Posted on 07/05/2005 2:25:58 PM PDT by cantfindagoodscreenname
Today I got into a discussion with a liberal who announced to the two of us who were working out at the gym this morning that "George Bush is an idiot." I kept my mouth shut for a while and then decided to let her know that I like GWB. That didn't deter her. She repeated that he was an idiot and then tried to set me straight.
One of the things she said was (and this is where I need your help) that all of New England voted for Kerry and now all the funding has been cut for veterans hospitals in New England. She insists that it's the doing of GWB. What is she talking about? I've never heard anything about funding for veterans hospitals being cut for blue states. Can anyone help me here? I just might run into her again and don't want to be clueless.
I did look her incredulously and say, "And do you really believe that GWB did that to get back at the blue states?" and she said, "Of course he did."
Liberals don't understand truth-it means nothing to them because it totally negates their agenda.
I would tell her that W is after individual voters, not states, and the word that you've heard is that her name in the short list. She should move to Canada immediately.
Don't even try to argue with this liberal. She's a closed-mind loser, like the rest of them. You can always tell a liberal, but you can't tell them much.
She's misinformed (on so many things) - W's GPA, by the way, was significantly higher than Kerry's. "Bush is dumb" is the refuge of somebody dumber.
NEVER believe stuff like this. She probably believes that the election was fixed, too. It is hard to argue facts with libs, since they just make them up as they go along. Tell her to get proof that doesn't come from DU or moveon.org.
Why of course he did it to get back at the blue states. And he's arranging an earthquake so California will slide into the ocean. The resulting tsunami will circle the globe and is aimed at New York. He's a clever man, our President.
He can do all that...yet he's an idiot. Typical liberal logic.
My advice, take away her Kool-aid, otherwise save your efforts for the possible, LOL.
All of New England didn't vote for Kerry. Okay, who's got the county-by-county map?
Copyright 2005 Star Tribune
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
June 6, 2005, Monday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1460 words
HEADLINE: More vets waiting for care;
Advocates: Funding hasn't kept pace with need
BYLINE: Paul Sand; Staff Writer
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
BODY:
On a recent visit to the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, Carsten Watts, an Army veteran from Farmington, didn't see a doctor until three hours after his appointment time.
"The specialty clinics are really understaffed," said Watts, 34, who suffers from chronic lower back pain brought on by a military training exercise. "It's nothing to sit there all day waiting to get seen."
Veterans hospitals are being pressed with an aging veteran population and new soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. Some veterans groups say that while federal funding has increased, it has not kept pace with the growing need. They say they're hearing reports of patients waiting longer for appointments and seeking specialized medical attention elsewhere.
In April, Sen. Mark Dayton's office released research from the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that shows the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center will have a $7 million budget shortfall this year, while the St. Cloud VA Medical Center will be short $4 million. Administrators at both facilities say it's too early to predict such numbers.
And VA relief may be on the horizon, as the House passed a bill May 26 boosting funding for veterans health care by about $1.6 billion.
The bill, still awaiting approval by the Senate, would increase funds for mental health care, research and facilities, among other things.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson said President Bush has "kept faith with his promise" to care for veterans by increasing funding for the VA system each year since taking office. Since 2001, when Bush took office, VA funding has increased by nearly 40 percent.
But Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said the current funding and the additional amount provided by the bill falls short. Too many veterans aren't getting the services they need, said Peterson, a former member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
"Those who live in rural areas have to drive too far and wait too long for the care that they need," he said. "I'm surprised that at a time when our troops are in harm's way, the leadership in Congress decided not to provide more funding for veterans programs."
'We'll get through'
In both Minneapolis and St. Cloud, administrators say they don't know yet how the bill could affect their hospitals.
"Until Congress passes a budget, we don't know what we're working with," said Joan Vincent, a spokeswoman for the St. Cloud hospital. "It's tough to speculate about it."
And Jeffrey Phillips, communications director for the Veterans Affairs Committee, maintained that the veterans who need care the most, such as those who were injured in combat, are receiving it.
"We're not funded for every veteran who walks in the door and wants to receive care," Phillips said. "But we believe the system is fully funded for those higher-priority groups."
When the Senate voted in May for an $82 billion emergency war spending bill, Democrats tried unsuccessfully to include about $2 billion for the veterans system. The amendment was defeated on a near party-line vote in the Senate. The House also approved the bill without any emergency funding for veterans.
Dayton, D-Minn., who voted for the amendment, called the Senate's failed efforts to get more funding for veterans services "immoral" and "hypocritical."
"Veterans are men and women who served our country in times of need, and for us to turn our backs on them in their time of need is fundamentally wrong," he said.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who voted against the amendment, said the "emergency supplemental funding should go to support our troops in harm's way today who needed this funding immediately."
Steven P. Kleinglass, director at the Minneapolis veterans hospital, said it would be "premature" to comment on any budget problems. Barry Bahl, director of the St. Cloud hospital, said if the facility has a shortfall this year it will be less than $1 million.
"That's not terribly troublesome at this point," he said.
The Minneapolis hospital has been designated as one of only four in the nation to receive severely injured soldiers from Iraq. No additional funding has been provided to care for these patients, Kleinglass said. He said these soldiers require more care than others patients and are "taxing the staff a lot."
Kleinglass said he couldn't comment on Watts' three-hour wait specifically because of patient confidentiality rules and because he doesn't know the details of the case.
"If he was scheduled for 10 o'clock in the morning and wasn't seen until 1, that's a long wait and we're not happy about that wait," he said.
Kleinglass and Bahl said officials at both facilities won't be cutting any services this year, and will delay purchasing medical equipment if they face budget shortfalls at the end of the year.
"I think this is a tougher year than other years have been," Bahl said. "One way or another through swapping of dollars we'll get through."
Dick Flanagan, spokesman for the veterans group AMVETS, said that although the strategy of diverting funds away from certain purchases can keep the hospitals running, it does nothing to solve the system's long-term funding issues.
"It's kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.
More use services
The number of veterans seeking services from VA hospitals has jumped from about 3.9 million in the 2001 fiscal year to a projected 5.2 million for this year, or about 33 percent, according to the VA. In the same time period, total VA funding has increased from $48 billion to $67 billion, or about 40 percent.
Jimmy Norris, chief financial officer of the Veterans Health Administration, which oversees the hospitals and clinics, said the organization is "managing pretty tightly."
"I think generally our funding and our workload is generally aligned," he said, but added, "obviously everyone could always use more money."
At the Minneapolis hospital, the numbers of veterans seeking services has jumped from about 59,000 in 2001 to an expected 80,700 this year, according to the facility. Funding has also increased in that time from $292 million to more than $383 million.
The St. Cloud hospital has seen its patient load increase from about 17,500 in 2001 to more than 30,700 expected this year, Vincent said. In the same period, funding for the facility has increased from almost $70 million to $95.5 million, she said.
Watts, who was on active Army duty from 1994 to 1998, hit the windshield of the Humvee he was riding in during a 1996 training exercise after it hit a rut left behind by a tank. The impact probably popped one of his vertebrae out of place, he said. He's had two surgeries, one at the Minneapolis veterans hospital, but is unable to return to work as a computer repair technician because of his injury.
Watts, who is married and has three children, visits the Minneapolis veterans hospital every three months for his depression. He said he has no problems getting appointments for mental health check-ups, but he's had many problems getting timely treatment for his back.
"They don't have the most comfortable chairs there," he said. "With me, every 10 to 15 minutes I have to get up and move [or] my legs fall asleep. It makes for a long painful day."
Washington Bureau Correspondent Melissa Lee contributed to this report.
VA FUNDING, PATIENT VISITS ON THE RISE
Funding for the Veterans Affairs has increased in the last five years, but so has the number of military veterans visiting the system's hospitals seeking medical treatment. Officials say an aging veteran population and an influx of new soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are behind the increase in patient vists.
.
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Funding
National $21 $22.6 $25.4 $28.2 $30
billion billion billion billion billion
Minneapolis Veterans $292.2 $298.2 $323.2 $363.7 $383.7
Medical Center million million million million million
St. Cloud Veterans $69.9 $73 $77.9 $88.3 $95.5
Medical Center million million million million million
Unique patient visits
National 3.9 4.3 4.5 4.7 5.2
million million million million million*
Minneapolis 59,079 63,028 67,189 73,707 80,749*
St. Cloud 17,525 20,493 24,857 28,195 30,755*
* Projected Note: Years are fiscal years
Sources: Department of Veterans Affairs, Minneapolis Veterans
Medical Center, St. Cloud veterans hospital spokeswoman
Make HER prove it. (Demand she cite the name of the legislation or executive order.) Anytime a liberal makes a ridiculous charge, he or she should be the one immediately put on defensive. You can COUNT on the fact that she can't back it up.
I think what she's referring to is the $1B shortfall in the VA budget that Pres. Bush is trying to get for the VA. Besides, the VA doesn't cut budgets in certain states, it is like any other government agency, it goes across the board all over the country.
Congress establishes the damn budget not the President. I have a co-worker who's a lib and he never misses a chance to blame the Pres. for anything. Tell the pinko to get her congresscritters to stop the pork and give it to the VA or she can always send in more of her income to the gov't.
It's all Booooosshees fault!!!!!
Friggin', flamin' idiots!
Good luck with this one if encounter her again.
Cheers!
You can remind her that Kerry received lower grades in school than Bush. Bush went on to receive his post graduate training at Harvard. Kerry was too stupid to get in and had to settle for Georgetown. Remind her that for all her "informed intellect" she still prefers the stupider candidate.
And wait'll they get a load of what Karl ("The Evil Genius") Rove has planned for 'em!
The "idiot" has degress from Harvard and Yale. Where'd your lib friend graduate from?
Ask the genius just how intelligent she is, then ask some questions that pointedly make her life look like a mess...
degress = degrees
If that doesn't deter her just mention that the budget for the VA has increased something like 48% since George W. Bush took office (slightly outpacing the increases of other government agencies ;)
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