Where’s the media?

I got angry yesterday listening to the news and getting the AIG bonus scandal every five minutes. I got angry enough to email several news agencies to no avail. So, this morning, as if we didn’t hear it enough yesterday, all of the news – Fox News Channel included – are still on the AIG thing. To the point that I don’t even care anymore.

So where are they on the veterans issue that we all talked about yesterday? Except for the Washington Post, there’s nothing. The Post put their article on page four and see if you can find it on this screen shot of their web page this morning;

Yeah, it’s there, but you’ll have to squint to see it. They actually did a pretty good job on the article, except it’s hidden. An issue that affects many millions of Americans adversely and it’s in tiny print.

So, as is my wont, I went to the comments expecting to see some serious troop-bashing, but I was surprised by what I found. Most of the comments supported the troops. Well, except for this moron;

Doofus.

But where is the rest of the media on this? Why are they so fixated on the AIG bonus scandal? How many times do they figure they need to beat us over the head with it?

The American Legion’s national commander, David Rehbein, whose press release we used to break the story on Monday night, has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal which scalds the Obama Administration for reneging on their campaign promise to “restore our sacred trust with our nation’s veterans“;

As head of the nation’s largest veterans organization, I was startled by this radical shift of position the president has taken. Last October, candidate Obama listed several proposals he had for the VA and none of them included billing veterans’ insurance providers.

In fact, when asked how he would improve the funding formula for the VA’s health-care system, then-Sen. Obama told the American Legion Magazine, “It starts with the president saying that if I’m budgeting for war, then I am also budgeting for VA. If I’ve got a half-a-trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, then I’d better make sure that I make some of those billions of dollars available to care for the soldiers once they come home. It should be a non-negotiable proposition that people are receiving the services that they need. This is the reason I joined the Veterans Affairs Committee — because I believe deeply in that principle.”

So I ask President Obama now, for all America’s veterans, where is that principled stance today? By abandoning its responsibilities to the heroic men and women who answered our nation’s call, the federal government is breaking a sacred promise. Moreover, it is unnecessary.

Read the entire piece (I think it doesn’t require subscription – if it does, let me know and I’ll screen shot the thing).

Huffington Post finally notices the story but who do they go to for answers? VoteVets’ Jon Soltz – who, by the way wasn’t even in the meeting between the VSOs and the President. So he’s HuffPo’s source;

“We don’t know if this is going to be the proposal, or if it is a serious consideration or not,” he told the Huffington Post. “So, it’s premature to go to the White House with pitchforks at this point.”

Yeah, the President already made it clear that it was going to be in his budget because the reimbursements from insurance companies are a linchpin in the funding. Didn’t he tell the VSO reps to “find the money” for him after they told him it was a non-starter? The Washington Times quotes someone who was actually in the room;

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the president intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” Mr. Rehbein said Monday. “He says he is looking to generate $540 million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

Friday, I found this from VetVoice (Soltz’ organization) that said veterans shouldn’t worry about the Obama administration – it’s all just rumors. The day before Obama tells the VSOs he’s going to charge vets for their service-connected treatment. So VoteVets is STILL providing partisan cover for the Administration.

Even Chris Muir weighs in on the President’s proposal.

Whether this passes or not (and I’m pretty sure it won’t), it still demonstrates to veterans what the Obama Administration thinks of us.

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Media