Senate kills Agent Orange Benefits to NAVY vets

[Checkerboard Strangler]

The article frames the situation a little differently than you:

Be sure and let the vets know that the new Senate, with even MORE Republicans, plans to revisit it next year.
When the ACA passed, an accidental loophole kicked children of 100% service connected disabled vets off CHAMPVA at 18 despite the ACA requirement that children be allowed to remain on their parent's policies till age 26, thus putting CHAMPVA out of compliance with federal regulations under the ACA.
Congress promised to look into closing the loophole.
That was eight years ago.

You sure about that "framing" issue?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Seems all this fauxrage might need some redirection.

House Democrats block VA Choice reforms from ... - Modern Healthcare
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20180321/NEWS/180329984
Mar 21, 2018 - VA Choice is currently limited to veterans who live more than 40 miles ... an appropriator for the VA, had not only come out against the Senate ...

House Democrats Just Blocked New Veterans Health Care Reform Bill
https://www.firstquotehealth.com/health...news/democrats-block-veterans-health-bill
Jun 14, 2018 - House Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, blocked funds for the US ... Affairs this week, as Trump attempts to privatize veterans healthcare. ... Shulkin claims his pushback against privatization ultimately lead to his firing. The VA ...

House Democrats throw wrench in GOP spending plans - POLITICO
[url]https://www.politico.com/story/.../house-democrats-republican-spending-plans-59814...[/URL]
Jun 5, 2018 - The move surprised even some Republicans, who believed Democrats would be hard-pressed to vote against funding for veterans' health care ...
​

Seems you're not even reading your own links.
Unless of course you're one of those non-vets who thinks privatization is a great idea.

 

[Divine_Wind]

A bill that would have extended Agent Orange benefits to Vietnam Era Navy vets was killed by Senate Republicans yesterday.

The so-called “Blue Water Navy Bill” died in the U.S. Senate when Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, objected, expressing concerns about the bill’s cost, according to Stars and Stripes.
The bill would make tens of thousands ailing veterans eligible for disability compensation and health care from the VA.

In addition, Trump's SecVA [FONT="]Robert Wilkie [URL="https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/last-ditch-effort-to-pass-blue-water-navy-bill-fails-in-senate-1.560126"]voiced his opposition[/URL] to the bill in September, citing "cost concerns and insufficient scientific evidence".

The bill had previously passed UNANIMOUSLY in the House.[/FONT]

Maybe a Vet dying of an Agent Orange-related disease will mansplain the problem to Trump and his supporters.

 

[Hawkeye10]

Maybe a Vet dying of an Agent Orange-related disease will mansplain the problem to Trump and his supporters.

Your problem of course is that even after years of trying to develop science around this so that we understand what is going on we have nearly zip. Some folks look at that and conclude "If we have not found anything after years of looking there is likely nothing to find....let's move on the the problems that we have proven exist".

Another problem is that setting up welfare programs for vets is going to get very expensive, because most everyone will want their payday....big expensive programs with no scientific justification backing them is a bad idea.

 

[Divine_Wind]

Your problem of course is that even after years of trying to develop science around this so that we understand what is going on we have nearly zip. Some folks look at that and conclude "If we have not found anything after years of looking there is likely nothing to find....let's move on the the problems that we have proven exist".

Another problem is that setting up welfare programs for vets is going to get very expensive, because most everyone will want their payday....big expensive programs with no scientific justification backing them is a bad idea.

QED. Thanks for proving that the far Right is now as anti-military as the far Left.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

On a more immediate note, the VA just called and it looks like my wife Karen is most likely getting checked back into the hospital to fight yet another infection, kidney and bladder as always but it may have gotten into her bloodstream again.
We were there yesterday to do blood and urine samples for the lab, and they want more blood to check on progress.
But when you get a late night call like this one, it's usually not good news.

Hopefully they can knock it back down again and she won't have to spend her birthday (Dec. 19th) and Christmas in the hospital. Last year she lucked out but the two years before, that's where she was. Maybe we'll luck out this year.

The doctors have moved heaven and earth to keep her healthy as possible, but there's only so much you can do with a radiation damaged kidney and bladder, and she only has the one kidney to begin with. Needless to say she's not real happy about it but we both recognize the efforts her team have made. Six months ago they brought her back from total kidney shutdown all the way to 100% function in a matter of a few days. She spent the next six weeks with an IV pump full of high powered antibiotics and it created all kinds of inconvenience, but it sure beats the alternative, which is dialysis and certain slow death.

Thankfully we are only 15 minutes away from VA Long Beach, and they always treat her like a rock star when she comes in.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

I guess I'm getting old. I remember when Republicans honored and respected Veterans. Not anymore. Draft dodging, Veterans insulting Trump changed all that. Now his lemmings and the whole GOP are following his lead..

 

[Divine_Wind]

I guess I'm getting old. I remember when Republicans honored and respected Veterans. Not anymore. Draft dodging, Veterans insulting Trump changed all that. Now his lemmings and the whole GOP are following his lead..

Agreed. It's sad. It's just one of the many reasons why I think the "GOP" is dead. The current Republican party isn't the one I joined in 1974. IMO, they're just Democrats with RW issues such as anti-gay and pro-abortion.

 

[eohrnberger]

Seems you're not even reading your own links.
Unless of course you're one of those non-vets who thinks privatization is a great idea.

I'd be willing to let the vet get the care he needs from the private sector and that his benefit package would reimburse him and / or pay the medical bills.

From my view th vet should get the medical care he needs and deserves, in a timely fashion with a minimal amount of hassle and delay.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

Agreed. It's sad. It's just one of the many reasons why I think the "GOP" is dead. The current Republican party isn't the one I joined in 1974. IMO, they're just Democrats with RW issues such as anti-gay and pro-abortion.

I was a Republican for 35 years. Around 2010 saw a change in the GOP. The social conservatives and religious right took over the party which meant there was no room for moderate fiscal conservatives like me. So I left.

 

[beefheart]

I'd be willing to let the vet get the care he needs from the private sector and that his benefit package would reimburse him and / or pay the medical bills.

From my view th vet should get the medical care he needs and deserves, in a timely fashion with a minimal amount of hassle and delay.

The government caused their illness, the government should pay to treat it...pure and simple.

 

[Bullseye]

Was this a "clean" Agent Orange bill or was it part of a larger piece of legislation with other objectionable provisions? Just blinding canceling Agent Orange victims doesn't stand the BS test.

 

[Divine_Wind]

I was a Republican for 35 years. Around 2010 saw a change in the GOP. The social conservatives and religious right took over the party which meant there was no room for moderate fiscal conservatives like me. So I left.

Similar story here except I switched in 2012 but saw the change since the 1990s.

 

[beefheart]

Was this a "clean" Agent Orange bill or was it part of a larger piece of legislation with other objectionable provisions? Just blinding canceling Agent Orange victims doesn't stand the BS test.

You could read the article. And the article in Stars and Stripes it links to.

 

[Bullseye]

You could read the article. And the article in Stars and Stripes it links to.

I could, and did. It doesn't get into the actual language and content of the bill.

 

[BrainNebula]

Be sure and let the vets know that the new Senate, with even MORE Republicans, plans to revisit it next year.
When the ACA passed, an accidental loophole kicked children of 100% service connected disabled vets off CHAMPVA at 18 despite the ACA requirement that children be allowed to remain on their parent's policies till age 26, thus putting CHAMPVA out of compliance with federal regulations under the ACA.
Congress promised to look into closing the loophole.
That was eight years ago.

You sure about that "framing" issue?

Yes, I'm sure about the framing issue. You are trying to distract from my point to gain sympathy, but my point was that the article was framing the issue as temporarily suspended until Congresspeople return to Congress. You were framing this as an issue of Congresspeople permanently rejecting the bill. You were dishonest.

 

[haymarket]

How could any veteran continue to support the republicans and cadet bone spurs?

Seriously these republicans love to send troops to fight their dirty wars but when it comes to helping them when they return home, they always say NYET.

Thats a really insightful observation. The GOP seems to love our soldiers as long as they are in uniform fighting a war but as soon as they come home and are back in civilian life - its screw them.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

Similar story here except I switched in 2012 but saw the change since the 1990s.

I saw the change coming in the 90s too. But I hoped the moderates would stand up and take back the party, but they never did. So I left. The Republicans putting ALL the blame for the 2008 crash on the little guy, on the borrowers was the last straw for me. I saw then moderate working class people like me weren't wanted in the GOP anymore.

It became the party of the far right and the rich. I am neither.

 

[Divine_Wind]

I saw the change coming in the 90s too. But I hoped the moderates would stand up and take back the party, but they never did. So I left. The Republicans putting ALL the blame for the 2008 crash on the little guy, on the borrowers was the last straw for me. I saw then moderate working class people like me weren't wanted in the GOP anymore.

It became the party of the far right and the rich. I am neither.

Sad we don't have any true conservatives anymore like Barry Goldwater.

 

[Ikari]

A bill that would have extended Agent Orange benefits to Vietnam Era Navy vets was killed by Senate Republicans yesterday.

The so-called “Blue Water Navy Bill” died in the U.S. Senate when Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, objected, expressing concerns about the bill’s cost, according to Stars and Stripes.
The bill would make tens of thousands ailing veterans eligible for disability compensation and health care from the VA.

In addition, Trump's SecVA [FONT="]Robert Wilkie [URL="https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/last-ditch-effort-to-pass-blue-water-navy-bill-fails-in-senate-1.560126"]voiced his opposition[/URL] to the bill in September, citing "cost concerns and insufficient scientific evidence".

The bill had previously passed UNANIMOUSLY in the House.[/FONT]

The government, Republicans and Democrats alike, don't care about our troops. They want them to run off and fight their wars, but once they've been used up the Republocrats will toss them aside without thought. We get vets that do not get proper care, help, that are homeless, etc. The VA is a mess, and despite the rhetoric coming from a certain group, it's not because Government fundamentally cannot maintain a proper and functioning VA. It's because the Government has no desire to maintain a proper and functioning VA. Once those kids have been used up, once they have fought for the Republocrat Wars, they do not care anymore. Toss them on the streets, who cares. Let them suffer with the physical and psychological damage we've caused them to fight the War, spending money on them afterwards....that costs money. Money that could be otherwise spent fighting the Republocrat Wars in the first place.

 

[Logicman]

It shows where true patriotism lies, and it's not in the Republican Senate

That's laughable. Another fail by Ramoss.

Liberals don't have the intestinal fortitude for true patriotism. If they had been in charge at Valley Forge they would have folded up their tents the first time the snowflakes were cold and hungry.

 

[RAMOSS]

That's laughable. Another fail by Ramoss.

Liberals don't have the intestinal fortitude for true patriotism. If they had been in charge at Valley Forge they would have folded up their tents the first time the snowflakes were cold and hungry.

How nice, you don't care about your fellow vets.

 

[Logicman]

How nice, you don't care about your fellow vets.

That's another lie from you.

 

[RAMOSS]

That's another lie from you.

If you cared, you would be concerned about your fellow vets not getting the medical benefits they need from the disabilities they suffered to do their service.

 

[Logicman]

If you cared, you would be concerned about your fellow vets not getting the medical benefits they need from the disabilities they suffered to do their service.

If you had a patriotic bone in your body you would have served in uniform. But you didn't. Were you scared about serving?