OP
Bob3
Contributor
Bridges? I like bridges almost as much as dams & lighthouses, I enlisted back in '69 to hopefully learn a trade, now I get to use some of that fine military training my dear old Uncle Sam provided me with: http://www.scubadiving.com/members/memberimages/5855_61_2.jpg
Hey, that $80+ billion war bill is going to cost the average family of 4 over a grand to pay off. We're only around $800 or so in the hole if we apply that $300 refund to it.
The sign hanging next to the pharmacy window at my VA hospital indicates a 250% increase in co-payments.
(still a bargian) Doesn't apply to me though, I have a service connected disability, no charge.
Rather than prattle off a bunch of numbers that can be slanted or spun, here's a real life timetable from a real live disabled vet's treatment schedule. (mine)
"ouch, I better see a doc about this."
make appointment, see doc: 4 months.
Doc says "better see a specialist". made appointment, 14 months elapsed (time up last week).
Specialist says "going to need tests". schedule tests, "not 'till after September". (say 5 months)
Added up, 23 months BEFORE a diagnosis and treatment can begin.
Waiting times can vary considerably from area to area, procedure to procedure. Year long waits for treatment are all too common.
I'll say it again, you don't need to believe me, stop on down at your local VA hospital or clinic & ask the patients and doctors. Underfunded, over loaded & it's only getting worse.
Bring reading material, we're frequently sitting & waiting for a couple-few hours & appreciate something new to look at.
If you need to pigeon hole me into a political classification, you can call me a Libertarian. I bash democrats & republicans with equal relish when they pull something stupid, which is most of the time.
*breaking news!!*
Proposed budget cuts mentioned at the beginning of this thread are off the table:
http://www.dav.org/news/news_20030325.html
We're safe, for now at least.
It took some work, but folks pulling together managed to get some of the bonehead politicos to extract their heads from their butts. After all, what the hell could they have been thinking???
Thanks goes to the DAV, The American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars as well as many individuals that made their feelings known.
Trivia:
Total number of congressional members with a child in the military:
one.
