Dr. No's Disregard For Wounded Vets

[babylonsister]

Has "the media" even mentioned Coburn and the fact that he's holding this important bill up?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020993.php


DR. NO'S DISREGARD FOR WOUNDED VETS.... A Senate measure to help wounded veterans is on the verge of passing, and that's clearly a positive development. There's just one problem.

The urgently needed legislation consolidates more than a dozen improvements in veterans' health care -- most notably a new assistance program for family members who wind up providing lifelong home nursing to severely disabled veterans. These vital caregivers -- who sacrifice careers and put huge strains on their own mental health -- assume an obligation "that ultimately belongs to the government," Senator Daniel Akaka, the bill's chief sponsor, properly notes.

The measure also expands benefits for women veterans who suffered sexual trauma on duty, extends veterans' care in rural areas, tightens quality control at V.A. hospitals, and ensures that catastrophically disabled veterans will not be charged for emergency services in community hospitals.

Sounds great, right? Senators seemed to think so -- it sailed through committee with unanimous support. But it's currently stuck, because right-wing Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma refuses to let it advance. As he sees it, the five-year, $3.7 billion price tag for the veterans' program is too high a price unless it is offset by budget cuts elsewhere.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) noted the strange standards Coburn applies to these spending bill -- Coburn doesn't care about paying for the war itself, but he balks when it comes to caring for the vets when they come home. "Where was he when we were spending a trillion dollars on the war in Iraq?" Reid asked. "That wasn't paid for. I didn't hear him stopping the bill from going forward at that time. I think he should become more logical and understand we have people who are suffering."

Or as the NYT editorial put it this morning, "Sheer embarrassment should drive the senator into retreat as he trifles with veterans' needs and burnishes his petty role as Dr. No."

I'm also reminded of something House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said just a year ago, "{T}here is a clear distinction between saying you support the troops and backing up those claims with genuine action."

A variety of veterans' groups have organized an effort to urge Coburn to let the Senate vote on the benefits bill. VoteVets.org has posted an online petition on the effort.

—Steve Benen

[LLStarks]

1. Came into this topic expecting Ron Paul. How disappointing. nt

[Ilsa]

7. Me too. I'm in Dr. No's district here in south Texas. I hate that

there is a second one out there screwing around with healthcare for veterans.

[dgibby]

2. As a veteran myself,

I'd like to have 5 min alone with the asshole who unrec'd this post. I'd have a few choice words that should only be spoken in private.

I've already signed the petition; hopefully, Coburn will get enough pressure to relent; otherwise, he should be shunned by his colleagues in a most public way.

No one person should be allowed to hold up legislation like this. It smacks of dictatorship with the emphasis on "DICK".:grr: :nuke:

K&R

[Altoid_Cyclist]

3. I negated the Unrec. I still think that some people just get their kicks by hitting the Unrec.

The only question that I have about Coburn is whether he's:

A. Completely insane or
B. Completely evil

[atreides1]

6. Insanely Evil?

Why can't he be both?

[Altoid_Cyclist]

13. I thought of that after I posted, but I didn't know if the legal system

automatically rules out evil if insanity is shown to be present.

Either way, Coburn is a disgrace to the country and to the people that he represents. I guess that someone had to replace Rantorum in the sickest _ _ _ hole in the Senate role.

[bullwinkle428]

5. The trolls on this site aren't even making that much of an effort

to "camouflage" the content of their posts these days. :mad:

My dad was a veteran, and was helped GREATLY by the VA as his health was failing over a course of years through the '90s...not sure how my Mom could have taken care of things without their assistance otherwise.

Hopefully, there are enough of us still around that can marginalize these pathetic little fuckers with recs of our own!

[StarfarerBill]

4. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines...

...like all other workers in our glorious capitalist utopia, are expendable, nay redundant, once they've performed their function as grist for the profit-making mill.

[Greyhound]

8. +1

[Crunchy Frog]

9. How is it that Coburn has this kind of power? Could someone explain this to me?

[dgibby]

10. All of them have the power to prevent a vote if they choose to use it.

He's no more powerful than anyone else. Usually, it's because they want to attach some favorite pork to it, so they hold it hostage until everyone else gives them what they want. That's one of the main reasons we're in such deep economic doo-doo in this country. I just hope the jerks learn to write Mandarin; otherwise, they'll never get anything passed, once China calls in our bad paper.:mad: :puke:

[dmr]

11. I wonder what his 'real' reason is

I don't buy it's because it has to be offset by budget cuts.

There has to be something more to it. Who benefits from this? Maybe we'll never know or won't know until a later date when someone/something reaps the bounty.

I don't trust him.

[Solly Mack]

12. I've been telling soldiers..sending them links.

[babylonsister]

15. Thanks. They need to know who and which party is responsible for

this craven disregard for the troops. :grr:

[walldude]

14. Too high a price? What is he fucking kidding?

Sorry but we need some new fucking rules. Anyone who is this much of an asshole needs to be removed from making decisions that could cost people their lives.

[Wounded Bear]

16. Obvious why he hates it....

The measure also expands benefits for women veterans who suffered sexual trauma on duty

an obvious attack on male supremacy and the right to devalue and denigrate women.

, extends veterans' care in rural areas,

What? Allow them better access to care? If we give them better access, well, they might actually use it. And not when my oil friends are making so much by forcing those vets to drive hundreds of miles for routine care.


tightens quality control at V.A. hospitals,

Whoa, now. Quality control will pinch on my friends' profit margins. If they can't cheat a bit, they'll never be able to afford their Mercedes.

and ensures that catastrophically disabled veterans will not be charged for emergency services in community hospitals.

Somebody has to pay, and it certainly shouldn't be me or my rich friends. That would suck. They should pay for themselves, or just die.