Here it comes

My regular readers might remember that back in January, I wrote that the Democrats were coming for veterans’ earned benefits at this post;

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office shows why some military retirees and veterans could face higher out-of-pocket costs if the Obama administration and Congress take bold moves to reform the U.S. health system and to make federal health programs more efficient.

Among 115 “options” presented, though not endorsed, in the CBO report, several focus on raising Tricare out-of-pocket costs for retirees and one targets families. Others would tighten access to VA hospitals and clinics, or raise VA health fees, for veterans with no service-connected conditions.

Well, making one of my countless daily stops at Blackfive, I see that they’ve started dropping hints that it’s coming. By “they” I mean General Black Beret himself;

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, but was told by lawmakers that it would be “dead on arrival” if sent to Congress.

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 opposing the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration. The groups also noticed an increase in “third-party collections” estimated in the 2010 budget proposal—something they said could only be achieved if the VA started billing for service-related injuries.

Personally, I’d like to see the list of veterans groups that wrote letters to Obama. In February I warned about more chatter from the CBO;

J. Michael Gilmore, assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified that by increasing fees for military health care and restructuring pay raises, the Pentagon could save about $111 billion between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2026.

The House Budget Committee’s ranking Republican, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, agreed that personnel costs were a problem. “DoD’s health care spending is increasing at an unsustainable rate,” he said.

And back in December, John Murtha was making noise about cutting health care expenses, too;

But he said the military could find savings by reforming its healthcare system, addressing military compensation, and reducing operations and maintenance costs.

But it’s inevitable at this point – they can’t afford to provide health care they promised to veterans but they want to give health care to everyone. Democrats know that national health care is futile, yet they’re going to force the square peg into the round hole any-damn-way. And guess who gets to take it in the ass first.

Veterans and the military always take it in the ass for the Democrats – and then a Republican comes along, tries to rebuild the system, and the liberals cry about “massive defense spending”. And then when the clowns get back in charge, they begin dismantling the military again. Those goofballs who voted for Obama are going to begin to wish for Bush to be back. Well, not the ones who didn’t get the benefits any way.

Yeah, if Bush had made noises about cutting the VA they’d be screaming from the rooftops – but this gets a little blurb in the back water pages of CNN. I wonder how some of those VSOs who were “excited” about Shinseki are feeling now. But those of us with memories beyond last week know it was inevitable that Shinseki was going to screw us to the wall.

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Economy, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Politics, United Nations