Democrat lies; how to lose an election

Yesterday, I got an email from the VFW to support one of their latest causes. I always send the email, sign the petition and slip ’em a coupla bucks – the VFW has been good to me, so I’m good to them. Anyway, they sent an email in my name to my Congressman Chris VanHollen. Within a few minutes (maybe it was an hour), I get a reply with the standard “veterans are gods” kind of stuff you get from every elected official these days – especially from the guilt-ridden Left who cut their activist teeth by spitting on vets.

But there was line that got my attention; “Unfortunately, sweeping tax cuts promoted by President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress have resulted in drastic cutbacks in VA services.  It has gotten so bad that at one point, VA officials in Washington were instructing VA hospital administrators to stop publicizing their services to veterans.  That is disgraceful.”

If true, it certainly is disgraceful. So I emailed the Congressman’s office and asked them for the source of this directive from “VA officials”, I got a snippy email telling me that the Congressman gets too much email for him to answer them all (despite the fact that they had just answered an unsolicited email from me with a fairly lengthy response). Would I please call the office. So I called the office and got some little weasel intern (who kept reminding me that he is “only an intern” during the course of our discussion) who, despite the bustle in his office which I could clearly hear behind him, couldn’t find anyone to answer my question. Would I please leave my number. Since it’s been my experience that a convenient time for people to call me back is never convenient for me, I said no, I’d call back. And that’s what I’ve been doing this morning.

Now I was able to get a Veterns Affairs public information person on the phone who assured me that no such directive was ever issued. And after scrolling around the DVA website, I discovered that it’s an invaluable source of information on programs and benefits available to veterans – how these “VA officials” were able to “stop publicizing” their services as long as this website is up is beyond me. And since I’ve been in the system (I have a minor service-connected disability) for 13 years, I’m pretty sure the story is false. Especially since the Congressman’s staff is reluctant to give me a straight answer. But I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I’ve emailed them again and explained the situation and I even offered to walk the three blocks from my office to their’s to get any hardcopy of evidence that they have to prove that “VA officials” are hiding benefits from veterans. If it’s true, I want the world to know. Wouldn’t you?

But the truth is probably that Democrats are trying to force a wedge between Republicans and their constituency, even if to force that wedge means telling totally fabricated fairy tales about Republicans. There’s only one way to stop them – the truth. And keep riding them until the truth comes out.

The actual truth is that President George W. Bush has expanded the budget of the DVA six-fold in the last six years. Not to mention that his father made the DVA an independent agency (severed from the Interior Department) back in 1992. I’ve seen a vast improvement in the DVA’s services on the few times I’ve been to the facilities since this administration took over operations. And I’m pretty sure that anyone stopping by a VA hospital would be impressed by the facilities and the professional staff – many are much better than their civilian counterparts.

I’ll be updating this entry as the story progresses. So far, Van Hollen hasn’t answered my emails and my phone calls get dumped into a voice mail box. But, I want the truth – just like the rest of America wants the truth.

UPDATE: Well, a legislative staffer sent me this .gif file of a four-year-old memo; my respose to his email;

Dear Mr. Alperson;

Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter. The memo you have forwarded to me is more than four years old – before the last Presidential election and three Congressional election cycles old. The lawsuit appears to be that old, too. They all happened before the last several tax cut bills, they also happened when revenues were substantially less than current tax revenues. It was more than a year before the war against Hussein – so you can hardly tie this to our military efforts there or to the tax cuts, for that matter.

I am a disabled veteran and I’ve noticed a marked increase in the quality of care at our DVA facilities over the last eight years. I’ve also noticed that there has been a marked increase in outreach to veterans. That’s the story here.

Thank you for your time. Your “evidence” will be included in my update to the article I’ve already posted. 

I neglected to mention how the document is incomplete, and there’s no signature block so there’s no telling who wrote document although an untitled news article that was included named DVA’s then-Secretary of Operations and Management Laura Miller as the author. I’ll admit he sent me two articles about the lawsuit brought against the VA in 2003. One included a quote from DVA’a then-secretary Anthony Principe that his intent was to divert funding from outreach to treatment.