria, and Cuba, certainly don’t make their military take out private insurance, now do they?
March on Washington July 4!
Dhuka on March 17, 2009 at 1:25 AM
Ferris Doctrine might cause you problems.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_columnist_mikethomas/2007/04/should_astronau.html
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Hey, I wonder who will be on the Glenn Beck special this Friday?
Perhaps a few fellas from the American Legion? Call it “must see TV.”
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 1:35 AM
This latest tactic isn’t hard to figure out: he’s discouraging volunteers so he can institute the draft. In the modern age, a drafted military is far less effective at winning wars. (There are exceptions.)
Strategy: he’s trying to destroy America as we know it. Any questions?
baldilocks on March 17, 2009 at 1:38 AM
He has a cunning plan…
29Victor on March 17, 2009 at 1:49 AM
I knew from the get-go that Barry would mess with the military. I think it’s absolutely appropriate to zero-out all his political capital and treat him, henceforth, as a lame duck.
NA NA NA NA
NA NA NA NA
HEYYYY, GOOD-BYE!
Christien on March 17, 2009 at 1:49 AM
It won’t happen. Besides Murtha, not many hacks in the house would dare vote to pass this obscenity.
See if the MSM makes a story of this…Huh!
FOWG1 on March 17, 2009 at 1:50 AM
Typical Democrat “Hate-the-Military” strategy, which is, “Screw the Veteran.” Maybe they want to outsource our military defense to China, or something.
Viet Nam Veteran, 1966-7
DL13 on March 17, 2009 at 1:50 AM
If ever there was an issue to take to the streets over, for all of us who love our military, this is it.
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 1:53 AM
It’s just one more piece of the puzzle. Undermine the American economy. Undermine Americans’ confidence in the election system. Undermine our military strength.
He knows what he’s doing. This is all very deliberate.
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 1:55 AM
To me this reeks of a plan to dissuade people from joining the military. Obama wants potential recruits to think twice before engaging in a military career and this is I guess one way of doing it. I think in his woolly leftist mind, if he can only stop people from joining the military there will be no more wars….or something. You know the kind of sh*t that sloshes through the heads of leftists.
Sharke on March 17, 2009 at 2:03 AM
baldilocks on March 17, 2009 at 1:38 AM
nope, and anybody who is surprised wasn’t paying attention for the past year or more
it’s why I tried so hard to convince people to vote for McCain, and worked so hard to find things that I liked about McCain instead of focusing on the things I didn’t like….
it was McCain or Obama, and it was screamingly obvious to me exactly what and who Obama is well before Nov 2008
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 2:13 AM
I read DU from time to time, and there is more than one person there who believes we should entirely disband our military.
I don’t see Obama’s motives as benign, though. I’m sorry, but how stupid do you have to be to want to do this because you think it will end “war”? He’s not that stupid. There’s a method to this madness.
And, as a bonus, he can make private health insurance so expensive for everyone that no one will be able to afford it anymore, and he can force everyone onto sub-par government care.
I’m starting to think Obama might be the biggest mistake the American people have ever made. As much as I knew about him before the election, I had hoped it wouldn’t be so, but it’s harder and harder to be the slightest bit optimistic.
We have elected someone who seems to want to destroy us. God help the United States of America.
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 2:13 AM
I guess I sorta enjoy the irony of his saying that the gvmt can’t afford medical care for veterans but it will somehow be able to afford medical care for 300 million people.
sadly, it appears that the American people really are stupid enough to swallow the whole thing
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 2:14 AM
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 2:13 AM
Not to replay the election or anything, but:
There is one thing (especially) I wish McCain had not done, funky. I wish he had not told that crowd in Wisconsin that there was nothing to fear from electing Barack Obama. He was either not telling them the truth about what he thought, or he bought into the Obama myth himself.
He really deflated me when he did that. You can’t yell “Fight with me!” and then give the country over to a man like this.
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 2:17 AM
Oh yeah, the military will have to pay – but he’ll make damn sure any illegal female who shows up at the hospital to squeeze out a pup will get her bill paid.
I hate Democrats.
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 2:18 AM
.
Ca’ching!…
AZCON on March 17, 2009 at 2:23 AM
capitalist piglet on March 17, 2009 at 2:17 AM
yeah, there were lots of irritants, some before he got the nomination (OK, lots) and some after. but the contrast with Obama was just … no-brainer
funky chicken on March 17, 2009 at 2:23 AM
There is no way this will ever get pass the congress. Even Pelosi would probably vote against this. I don’t get it? It can’t be just anti-military lefty BS. Gutting the military recruitment efforts? Reversing policy so that he can say ‘he is on the side of the military man and will stand by him in his time of need after so much sacrifice….’ that sounds like typical obama posing and exactly what he is up to. The press will then fall in line and mention what a stand up guy he is. Political theater at its most cynical.
oldvannes on March 17, 2009 at 3:12 AM
Obama has a lock on worst American president in history. He is now working on worst leader in history.
Biden can’t be worse.
darktood on March 17, 2009 at 3:44 AM
Probing…
He’s aiming high, hitting fast and hard, obfuscating economic realities (thus creating unnecessary financial chaos); just to see what he can get away with.
He’s probing our weaknesses.
anuts on March 17, 2009 at 3:46 AM
I guess I sorta enjoy the irony of his saying that the gvmt can’t afford medical care for veterans but it will somehow be able to afford medical care for 300 million people.
sadly, it appears that the American people really are stupid enough to swallow the whole thing
In other words “if ya can’t afford medical care for 24 million veterans,
Hot TF are ya going cover 300 million!
DSchoen on March 17, 2009 at 4:29 AM
Obama is more despicable then I thought if he does this… and I think of a more politically suicidal move he could make. I’m actually happy he’s this stupid. he could do a lot more damage to this country if he were only a little more clever.
Karmashock on March 17, 2009 at 5:05 AM
That’s a pretty deep chasm. Well, it was a lot of guilt that got him elected, and they’re certainly getting their money’s worth in atonement. If he keeps going as he’s gong, there won’t be any money left, at all.
No question. And he’s a natural-born American, at least.
He’s pushing everything hard and fast, I believe, because he’s racing against the clock. I think that he always knew it was only a matter of time until he’s acknowledged to be a total fraud by enough people to get the SCOTUS to become more scared of leaving him in than of having the cities burn, and they will declare natural-born to mean a US citizen from birth, and never anything but a US citizen (which is clearly what the Founders had intended by ‘natural-born’), and thus toss him out. I think that he’s just trying to do as much damage as he can before this happens, and he won’t let up.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 5:23 AM
If this one doesn’t raise the ire of the American people, we are truly lost as a people! Barry just doesn’t get to fuck around with our Best and Brightest! He just doesn’t get to do this!
sabbott on March 17, 2009 at 5:46 AM
Just sent an email to my idiot Senator here in MN. Told her that I would much prefer to see members of congress pay for their health insurance before wounded members of the military if they need the $500 million that bad!
sabbott on March 17, 2009 at 5:56 AM
Or, he’s discouraging volunteers so that we don’t have a military period. Either way, he’s destroying America. What a surprise.
Wonder how much longer ’til he’s impeached, anyway? Counting down the days…
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on March 17, 2009 at 5:57 AM
God Almighty! This Obama plan is so wrong on every level. If anything, do MORE, not less, for the wounds our troops suffer in service to us.
This is another means to dissuade from voluntary military enlistment. Obama wants to reinstate the DRAFT, irony of ironies for his youthful supporters dreaming of unicorns forever.
WHAT OF THE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PLAN? Obama won’t even deal with the obligations that our Government already has. Is this what really comes of Obama’s government health care for those in need, particularly our Veterans, that come tomorrow, it just isn’t there, no matter what hype.
REPEAL? Of all the welfare benefits enacted for loafers bred on the dole, Mr. Obama, apply your required 3rd party government reimbursement plan on WELFARE RECIPIENTS first.
Make the President and Congress pay for their own insurance benefits to reimburse ALL that which they’ve established for themselves to enjoy.
It can’t merely be a moral obligation, but legal as well, for our government to provide medical benefits to our military. What did the Department of Veterans Affairs have to say as well? There is legislation on the books enacting the care that America is honored to provide our troops.
And dealing with more insurance required, is this Obama’s way to revitalize AIG? Stranger than strange. Obama is transforming all of our government business into Fascism, not merely socialism, but that blend of business incorporated into government which we fought to conquer in Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy.
maverick muse on March 17, 2009 at 5:58 AM
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 5:23 AM
From your lips to God’s ears.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on March 17, 2009 at 5:58 AM
There’s only one way this could pass and not be a horror and that’s if Obama’s healthcare reform bill ALSO passes, because that bill doesn’t allow health insurers to exclude people for pre-existing conditions. Health insurers are pretty evil and, in my mind, there’s no question they’d exclude vets for pre-existing conditions if all VA health insurance was run via private agencies. But in a world with healthcare reform I’m OK with it.
DeathToMediaHacks on March 17, 2009 at 6:01 AM
Just checked out the comments at Blackfive.net – this is going to be a big deal. Incredible overreach.
zeebeach on March 17, 2009 at 6:01 AM
My 5:57am comment meant that he wants us defenseless when we are attacked. He wants the death of America.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on March 17, 2009 at 6:04 AM
From the frying pan into the fire.
maverick muse on March 17, 2009 at 6:11 AM
Sire: the wounded veterans are protesting in the streets.
King Obama: Let them eat kobe beef and arugula!
shick on March 17, 2009 at 6:23 AM
Can a private company do this? If an employee is injured on the job can an employer shirk basic workman’s comp rules and put the health care cost off on the employees regular insurance plan? So if Obama does this to the military, why couldn’t he do this to Federal Agents and why can’t private companies follow suit?
BrideOfRove on March 17, 2009 at 6:40 AM
Obama is destroying this once great nation and is now attempting to throw our brave soldiers out in the streets so he can pay off his parasitic constituents and left wing supporters. Why should any young man or woman commit himself or herself to military service when the government they served will eventually betray them? I never in my lifetime thought I’d see this happen in this country but I was wrong. Why should we have any faith in a country that betrays those that offered their lives to defend it? This Marxist regime is causing the country to rot from the head down and nobody has the courage to fight to stop it.
rplat on March 17, 2009 at 7:04 AM
I prefer to use the term, “eviction” because, technically, we are his landlords and the thought of him being tossed out on his butt and publicly mortified is so beautiful, I can barely stand to think about it for long.
Ah, but, back to our chloroform-soma reality.
Mommypundit on March 17, 2009 at 7:05 AM
Well, if you think that healthcare costs are high now, just wait until you see how expensive they are when it’s free! :)
AW1 Tim on March 17, 2009 at 7:26 AM
It was just a couple of weeks ago that every news network showed BHO telling a bunch of troops that he was going to give them a (unspecified) pay raise, which got him an enthusiastic response.
That announcement turns out to be just like Judas’ kiss.
jgapinoy on March 17, 2009 at 7:30 AM
I don’t understand how ACORN can get BILLIONS in federal aid, but those who defend our country can fend for themselves.
loudmouth883 on March 17, 2009 at 7:30 AM
I know many Republicans or moderates look at Rush Limbaugh, Seah Hannity, or Mark Levin as kooky, extreme, exponents of hyperbole, or as Steele called Rush incendiary.
I would call Levin disparaging, Limbaugh provocative, and Hannity relentless, but they have all been vindicated, which irks their opponents to no end.
For months all of them through their unique presentations have tried to make the point that Obama was dangerous (Sarah Palin also called Obama dangerous), the he was at a minimum a socialist who believed in expanding the government’s role in people’s life and at maximum a Marxist socialist and an Alinsky disciple who seeks to transform the complete American society where all political, economic and social actvity is coordinated through the federal government and that Obama is ruthless, merciless and is determined to get his agends implemented.
The 20% of so-called conservatives who crossed over and voted for Obama actually were the ones who gave us Obama. I hope you folks are happy now that plans are currently in the pipeline to deny veterans the rights they have always expected and deserved from the American government on behalf of the American people.
technopeasant on March 17, 2009 at 7:42 AM
This has probably already been mentioned, but Barry’s going to have to come up with thousands of these stupid schemes to generate enough money to repay the trillions in bailouts. Maybe he will alienate all of his lemmings before he’s done.
txsurveyor on March 17, 2009 at 7:42 AM
OK, we all know bambi is a socialist. my brother, retired 20-yr Army, calls him a Communist. But:
why would bambi want to rile up the military? maybe those in uniform can’t comment/protest (can they even write to their Congressman?), but retirees will get really hot over this. why stir up this hornet’s nest? why mobilize this group? Personally, I would want no others on my side first, than retired US Military.
kelley in virginia on March 17, 2009 at 7:53 AM
It requires some extreme behavior to counter the ineptness and insanity of the current Marxist regime.
rplat on March 17, 2009 at 8:00 AM
The only restrictions on military personnel, is that they cannot actively participate in political campaigns while in uniform. I have known serving officers who were also elected to their town council, but they never appeared in uniform during their campaigns, or while conducting town business. Likewise, you can’t put up political posters, buttons, etc, in your military office, or other official places, vehicles, etc.
However, your car is still your property, and I have seen many vehicles in base with political bumper strips.
The military is, by design, non-partisan, which is why it’s oath is to the Constitution and not the president. However, you don’t really give up any of your rights when you enlist.
respects,
AW1 Tim on March 17, 2009 at 8:07 AM
They told me it was free for life when I enlisted. When I became a veteran, they said “Surprise!” Now that it’s means tested and I have to show them my income, I can’t afford it.
THANK GOD I didn’t get hurt and I don’t need it, but my heart goes out to those of you who do.
Mr. Grump on March 17, 2009 at 8:12 AM
hold on. obama is for privatizing veteran’s health care, while conservatives are for gov’t spending instead? pinch me.
but then i see that:
sesquipedalian on March 17, 2009 at 8:13 AM
hey Ed, way to cherry pick, again (what, no London tabloid headlines today?)It was very easy to find many, many examples of cuts to the VA budget under Mr. Bush. Likewise, many examples of his budgets increasing funding to our veterans in other years. I am not defending Obama or this action (please), but if he were to increase the VA budget, it wouldn’t get a mention by you. Your posts are increasingly one-sided. I guess I should look elsewhere for unbiased opinion (like huffpo? lol)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062301888.html (2005)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062800545.html (2002)
http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/www.democrats.org/pdfs/veterans_bush_record.pdf
http://irregulartimes.com/solvingveterans.html (2002)
http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=12&release_id=11526 (2008)
greataunty on March 17, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Since when did private insurance companies begin covering
“war-related” injuries???
gary on March 17, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Forgive me for saying this, but you are an idiot.
ladyingray on March 17, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Discourage opposition minded people from serving and diminish their voices?
Itchee Dryback on March 17, 2009 at 8:20 AM
gary on March 17, 2009 at 8:16 AM
That’s the thing. All Major Medical and Supplemental Insurance Policies have an Act of War Exclusion in the policy. They do not pay for injuries received in a war. I am a Supplemental Insurance Agent. I know.
kingsjester on March 17, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Whats the expiration date on that proposal?
Itchee Dryback on March 17, 2009 at 8:28 AM
as soon as they understand that gov’t is not the answer. oh wait…
sesquipedalian on March 17, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Yes they do, but most “service-connected” maladies are NOT suffered in battle.
If you are playing touch football and blow out your knee, it’s “service-connected”. Why should the feds pay for that into perpetuity?
Separate out the battle wounded and have the football injuries and falling off the barstool injured, pay for themselves, just like they would in any civilian job.
NoDonkey on March 17, 2009 at 8:36 AM
Silly person. Just who do you think is their employer? Do you think people are entitled to contractual agreements?
And yes, as this should clearly demonstrate,government is indeed the problem.
anuts on March 17, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Impressive research. You may want to check into the About section of this site. I see the word Conservative, not Indie or Two-sided.
As for the story, hello, it’s unprecedented for a presidential admin to attempt to outsource health care for its wounded vets, don’t ya think? Couple that with the American legion head’s justified outrage (a high profile person) and you have news story gold. Regardless of what aisle you’re on, it is a veritable news worthy piece and one worthy of discussion as evinced by the number of comments. So stop complaining and whinin’ already!
RepubChica on March 17, 2009 at 8:48 AM
I’m sure that somewhere in these hundreds of comments someone must have said this:
Hussein is not simply trying to find his 1/2 billion on the backs of current US Mil, but to destroy any future US Mil. Who would enlist knowing that he’ll need some huge and expensive health insurance policy? A policy filled with so many exceptions, loopholes and very tiny print that only a lawyer would love. Especially considering that the enlistee will have to give up his “free” Hussein care.
That a man who is the CIC would seek to destroy the health care of the very troops he commands for a few bucks, speaks of a man who would cheerfully impose Draconian measures beyond mere taxation on the citizens he represents – if he thought it would gain a few more dollars to squander on his cronies.
Like I said before, all this will end in blood… lots of it.
Friendly21 on March 17, 2009 at 8:50 AM
what part of
HE HATES THE MILITARY
don’t you understand!!!!!!!!!!!
High commanders are questioning Obamas eligibility now and Justice Roberts his reading the complaint.
Can we say COUP.
Mercy4Me on March 17, 2009 at 8:52 AM
You are SO right.
+10
Oink on March 17, 2009 at 8:52 AM
And they wonder why he gets a tepid response.
Is this something Congress would have to pass?
ctmom on March 17, 2009 at 8:53 AM
“By placing the burden of fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”
It is now very clear that Obama has no conscience.
COMRADE OBAMA IS A SOCIOPATH.
Gulf Coast on March 17, 2009 at 8:54 AM
The vast majority were never “wounded”, “service-connected” merely means that the injury occurred in the line of duty.
Translated: as long as you were on active duty and not drinking/driving or something else wrong, it’s “service-connected”.
If an active duty service member blows out his knee walking down the street, it’s “service-connected”. Guys who do this can get a disability check for the rest of their lives. If you blow out your knee walking down the street in your civilian job, do you get a check the rest of your life?
Of course not. It’s reasonable that if a guy like this has private insurance, that they pay a portion of the cost.
The confusion here is that people think “service-connected” means “wounded in battle”. It doesn’t, necessarily. I agree that service members wounded in battle shouldn’t pay a dime.
But a guy who trips on a sidewalk? His insurance company can pay a little.
NoDonkey on March 17, 2009 at 9:06 AM
This president is despicable. Health care for all right, except the veterans whose shoes he is not fit to tie.
Willie on March 17, 2009 at 9:16 AM
This makes me so angry, what have we done to our country. This sham of a president…I am so mad I can’t even put it into words. He has proposed a lot of stupid things but this enrages me as much if not more than his baby killing tendencies.
midwesternperspective on March 17, 2009 at 9:18 AM
just shows that obama the stupid is liberal SCUM. He is a POS!
NRA Lifer on March 17, 2009 at 9:21 AM
OK, I shoulda left “wounded” out of that sentence. Cover ‘em all, all the time. Even if he trips on the sidewalk somewhere in Spokane, WA (even drunk). I wouldn’t bat an eye as a taxpayer nor begrudge them this. Evah. Take all the bureaucracy out of vet care. God Bless our military!
RepubChica on March 17, 2009 at 9:25 AM
I am glad to cover all medical costs for soldiers. Illegal aliens, not so much. I suggest we stop treating illegals for free, and use the money to treat vets.
Vashta.Nerada on March 17, 2009 at 9:43 AM
As I have mentioned on previous posts, my rhetorical question “who will join with BHO as Commander-in-Chief” becomes closer to becoming a prophesy fulfilled. I never imagined this, even from “The One”. What is his real end game?
diogenes on March 17, 2009 at 9:53 AM
I’m sure, in reality he didn’t. However, that’s what ACORN is for. They can create votes out of thin air, saying they are from any voting block they desire.
Time to overthrow the turd in the White House. Tea parties are too civil at this point. Too much is at stake here.
ErinF on March 17, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Well, I don’t like socialized medicine any more in the military, then out of it.
When I left active duty, I was told so many times to make sure I went to the hospital, took all sorts of tests, just to make sure there wasn’t anything I could get “compensated” for.
I also heard of many guys who doctored their medical records in order to go back to the VA in future years and get rated for disability.
I really think that those guys wounded in battle deserve anything we can give them. But there are too many non-wounded in battle vets, who play on sympathies and game the system in order to get more than they’re due.
There’s no free lunch and resources will always be limited. If you weren’t wounded in battle, you’re getting treated at the VA and you have private insurance, your private insurance should pay.
NoDonkey on March 17, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Aren’t there quite a few injuries associated with training and accidents?
a capella on March 17, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Husseins numbers are cratering, but he doesn’t care. However if there is a national emergency and he needs soldiers to back him up, he will have some issues…
dogsoldier on March 17, 2009 at 10:21 AM
If there is can only be one thing that illustrates the abject immorality of liberals, this is it.
notagool on March 17, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Beautiful, I can’t wait to see what sort of healthcare Obmama has planned for the rest of us.
gwelf on March 17, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Is an insurance company evil because they have to be careful not to overextend themselves to avoid bankruptcy? It’s an outrage that our veterans aren’t getting treated for war injuries – and this is why it should be the VA’s job to do it: the VA shouldn’t have to worry about staying solvent because we as citizens should pay to fund the VA whatever is required to care for our soldiers/veterans. To put this burden on private companies and not expect them to avoid going bankrupt is ludicrous – otherwise were talking socialised medicine instead of ‘insurance’ (where everyone is covered and those who happen to not be using health resources are expected to carry the financial burden of everyone else who is).
gwelf on March 17, 2009 at 10:37 AM
True, but there are both practical reasons this is a bad idea, and symbolic considerations that make it an outrage. From a practical standpoint, the military has a vested interest in keeping its soldiers fit and ready for duty at all times. Forcing them to pay for supplemental insurance adds layers of expense and complication to this goal. How do private insurance companies get an agent over to Iraq to investigate a claim, when an off-duty Marine blows out his knee while walking down the street? And haven’t we already seen, through our experience in the private sector, how dramatically the reliance on “insurance” to cover health care costs distorts the medical process? It seems likely that imposing private insurance requirements on active-duty personnel will increase the overall cost of health care and reduce its efficiency, the same way it’s done in the private sector, while shifting these increased costs to the soldiers instead of having the government pay them.
The larger context of this little scheme is what makes everyone so angry. If Obama was proposing this as part of a sweeping reform of government expenses, after shutting down dozens of useless federal agencies and chopping hundreds of billions off the bloated federal budget, it would go down a little easier… but, of course, the exact opposite is happening. The budget is exploding, with insane amounts of madcap deficit spending added to an already bloated government. The military is the only agency of the government expected to make do with less – the only place Obama can find a single dollar to cut. When you see one kid at the dinner table forced to survive on cold rice and stale bread, while his twenty fat siblings feast on suckling pigs and stuffed turkey, it’s natural to feel angry on the skinny kid’s behalf… especially when the skinny kid has to finish his meager dinner quickly so he can pick up his rifle and trudge back out into the wild, to defend the family.
Doctor Zero on March 17, 2009 at 10:39 AM
…I’ve waited to cool down about this outrage before commenting on it…for fear of blaspheming uncontrollably….
…first of all, Eric Shinseki — the guy who thought that he could boost morale in the army by giving everyone a cool hat that none of ‘em know how to wear properly — is widely regarded by the rank and file as a boob. Period. Now, he’s a political boob, in an administration filled to overflowing with buffoons too self-fascinated to see beyond the ends of their pert little noses.
Secondly, your first point:
…absolutley bang-on.
Speaking stricly politically (which means that I’ll have to wash my hands after typing this, as one must after taking a crap), tickling around with veterans benefits in the face of the hyper-organized and almost instantaneously rouse-able veterans interest groups, from the Legion to the VFW to the Purple Heart boys, is suicidal. Doing it to save a few paltry quid, even in the tough economic times (that Obama’s boys are milking like a Jersey cow), is just plain stupid…it looks petty in the extreme….
…and, if they proceed, the commercials showing wounded vets sounding off will be hard to watch.
Speaking as a citizen, a veteran, the father of veterans, the husband of a veteran, this only confirms what these vermin currently resident in the White House so ideologically driven that they are completely out of touch with the people they bamboozled into voting for them. As with the Clintons, they’re great at winning elections, but absolutely tone-deaf in governance.
If this newest Obama scheme guarenteed that our wounded vets got better care, more easily, with more freedom of choice on an open medical market, I’d have an Obama sticker on my truck today. But, we all know what is intended, don’t we.
Veterans — seeing as the newest batch are from an “unpopular war” — are expendable. “They’re probably all Republicans anyway” is, I’m sure, the excuse at the watercoolers in the offices along Pennsylvania Avenue. As such, the reasoning continues, they have no rights worth considering.
Knowing this is why veterans stick together.
Puritan1648 on March 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM
No free lunch? If you’re wounded in training or in performance of duties? Hey Donk, on a previous thread you were pushing for soldiers to pay their own freight even on combat wounds… sounds like you’ve scaled back. Obama sure hasn’t changed his mind, he’s not limiting this to non-combat wounds. Do you disagree your hero?
Every vet I know will hear about this. Between them, their families and friends, the next congressional elections should be interesting.
Consanescerion on March 17, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Umm….
That’s not true. “service-connected” means your injuries occurred in the line of duty, not just “walking down the sidewalk” while on active duty. It means you were injured while doing what the military ordered you to do. I know of two fellow veterans who were injured while on active duty, but not in the performance of their duties who were rated by the VA as disabled, but NOT service connected. They don’t get a pension, nor any sort of compensation. One of them DOES get medical treatment through the VA, but he is required to take a means test, as every veteran is, to see how much, if anything, he should pay towards his treatment.
Keep in mind, what Obama is talking about is “service connected”. That means injured in the line of duty, not just while ON active duty. Those veterans who turn to the VA for medical assistance for non service-connected health issues are already required to inform the VA of any health insurance, and undergo a means test as a part of their application for assistance.
Let’s not get lazy with the facts here.
AW1 Tim on March 17, 2009 at 10:45 AM
And as a disclaimer, I receive a pension for having a “service-connected” injury. I wasn’t shot up in combat, but I was an aircrewman with the Navy, and injured in a helo accident. I had spinal and leg injuries and have undergone multiple surgeries, plus other procedures to deal with side-effects of the treatments I was given. However, according to “NoDonkey”, my injuries shouldn’t be considered as “service-connected” because they didn’t occur in a war zone or in combat.
Screw you, dude.
AW1 Tim on March 17, 2009 at 10:54 AM
If Obama wants to increase revenue or decrease spending I have an idea for him: don’t give Palestinians $900 million. ‘We’ can’t fund the VA to the tune of $500 million but we can hand out $900 million to Palestinians – I hope people are noticing this administrations priorities.
gwelf on March 17, 2009 at 11:01 AM
gwelf,
excellent suggestion.
Dr. Dog on March 17, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Amen. And I’ll add a BIG FU to the corruption infesting the Black House (built by Whitey). All of them.
/Not a vet, but a very pro-military citizen who just cannot believe the crap emanating from the pie-holes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Maybe residing on a street named after a state with all those bitter Bible and gun clingers is just too much for Chicago Plastic Jesus.
RickZ on March 17, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Obama seems to be doing everything he can to try and weaken the country.
Lets not give wounded Vets treatment so that many quit and others won’t join, thus weakening our military and leaving us open for failure.
Who is this putz working for anyway?
Rbastid on March 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM
…and here, in addition to the Obama administration, we have another species of idiot.
…the military is a very strenuous experience…done right. It’s very loud, the hours are awful, and the “workplace” varies in climate and terrain…sometimes from hour to hour.
…it’s often just as dangerous in peacetime as in wartime. They’re asked to perform “training” parachute jumps, any one of which might might prove fatal. I did 97 of ‘em, and knew a guy who was catapulted into eternity on what would otherwise be a “milkrun” jump, performed “Hollywood” (without any equipment but the parachute) from a helicopter. I knew plenty of others who blew out knees defying gravity in this way. But, I’m sure that your excuse is that airborne duty is “voluntary”…so you only have yourself to blame. Is that it, spunky?
Kids as young as 18 are given enormous responsiblities tending aircraft in the most dangerous workplace on earth, the deck of an aircraft carrier…which fly missions in wartime and in peacetime. Even in wartime, they may never get closer to an actual engagement with pointy bullets and the like than hundreds of miles away, floating on the nearest obliging body of water. They get hurt, lose levels of hearing, and are disabled — aged beyond their peers in civilian life — as a result of their service.
Rather than limit benefits to our service personnel as this meat puppet suggests, because “resources will always be limited”, I’d expand it to those of other professions in service to the greater good. I’d love to see states and counties have to budget for the service-related disablilities incurred by police, fire and EMT officers, including paying generous premiums when they’re killed in the line of duty. In many places in the country, death is as much a workplace event for a police officer or fire fighter as it is for a soldier…look no further than the casualties on 9/11.
We’ve cycled a lot of folks through their time in uniform in the last 50 years. Some were drafted, some volunteered. Some, like guys I was privileged to know, volunteered and volunteered until it was impossible to get any closer to the tip of the spear, training and training until they could kill you with a c-ration spoon of a bag of powdered c-rat cocoa (as the old saying went in those circles)…and who never heard a shot fired in anger. Still, they aged before their time, bent and bruised…it’s a great life, and it has compensations, but it also has a cost.
…and their readiness to be hurled into unthinkable situations was never tested.
We Americans owe our service personnel something…and it isn’t to find a cheaper way to shuttle them off into oblivion…what’s being suggested is akin to pushing the gurney of an incovenient patient into a dark hallway until they can be gotten to at the staff’s leisure. All to save a few dollars…so we can pay ACORN salaries, making it possible for them to defraud future elections…or finance moral outrage masquerading as art through to NEA.
…let the NEA, ACORN, the teachers unions, and other such vermin learn from their media outlet, public television. Let ‘em hold telethons, and have very sincere horsey women and metrosexual men interrupt “Faulty Towers” to flog coffee cups and calendars in exchange for “supporting the agenda of the Left”.
…and let’s then turn the budgets and “stimulus” money earmarked for them over to the VA…for our heroes….
Puritan1648 on March 17, 2009 at 11:14 AM
The issue of neglecting veterans is nothing new. Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about the penniless and beggared veterans of the “Light Brigade made famous by Tennyson’s poem:
AW1 Tim on March 17, 2009 at 11:14 AM
…I didn’t read this before posting my reply to that skinbag…yours is much more eloquent.
…thank you for your service, my brother.
Puritan1648 on March 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM
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