Bush threatens veto of VA budget increases

Folks, whenever you see those right-wing blogs with the flags and eagles, brimming with enthusiastic support for the troops, just remember this story. Bush is now threatening to veto an increase in veteran's benefits. The occupation that's costing the U.S. $2 billion a week is okay with Bush, but spending a maximum of $3.8 billion to "end red tape" and "increase disability pay" is just plain wasteful to the Decider.
The pathetic Republican practise of hiding behind the troops to sustain support for the occupation has been obvious for a long time now. If we criticise the "success" of the surge, then the troops will get "mixed signals" and get discouraged, or so we are told. Just as Bush constantly tries to associate any criticism of the surge as support for Al-Qaeda, likewise the right-wing constantly tries to portray those skeptical of reaching ever-lowering goals as somehow being "against the troops".
The irony is that we got into this mess, at least partially, because the Republicans wanted to fight a war "on the cheap". Now they balk at nothing when it comes to spending ever-increasing sums of money with practically no oversight on an occupation in which the goalposts seem to be moving away from us at a rapid rate. But they draw the line when it comes to spending money on injured soldiers.

full story here

White House Against Boosting VA Budget

Week of July 09, 2007

Moves in Congress to give the Department of Veterans Affairs as much as $3.8 billion more than the Bush administration proposed has drawn an indirect veto threat from the White House.

"If Congress increases VA funding above the president's request and does not offset this increase with spending reductions in other bills, the president will veto any of the other bills that exceed his request until Congress demonstrates a path to reach the president's top line of $933 billion," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
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Responding to shabby outpatient treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., a group of U.S. senators moved June 13 to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury. The measure would also expand medical care and counseling to family members and require better cooperation to end red tape for disabled service members moving from Pentagon care to that provided by the VA.

The measure would boost military severance pay for those rated with less than 30 percent disability and eliminate the current requirement that severance pay be deducted from disability pay. It would also set up Pentagon pilot programs that would give the VA a greater role in the evaluation system, a major shift in how benefits are administered.