*update* president obama no longer wants wounded vets to pay their own way

You having fun quoting possibilities as probabilities?

Roscoe, you are not allowed to reference the most recent presidential administration, or you get called names by papa.

But, to answer you questions, the soldiers deserve better than how they were treated under George Bush.

I read about this a couple of days ago, and have been too angry to comment. The fact that it's even proposed is a disgrace.

No... this is what the article says:

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.

Lawmakers say they'd reject a proposal to make veterans pay for treatment of war wounds with private insurance.

But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

The groups also cited an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."

"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.

And, I agree, that if this is done, it is shameful, and against what Obama campaigned for. It appears that Obama is considering everything - including those options that are not popular to try and solve the muck we are in. If he goes down this path, I will be as outraged as papa and Q. But again, as with other posters, Papa has overstated the current case and undermined his argument.

Updated On: 3/18/09 at 11:10 AM

"third party collections"

did you even bother to read the article you posted?

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That pre-emptive letter led to a meeting with Obama and reps, which didn't turn out so well.

"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."
Link to full article.

shhhhh, q. do not speak ill of the king. you clearly just don't understand this. *sigh* typical american. obama knows what's best for you and in this case it's that you need to pay for it.

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I agree with everything YWIW said, aside from Papa being funny.

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"Roscoe, you are not allowed to reference the most recent presidential administration, or you get called names by papa."

Which, in my opinion, is valid.

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It's used to be some sort of honor, but now Papi just calls everyone names.

It used to be special.

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That trainwreck of a president has been out of office for scarcely two months. Getting mad at liberals for blaming him is hilarious coming from the conservatives who blamed this recession on JIMMY F***ING CARTER and wah-wahed about Clinton YEARS after he retired to Chappaqua - even blaming 9/11 on HIS administration's failures.

During the Clinton administration, we had a huge surplus - so much so that some economists warned us not to spend it too quickly.

That was our problem under Clinton.

Spending all our money TOO quickly.

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On a side note, I often wonder how different the Bush Administration's policies would have been with a different VP in office.

This was a pretty classy statement from W.

"CALGARY, Alberta – Former President George W. Bush, making his first public speech since leaving office in January, says he wants Barack Obama to succeed and that it's "essential" to support the new leader.

Bush declined to critique the Obama administration in Tuesday's speech, saying the new president has enough critics and that he "deserves my silence."

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama's decisions threatened America's safety. Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said he hoped Obama would fail.

"I love my country a lot more than I love politics," Bush said. "I think it is essential that he be helped in office."



W

Updated On: 3/18/09 at 04:31 PM