Minnesota Congressmen Spit On Wellstone Legacy
Something must be said about this:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two years after Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash, legislation to rename the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center for him has languished on Capitol Hill because of objections from some Minnesota Republicans.
Rep. John Kline, a Republican from Burnsville, has led the opposition, arguing that the hospital should be named instead for a "real war hero."
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The bill also has the backing of Minnesota's two senators, Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Mark Dayton, as well as five of the state's eight House members, including Republican Jim Ramstad, who was a close friend of Wellstone.
But it's opposed by Kline and fellow Minnesota Republicans Mark Kennedy and Gil Gutknecht. That's enough to doom the bill this session.
Really an outrageous (but not at all surprising) insult to a man who cared deeply about veterans -- especially those disabled in combat -- and showed it through his actions in the Senate. Republicans love to talk tough about their love of troops -- how much they support them more than whiny liberals -- how much more they love this country than us freedom haters. But when it comes down to it, once they've been used up and thrown away, the GOP offers little help or support. They wave their flags and talk like tough guys... then slash veterans benefits. Or work to cut pay for reservists.
Paul never fought in battle; but the little guy did more for veterans than Kline or Kennedy ever have. Or ever will.
I'd urge you all to call or write them. But they've obviously no heart, so what would the point be, really?
posted by Anonymous @ 5:59 PM |
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7 Comments:
As usual, an unrelated link (one day we'll have a nice sideblog for this):
Jimmy Carter on Hardball is refreshing and enlightening.
I'd like to see Mark Kennedy (and John Kline) unseated. I really, really hate (Oh no, one of those "hateful Democrats!) Kennedy's ads. I'm planning on giving Patty Wetterling some money today. Ugh.
Let me get this right. You clowns think that a VA center shouldn't be named after a service member? That a politician is a better choice?
I'm stunned.
As far as I know, no one has introduced any bills to rename the Mpls VA after a war hero, from Minnesota or otherwise. I wouldn't go so far as to say that anyone here is against that, rather we disagree with Kline, Kennedy and Gutknecht. I'd say those three are the clowns in this case.
I sure don't want to piss on any mans grave but what exactly did paul do in 12 years. I ask because your post said he's done more in 12 years than most or any military person. Please give examples, Bills passed in congress, What? That is one of the dumbest things I have ever read.
Wellstone wouldn't have went so far as to say that he did any more than a veteran... I don't think he would have wanted to steal their thunder. That being said, he did work hard for veterans in Minnesota. Here's a link to the archive of his senate website if you're curious as to what he accomplished over the course of twelve years: linkA few veteran-related highlights:
He authored and passed the Comprehensive Homeless Veterans Assistance Act in 2001, which aims to completely endveterans homelessness within a decade. He secured long-awaited service-connected benefits for atomic veterans afflicted by certain radiation-related cancers. For the past several years, he has led Senate efforts to fully fund veterans health care programs. Senator Wellstone has received numerous honors and awards from the veterans community, including commendations from the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Minnesota chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Minnesota Veterans of Foreign Wars, among others.
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Wellstone Blasts President's FY 2000 Veterans Budget Will Join With Veterans To Restore Funds "This budget is no way to say thanks to our veterans." -- Sen. Paul Wellstone (Washington, D.C.) -- At a news conference with the national leadership of veteran service organizations today, Senator Paul Wellstone called on the President and Congress to put veterans' issues back on the national agenda. Wellstone expressed deep disappointment with President Clinton's proposed veterans' health care budget for FY 2000, and said he would take action to restore the funds veterans need. Wellstone said the proposed budget indicates that "veterans are no longer a priority for this President." "Once again veterans have received a flat-line budget which threatens to impose real hardships on veterans seeking health care treatment from VA facilities. The President has requested from Congress the same level of appropriated funding that veterans received last year -- $17.3 billion. Everyone knows that the year-to-year inflationary costs of medical supplies, treatments, technology and pharmaceutical products are quite high, and that VA needs to purchase these goods and services from the private sector in order to provide the first-rate care our veterans deserve. On that basis alone, this budget imposes serious cuts on VA's health care programs estimated to be between $700 or $800 million. I am afraid that VA will have to cut back on the services it provides to our citizen-soldiers, and may have to close its doors to some veterans under this budget," Wellstone said. Wellstone also criticized the assumptions underlying the VA budget for medical care. "I am afraid that they are grossly exaggerating how much money they can get from third-party recoveries," Wellstone said. VA estimates that third-party recoveries for the Medical Care Cost Recovery Fund will total $749 million even though VA collected only $560 million last year. Wellstone warned that although VA has made commendable progress in achieving efficiencies over the past few years, he seriously doubted whether VA's targeted savings of more than $1.1 billion from ‘management efficiencies and savings' were realistic. "At some point, and I think we have reached that point, you cannot continue to squeeze and pinch every penny out of the system and pretend that the quality of veterans care is not going to suffer," Wellstone said. "The quality of care our veterans are receiving is an issue." Wellstone expressed his view that Medicare Subvention was important to the future integrity of the VA health care system. "Bringing in veterans who might not be eligible for VA health care today, but who are eligible for Medicare, is absolutely essential. VA should be allowed to treat those veterans, and to collect and keep their Medicare reimbursements. It represents a source of revenue critical to expanding VA health care," Wellstone said. The President's FY 2000 budget failed again to propose action to service-connect on a presumptive basis radiogenic diseases and cancers suffered by atomic veterans. "Atomic veterans were sent to ground zero with little or no protection, and still we refuse to admit that their illnesses today are connected to their service on behalf of the nation. It is a national disgrace, and I will continue to fight to right this injustice," Wellstone said. Wellstone had words of praise for some of the proposals contained in the President's VA budget, including an increase of 440 benefits personnel to help address the chronic claims backlog. He also spoke in support of initiatives to strengthen efforts to help homeless vets, treatment for veterans suffering from Hepatitis C, and funding for veterans requiring emergency care outside of the VA network. However, he noted that the Administration provides no increase in appropriated funding to pay for these initiatives.
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Justice for Atomic Veterans
Atomic Veterans were men and women who literally went to ground zero for their country. They either were deployed to Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, or participated in nuclear weapons testing in the United States during the 1950s. These servicemen and women were issued little to no protective gear, and often their radiation exposure was not reliably measured or recorded. After half a decade of advocacy and lobbying, Senator Wellstone finally convinced the Department of Veterans' Affairs to add five cancers to the list of diseases for which atomic vets can be compensated – without going through a frustrating and often impossible process of proving a connection between their service and their illness. Now these veterans will get the benefit of the doubt for these diseases – which are among those most commonly linked to exposure to radiation. The specific cancers are lung, colon, bone, brain, ovary and central nervous system.
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The FY2002 Supplemental
Senator Wellstone organized a bipartisan group of 27 senators to request an additional $400 million for veterans health care in the current fiscal year. The Senate adopted Wellstone's $400 million request as part of the Supplemental Appropriations bill. Chances are excellent that these funds will make it into the final supplemental bill currently being finalized by a House-Senate conference committee. The Wellstone provision will mean an additional $19 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional network that includes Minnesota to reduce waiting times for health care, keep clinics open and establish new Community Based Out-patient Clinics. VA Secretary Anthony Principi has publicly stated that the VA will need at least an additional $400 million to maintain current healthcare services for American veterans. etc...
I don't belive in naming anything after a politician let alone paul in the 12 years paul was in office how many bills that he wrote were past ?
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