This Is The Stuff That Really Drives Me Crazy...
How many times have we heard the slogans?
"Support the military"..."Support our troops"..."Honor our veterans"...
I call them slogans because in today's GOP-controlled America, that's all they are...
The words lose more meaning everyday, and not just because every yellow-ribbon bumper sticker I've ever seen was made in China.
Case in point: More than 1,000 veterans are suing Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department because budget cuts are resulting in sub-par care for many of America's veterans.
I get fired up when I see this because my uncle spent much of the last 10 years of his life moving in and out of VA hospitals. He did his service to his country and got the appropriate medical care he deserved when he needed it the most.The suit alleges that the more than 1,000 veterans living at the Northwest Washington facility can no longer get prescriptions and regular doctor checkups at the home because of service cuts in the two years since the Defense Department installed new management.
The plaintiffs said the austerity measures have put their health in danger and left them with no choice but to sue Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the home's chief operating officer, Timothy Cox.
They said the cuts violate a federal law requiring the home to provide a minimum standard of health care on the campus off North Capitol Street that has been a veterans' sanctuary since 1851. It was formerly known as the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home.
According to the suit, an on-site pharmacy and a medical treatment room have been closed; annual health exams have been drastically curtailed; and residents with emergency health problems are told to call 911, causing some of them to resort to taking a taxi to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to avoid paying for an ambulance or medical care at a civilian hospital.
Because of the cuts, the number of deaths at the home has increased from 59 in 2000 to 131 in 2003, the suit contends.
Why are the GOP powers-that-be lowering that standard?
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