McCain would hurt seniors and veterans among many others

Colin Powell endorses Obama: Video


Why would Powell endorse Obama? He explained it very clearly this morning the same way many other people across the country have. While McCain believes that we owe him our vote because he was a Vietnam POW and served the country, he seems to have forgotten that many across the nation have been left out of receiving any benefit from his years of service in the senate. His voting record proves it.

McCain plans on privatizing social security, which means great harm can come to the lives of seniors across this nation. He wants the younger people to "invest" in the stock market, which as we've all seen, is a dangerous thing to do. This alone would harm seniors without the privatization of the system that has worked all these years.

McCain plans on causing division among veterans by "offering" to allow veterans without combat wounds to seek medical care elsewhere instead of from the VA which they were promised would be there in repayment of their own years of service. McCain's record on veterans funding has been deplorable while he expects they will simply support him no matter what harm he has caused them by voting against what they need and delaying changes needed to address the needs of the wounded as well as the elderly population.

McCain lacks the ability to remove himself from the same policies that caused most of the messes this nation has faced at the same time he expects us to simply trust his word that he has not supported Bush and his failed policies even though McCain took pride in declaring "I voted with the President 90% of the time" when he was in the GOP primary. While McCain expects the job of leading this nation he did not expect that he would have had to earn that right.

While we deserved to have our issues addressed, McCain decided to pull stunts, from selected someone like Sarah Palin, to using every opportunity and dirty trick to cause further division in this nation. Obama on the other hand has sought to restore the unity of the American people. This, the American people have been longing for since the attacks of 9-11 when we were reminded that no matter what our differences were, we are one nation and come together to help each other. We need that unity again. We need to get past the greed is good mentality that has caused so much harm and reward generosity as well as loyalty and true patriotism.

Eyes are opening up in this nation. The majority can see that no matter what color a person's skin is, it in no way something to judge them by. As Martin Luther King Jr. declared, content of their character does matter more than the color of their skin. What matters most to the voters is what matters in our own lives and this is a wonderful thing. kc

50,000 names and social security numbers of noncommissioned officers compromised

Names, SSNs compromisedThousands of E-7, E-8 selectees affected

Top News StoryA breakdown in securityPromotion selection lists containing the names and Social Security numbers of more than 50,000 active-component noncommissioned officers were compromised earlier this year and in 2005

Disability Cases Last Longer as Backlog Rises

If you think the VA and the DOD are the only problem veterans have, think again because you are forgetting most of them had jobs too. When they cannot work any longer do to a wound of body or mind, they paid into this system expecting that when they could not work, the system would work for them. It doesn't. They are trapped in this system as well.

A first step of raising the number of judges to 1,200 will require at least $100 million extra for the agency beyond the $9.6 billion that President Bush has proposed for the 2008 fiscal year, Mr. Astrue said. Within a wide-ranging, $151 billion health, education and labor bill passed in November, the Democratic-controlled Congress voted for a $275 million increase for the agency. But Mr. Bush vetoed the bill, calling it profligate.

Disability Cases Last Longer as Backlog Rises
RALEIGH, N.C. — Steadily lengthening delays in the resolution of Social Security disability claims have left hundreds of thousands of people in a kind of purgatory, now waiting as long as three years for a decision.

Two-thirds of those who appeal an initial rejection eventually win their cases.

But in the meantime, more and more people have lost their homes, declared bankruptcy or even died while awaiting an appeals hearing, say lawyers representing claimants and officials of the Social Security Administration, which administers disability benefits for those judged unable to work or who face terminal illness.

The agency’s new plan to hire at least 150 new appeals judges to whittle down the backlog, which has soared to 755,000 from 311,000 in 2000, will require $100 million more than the president requested this year and still more in the future. The plan has been delayed by the standoff between Congress and the White House over domestic appropriations.
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My husband paid into a retirement fund while he was working his last job. Before that, he paid into Social Security. They turned down his claim the last time because "he didn't pay into the system in the last quarter" but the time before that, it was another excuse. It didn't matter to them that he will never work again. For us it would mean about $400 a month but it would also mean we wouldn't have to carry health insurance costing us $700 a month just for me on his retirement plan. I also have CHAMPVA, but that does not cover everything and doctors are still not happy about taking it as insurance.

Iraq and Afghanistan wounded getting special help from Social Security

More help for wounded war veterans

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The Social Security Administration is working to improve its service to veterans wounded on or after Oct. 1, 2001.


The SSA will expedite the processing of disability claims for service members who became disabled while on active duty. As long as the veteran alerts Social Security that he or she was wounded on active duty, it will flag the case to make sure it is handled as quickly as possible.The administration's new Web site gives information about disability benefits and how to apply for them, and provides a link to an application for disability benefits. If you do not have a computer, you can go to your local library and use one for free.

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This is great that they are doing it but why don't they do it for all wounded veterans? Don't they understand there are a lot of Gulf War vets and Vietnam vets who need their help too? Gulf War veterans are still seeking help for their illnesses and yes, even PTSD. Vietnam veterans, at the end of their careers in their 50's and older, have a unique problem. Faced with coming to terms with PTSD and all the illnesses associated with Agent Orange, many of them cannot work. Who is pushing them to the top of the pile or flagging their claims? Why do older wounded veterans have to get out of the way for the newer ones? Can't we take care of all our wounded veterans? They are being pushed back and face longer waits with the VA on their cliams as well as treatment. We should be able to take care of all of them in this emergency! kc