Military Coalition rallies to end government shutdown

Military Coalition rallies to end government shutdown
Army Times
Rick Maze
October 15, 2013

“After returning from war or disaster, they see that they are again being overlooked, making them feel that they are second-class warriors,” Davis said, noting that while Congress seems prepared to make sure federal civilian workers furloughed during the shutdown receive back pay, there is no plan to make up for the missed training and pay for the Guard and reserve.

With details still elusive on a possible deal to restart the federal government and avoid defaulting on U.S. debts, the 33-member Military Coalition is pressing Congress to resolve the impasse and stop scaring people.

At a news conference and rally held Tuesday at the National World War II Memorial, retired Army Col. Herb Rosenbleeth, national director of Jewish War Veterans and the Coalition’s president, said Congress and the White House are letting down service members and veterans as the partial government shutdown extends into its 15th day, with just three days before the U.S. Treasury won’t have enough money to pay all of its obligations, including military and veterans benefits.

Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff, chief executive officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said it seems as if some politicians have forgotten about veterans. “When the government shut down, our veterans still need support,” he said.
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Veterans protest shutdown at WWII Memorial FOR VETERANS

Military groups protest handling of veterans affairs during shutdown
The Washington Times
By Meredith Somers
October 15, 2013

A coalition of military associations on Tuesday lambasted Congress for its handling of veterans affairs in the wake of the government shutdown and demanded a permanent solution to balancing the federal budget.

Standing along the eastern plaza of the National World War II Memorial, dozens of veterans and military advocates pleaded their case that using veterans as political leverage harms the country.

“We were assured the budget would not be balanced on the backs of veterans, and yet here we are today,” said Steven Gonzalez, assistant director of the American Legion’s economic division.

Tuesday’s protest was different from other recent shutdown-inspired rallies at the war memorial, several of which devolved into confrontational shouting matches and aggressive dismantling of National Park Service-enforced barriers.
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Government shuts down, citizens step up for troops and veterans

By now you probably already know about Fisher House stepping up to take care of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and their families. There seems to be a lot of people stepping up while congress messes up.

Here are few of some of the great news reports that should have had a lot more attention.

In Fergus Falls Minnesota, Vietnam veteran Dave Anderson, inspired by people mowing the lawn at the Lincoln Memorial, decided to do the same for the National Guards.

In Arkansas VA employees attended a rally in support of veterans they serve and it turns out, they've been helping them for free doing whatever they can.

In San Diego a veteran riding 6,500 miles across country had his bike stolen. He was riding to raise awareness for PTSD and suicides. The update is according to ABC News "10News spoke with Jarrett on Monday morning and he says his bike is still missing. However, he said people have begun to offer donations so he can build a new bike and continue his journey."

In Pittsburg donors made a disabled veterans house a home. “What we're trying to do is remove one stress from their daily lives and give them comfort and security in their own home. They don't have to worry about fixing a window, sink or the electrical outlets,” he said. “Most of these men and women are too proud to ask for help. But this is the least we can do for our heroes,” said Hoffecker, who left his job as a hospital construction manager in New York to start the nonprofit.

And today in Washington President Obama visited "Martha's Table, a Washington food bank that distributes tens of thousands of meals to homeless and low-income D.C. residents each year.

Federal workers who have been barred from going to work during the shutdown have flooded the charity center to help volunteer during their time off.

“We're lucky to have 10,000 volunteers, but what we've seen in the last few days is an enormous surge in federal employees,” Patty Stonesifer, CEO of Martha's Table, told the Washington Fox News affiliate last week.

Obama said he hoped “that the kind of spirit that is shown by all these outstanding volunteers is going to carry over in the meeting with the leadership this afternoon.”

“These are folks who have not been paid, and in some cases, are very eager to be back on the job, but are not even allowed to work, and yet they're here contributing and giving back to the community, and I think that shows the kind of spirit that we have among all kinds of federal workers all across the country,” he said."

Veterans groups to protest for veterans, not politicians like Sunday

UPDATE
Veterans Angry Over Tea Party Takeover Of March On Memorials
The Huffington Post
By Mollie Reilly
Posted: 10/14/2013

Organizers of the Million Veterans March sought to distance themselves from the "political agenda" promoted at Sunday's protests at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., criticizing tea party activists for taking over the demonstration.

"The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC [sic] yesterday was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain," the group wrote on its Facebook page Monday morning. "The core principle was and remains about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner. Our love for and our dedication to remains with Veterans, regardless of party affiliation or political leanings."

On Sunday, hordes of demonstrators converged on Washington, protesting the closure of memorials and national parks due to the partial government shutdown. According to news reports, Sunday's event was much more political than previous demonstrations at the memorial. A number of conservative politicians spoke at the event, including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

read more here

Veterans groups plan protest over deplorable treatment post on October 12th is about veterans fighting for veterans. These groups are not trying to play politics like the one on Sunday, especially grotesque considering Tea Party darling and creator of this mess Ted Cruz was leading the charge. These groups have been around for decades and no matter what party controlled or mess up what, they have always been about fighting for veterans BECAUSE THEY ARE VETERANS. It is too bad the stunt on Sunday made veterans look bad because yet again, they were used. Attacking Park Rangers and security when they are not getting paid but still were doing their jobs was a disgrace. Almost as disgraceful as these Tea Party folks never once complained about anything else being done to veterans all these years later.

Veterans, worried about benefits, to protest shutdown
USA TODAY
John Bacon
October 14, 2013

As the government shutdown grinds into its third week, veterans benefits will draw the spotlight Tuesday in what could be the biggest protest yet aimed at pressing Congress and President Obama to solve the political impasse.

The Military Coalition, a group of 33 veterans and military organizations, is planning a rally at the World War II Memorial on Tuesday morning. The groups want to publicize the impact the shutdown is having on many vets and their families amid concerns of delayed disability pay, GI Bill education stipends and other benefits.

The American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars are among groups that will be represented. Steve Gonzalez, assistant director of the American Legion's Economic Division, will be among speakers emphasizing the impact on employment and training.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki warned last week that financing vet benefits could become difficult if the impasse continues. Compensation checks to 5.1 million veterans won't be issued Nov. 1; 433,000 fully disabled veterans might not receive payments; and 360,000 surviving spouses and children of wartime veterans may stop getting VA money, Shinseki told a congressional oversight committee.

VA tuition and stipend payments to more than 500,000 veterans and spouses enrolled in college also are threatened. The VA has furloughed nearly 8,000 employees, he said.

Ryan Lamke, an Iraq War veteran diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, works with the Armed Forces Foundation. The foundation is not part of The Military Coalition, but Lamke is fully aware of the problems facing returning vets.
read more here

Tea Party Cruz caused shutdown then complains?

Tea Party Cruz caused shutdown then complains?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 14, 2013

The government shutdown when the Tea Party reps took control and now they are upset. Seriously? Protesting in Washington after they got what they wanted? Talk about sore winners.

Cruz, Palin joined protesters at WWII Memorial but while they complain about the memorials being shut down and a bunch of their supporters tried to pretend the veterans really matter more than politics, you need to know what didn't manage to get them to protests before this.

Background on the Tea Party comes with what they posted online. They didn't think of what the government actually does when they wanted to destroy what the government does.

King of the government raiders is up for grabs. First we have Paul Ryan the man with the control of the US budget. He is the reason we haven't had a budget passed by the House that could pass the Senate or avoid a veto. Paul Ryan never thought about veterans very much. Ryan wanted to cut the VA budget taking off 1.3 million veterans and he forgot to put the money in to take care of veterans out of the another budget. Nice job!

Then we have Ted Cruz. He is responsible for the government shutdown but he ended up in Washington DC with a protest that was supposed to be about the war memorials being shutdown, by the government shutdown Cruz and Ryan caused in the first place. Did this actually make sense to the people listening to him?

Getting off the track here because I am ready to pop my cork and not in a good way.

Putting on a show at the memorials was a publicity stunt and noting more. It was supposed to be "a million" people showing up to protest the government shutdown but while they took down barriers to put them in front of the White House, they left behind the disabled WWII veterans at their memorial.

Protesters then made their way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial before converging at the White House shortly before noon.

With that said lets look at what else they have been not prompted to protest, or even mention.

First what they caused with sequestration because they couldn't put together a budget thanks to Paul Ryan.

February 2013 before the shutdown,

The Defense Department intends to notify Congress on Wednesday of a plan to furlough nearly 800,000 civilian employees one day each week beginning in April, a defense official said Tuesday.

Federal law requires the Pentagon to warn Congress of furloughs at least 45 days in advance, and other regulations require direct notification of employees at least 30 days in advance.

Cutting workdays and pay will happen if Congress does not find a way to avert budget cuts known as “sequestration,” which are scheduled to kick in March 1 and cut $500 billion out of the Pentagon budget over the coming decade. Military leaders have warned of constricted operations, reduced weapons buys and eventually, reduced end strength for the services.

American Legion Commander "Washington is failing troops and veterans"
Army veteran James Koutz of Boonville, Ind., national commander of the American Legion, criticized politicians for using the defense budget and service members as pawns in a battle over deficit reduction and spending priorities.

He also objected to attempts to increase out-of-pocket Tricare costs for retirees and opposed a recent Pentagon move to create a new medal for drone operators that ranks higher in precedence than some medals awarded to combat troops on the ground.

Army plans $92 million in cuts at West Point

Fort Hood Families Take Part In Army's Online Fiscal Cliff Chat

The three main topics were impact on soldier training, civilian furloughs, and how they could affect programs and services to military families.

"I'm concerned about retirement pay," says Tamma Ruth.

After 23 years as an Army wife, Tamma is intently tuning into the buzz over automatic spending cuts.

She says, "My husband has served, and been in Iraq, and been in harm's way for a long time, and I think he deserves to have his full military retirement."

As thousands of civilian medical workers are furloughed because of the “sequester,” patients will be sent to private doctors at public expense to receive timely medical care, according to the military medical officials.

“This will result in increased medical care costs to the DOD (Department of Defense) and American taxpayers,” says an Army Public Affairs statement released this week.

DOD cuts meal tickets for combat wounded at Walter Reed Hospital The decision forces amputees and troops receiving long-term care to trek nearly a half-mile across the Walter Reed campus to a temporary “food trailer,” instead of the facility down the hall from their rooms, Fox reported.

Then by May it got worse when they cut staff at military hospitals.

Hospital officials say the furloughs affect 2,392 caregivers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. That’s 94% of the civilian staff there.

Officials say 1,163 caregivers at Fort Belvoir’s hospital in Virginia are being furloughed, affecting 85% of its civilian staff.

I can keep going on and on but the most obvious thing that stands out is this protest in Washington was a publicity stunt the press fell for. Had they really cared, they would have had a massive protest in Washington when all of this started to slam veterans, their families and the troops. The truth is so much more uglier than they have led the public to believe.

As for Ted Cruz, we know what he pulled off and the rest the Republicans fell in line to make sure they didn't have to work for a living. Part of their jobs is to fund all the programs they already approved and no, they don't get to just forget that even though they try to.

So while Cruz decided to go to the memorials and blame everyone but himself and the Tea Party that planned for all of this, the veterans got left behind the same way they were left behind so that Cruz could protest at the White House because he didn't get his own way.

Is there any reason left to wonder why the American people are fed up with everyone in Washington? Talk about fixing anything with another temporary fix for weeks will just have us right back here again. Sequestration didn't work because as repulsive as these cuts were, the Tea Party was happy so nothing got fixed. It all just got worse much like it will get worse if they do not finally do the right thing. If this isn't enough to convince you then add this to all of the above. It is from VoteVets in September of 2013 before the government shutdown.

Congress "Farm Bill" cut 170,000 veterans off from food stamps and "a Department of Agriculture study last year found that over 5,000 active duty service members receive food assistance. And, in the same year of the study, over $100,000 in food aid was used on military bases."

Veterans worry shutdown will halt VA checks

Local Veterans worry shutdown will halt VA checks
WINK News
Published: Oct 11, 2013

NAPLES, Fla - In a matter of day, millions of brave war vets could be out of luck because of our spending crisis. The Department of Veterans Affairs says the agency may have to stop paying out benefits; something most Vets rely on to survive.

WINK News has been following this growing problem since the shutdown started last week. Local heroes are now saying they never expected things to get this bad so quickly.

Staff Sergeant Wilfredo Vasquez says he's worried about the increasing trend of more Veterans becoming homeless.

"This is another young veteran, another marine who is going to be evicted on Sunday and he's still waiting for approval," says SSG Vasquez.

It's a problem, Vasquez fears, will only get worse because of our ongoing shutdown. "For Veterans who have already served and poured out their hearts, blood and sweat into protecting the interest of this country are now suffering because of a few in Washington D.C."
read more here

War is temporary but veterans are lifelong commitment

War is temporary but veterans are lifelong commitment
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 13, 2013

With the government shutdown it is a good time to think of what is supposed to happen in less than a month from today. November 11th is Veterans Day. A day we as a nation are supposed to honor our veterans and remember their sacrifices.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs there were 22,328,000 veterans as of September 2012. There were 3.61 million veterans receiving disability compensation plus another 725,165 claims filed waiting approval. Of those, 418,711 are considered "backlog" because they have taken too long to decide at over 125 days.

While reporters seem to focus on the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans waiting for the VA to honor their commitment to them, the truth is, there are veterans waiting even longer.

Post-9/11 (Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts) claims make up 21% of the total inventory and 22% of the backlog
Gulf War (definition) claims make up 23% of the total inventory and 21% of the backlog
Peacetime (period between end of Vietnam and Gulf War) claims make up 11% of the total inventory and 11% of the backlog
Vietnam claims make up 37% of the total inventory and 38% of the backlog
Korean War claims make 4% of the total inventory and 4% of the backlog
World War II claims make up 3% of the total inventory and 3% of the backlog
Other era claims make up 1% of the total inventory and 1% of the backlog

Troop Levels in Afghanistan Since 2001 from the New York Times

In November of 2001 there were 1,300 troops sent to Afghanistan
By November of 2002 there were 9,500
2003 12,000
2004 15,800
2005 17,400
2006 20,400
2007 24,700
2008 30,853
2009 68,000


These are the numbers from the Congressional Research Office

Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues
Troops sent to Afghanistan
2002 5,200
2003 10,400
2004 15,200
2005 19,100
2006 20,400
2007 23,700
2008 30,100
2009 50,700
2010 63,500
2011 63,500
2012 63,500


Troops sent to Iraq
2003 67,000
2004 130,600
2005 143,800
2006 141,100
2007 148,300
2008 187,900
2009 135,600
2010 88,300
2011 42,800
2012 4,100


As you can see, the numbers do not match. The report from the Congress was published in 2009 so the rest were the guess numbers.

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, Who gave us the freedom to demonstrate
It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag.
And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag."
Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

Some reporters want to tell us that Afghanistan is the longest war, while officially that may be true, the real truth is, it isn't.

When: The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955 and ended April 30, 1975. It lasted for 19 and 1/2 years.

The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956. His name was added to the Wall on Memorial Day 1999.

US Troop Deployments into Vietnam from the Heritage Foundation
1950 9
1951 74
1952 74
1953 138
1954 4,628
1955 427
1956 752
1957 751
1958 846
1959 819
1960 794
1961 959
1962 8,498
1963 15,620
1964 17,280
1965 129,611
1966 317,007
1967 451,752
1968 537,377
1969 510,054
1970 390,278
1971 212,925
1972 35,292
1973 265
1974 130


The last to die because of the Vietnam war were in 1975, 1974 1 and in 1975 62.

1975 was the year that the last 18 casualties (Daniel A. Benedett, Lynn Blessing, Walter Boyd, Gregory S. Copenhaver, Andres Garcia, Bernard Gause, Jr., Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove, James J. Jacques, Ashton N. Loney, Ronald J. Manning, Danny G. Marshall, James R. Maxwell, Richard W. Rivenburgh, Elwood E. Rumbaugh, Antonio Ramos Sandovall, Kelton R. Turner, Richard Vande Geer) occurred on May 15th during the recapture of the freighter MAYAGUEZ and its crew.

Their war Memorials were closed and now their disability checks may not come. The reports of the VA making progress in reducing their "inventory" of claims are now jeopardized along with payments for caregivers. Caregivers to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are covered but families of Gulf War Veterans, Vietnam Veterans, Korean War Veterans and WWII are not.

Caregivers, that is such a strange word when we are talking about veterans. Families, well that is a given that they care and many have given up careers to care for their wounded war fighters. Congress was supposed to care enough that they would honor their commitment to the wounded, orphans and widows of the fallen. They manage to get headlines when they write bills to prove how much they "care" but with each congress, veterans have seen history repeated while members of congress retreated from their obligation to those they sent into combat.

It isn't a matter of Republican or Democrat betraying this fundamental obligation. It has been going on no matter which party controls all of it.

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."
General Norman Schwarzkopf

The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are shocked by what has happened to this country because people can't work together for the sake of this nation they were willing to die in service to.

Isn't it time they were actually honored everyday? Isn't it time to end this national disgrace in Washington?

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."
President George Washington
American Veterans Memorial

Veterans in Washington used yet again by politicians

They are the biggest reason they are suffering for what these politicians did! So who is using them like pawns in a political game? Showing up to "stand by them" is just another part of the game and when you read the names, you'll know.

UPDATED: "Million" vets are in DC to demand their monuments be opened
Metro News by Susan L Ruth
October 13, 2013

WASINGTON, October 13, 2013 – UPDATED: Thousands of protesters have arrived at the World War II memorial this morning to protest the closure of the memorials during the government shut down.

The protestors have removed the barriers and have entered the monument.

Senators Mike Lee - Utah and Ted Cruz - Texas as well as Sarah Palin were among the crowd that chanted “Tear down these walls” and sang patriotic songs according to local news coverage from WTOP, as the barriers were removed.

About 15 tractor trailer trucks from the Ride for the Constitution protest, which took place two days ago, but mostly turned out to be a non-event, have arrived at the memorial protest to lend their support to the veterans.

The truckers came down 17th street honking their horns while heading toward the Mall. Their forward progress was blocked by police barricades.

Although some people have remained around the World War II memorial, thanking veterans for their service, others have moved the protest to other parts of D.C.
read more here

Food stamp cards not working in 17 states not tied to shutdown

Food Stamp Debit Cards Failing To Work In 17 States
By The Associated Press
10/12/13

People in Ohio, Michigan and 15 other states found themselves unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards on Saturday, after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure.

The electronic benefits system experienced a temporary shutdown during a routine test of Xerox back-up systems, company spokeswoman Jennifer Wasmer said Saturday.

"While the system is now up and running, beneficiaries in the 17 affected states continue to experience connectivity issues to access their benefits. Technical staff is addressing the issue and expect the system to be restored soon," Wasmer said in an emailed statement.

"Beneficiaries requiring access to their benefits can work with their local retailers who can activate an emergency voucher system where available. We appreciate our clients' patience while we work through this outage as quickly as possible."

U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Courtney Rowe underscored that the outage is not related to the government shutdown.
read more here

Federal grants represented 39.4 percent of Texas’ state revenue in 2011

Federal spending cuts build across Texas
Dallas Morning News
Scott Burns
Published: 12 October 2013

Gregory Cody was psyched this summer to negotiate a $1.3 million contract for airfield work at Fort Hood in Killeen.

But last month, he learned the project was canceled because of federal spending cuts.

“We had been waiting and it didn’t get funded,” said Cody, whose Dallas-based GCC Enterprises Inc. provides construction management. “I had some people where that was their project for the year, and now I have to find other work for them.”

Automatic federal spending cuts began March 1 after Congress couldn’t agree on how to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

The automatic budget cuts will slash budget authority by $109 billion for each year through 2021, but the fiscal cliff deal reached in December reduced the required cuts for the 2013 fiscal year to $85 billion. Cuts have continued into fiscal 2014, which began Oct. 1, because a deal to cut the deficit wasn’t reached.

To make matters worse, a partial federal government shutdown began two weeks ago as Congress bickered over the budget and funding for Obamacare, halting the flow of funds, contracts and information and increasing a sense of anxiety about the nation’s fiscal and economic policies.

“It’s an air of uncertainty with your customers because [the federal government] doesn’t have concrete plans on what their budgets are and what their projects will be,” Cody said. The Pew Charitable Trusts ranks Texas among the five states most vulnerable to spending cuts to federal grants and changes to federal spending on contracts, salaries and wages.

Pew estimates that federal grants represented 39.4 percent of Texas’ state revenue in 2011, based on the latest census data available. Of that, grants subject to automatic spending cuts made up 8 percent of Texas revenue in 2010. (Both percentages were higher than the national average.)
read more here

Veterans groups plan protest over deplorable treatment

Veterans groups move to end shutdown
Politico
By JUANA SUMMERS
10/12/13

In a strong display of unity, leaders of the nation’s major veterans’ groups plan to speak out against the continuing government shutdown at an event on Tuesday at the World War II Memorial, POLITICO has learned.

Among the groups expected are the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Military Officers Association of America, according to two sources familiar with the planning.

Veterans’ groups have been unified in their scathing indictment of the government shutdown, arguing it’s making it harder for veterans and their families to receive the government benefits and services that they are entitled to.
read more here

DAV LETTER

National Commander expresses outrage in letter to President, House Speaker & Senate Majority Leader
OCTOBER 9, 2013

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6501

The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader
S-221 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-7020

Dear President Obama, Speaker Boehner, and Majority Leader Reid:

As National Commander of DAV and on behalf of our 1.2 million members, I am writing to express our rising outrage over the partisan politics preventing the federal government from fulfilling many basic obligations owed its citizenry, including sacred obligations to the men and women who have served and are serving to defend our nation.

The failure by all parties to reach agreement on fiscal year 2014 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies that directly or indirectly support veterans, and the effects of the government shutdown, are increasingly causing serious harm to our nation’s heroes. The recent news about DOD’s apparent inability to provide mandatory death gratuities to the families of fallen Marines, or to even fly them to Dover Air Force Base for arrival ceremonies while the government shutdown continues, is a new low point and a violation of the trust we place in our elected officials. Sadly, the damage to our veterans will continue to get worse until all of you, together with a sufficient majority of the House and Senate, reach agreement to end this crisis.

Unless you put aside partisan politics for the good of the nation, the harm to our veterans and service members will get worse. If this stalemate continues for a couple more weeks, even mandatory obligations of the federal government, such as disability compensation and pension paid to veterans and their survivors, will be suspended. More than four million wounded, injured, ill and poor veterans rely on these payments; for some it is their primary or only source of income. It is simply unacceptable that there is even the threat of default on these payments.

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Majority Leader, the time for posturing and playing politics with veterans must come to an end. We call on all of you to reach agreement and expeditiously enact full fiscal year 2014 appropriations for all federal programs, services and benefits that directly or indirectly support America’s heroes, especially those wounded, injured and ill due to their service.

In addition, we call on you to enact legislation that extends advance appropriations to all VA discretionary and mandatory funding so that this sorry spectacle is never repeated. There is already advance appropriations legislation pending in both the House and Senate, and with your support, it could be quickly amended and enacted to prevent this harm from recurring in the future.

Almost 150 years ago, during perhaps the most challenging time of crisis our nation has ever faced, President Abraham Lincoln carefully and eloquently laid out the most sacred obligation of our nation: “…to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.” We now call on all of you to live up to those words.

Sincerely,
JOSEPH W. JOHNSTON
National Commander

VFW Letter

VFW DISGUSTED WITH ELECTED LEADERSHIP
VFW CALLS RECENT MOVE 'THE LAST STRAW'
October 09, 2013

WASHINGTON — The nation’s oldest and largest war veterans’ organization is disgusted with the partisan bickering and government paralysis caused by a White House and Congress who will not budge from their ideological extremes in order to properly take care of America’s true heroes. “Yesterday’s news that the government will not transport or make a death assistance payment to grieving military families was the last straw. It is absolutely appalling and nothing short of a travesty that elected officials continue to receive paychecks and benefits while not providing for those who deserve it most,” said William A. Thien, the national commander of almost 2 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Auxiliaries.

“Because of failed leadership, we have 56 closed Department of Veterans Affairs regional offices, 7,000 furloughed employees, and more than 4 million disabled veterans and survivors who were told next month’s disability or survivor benefits check will be delayed,” he said. “We also have a hypocritical National Park Service that closes our nation’s war memorials to veterans and a federal government that continues to make foreign aid payments while our own national security is threatened because Congress has failed to pass a defense budget or put an end to the sequester.

“This is totally unacceptable and disgraceful that our elected leaders in Washington would allow this to happen,” said Thien. “We need leadership, not more rhetoric, and if the government is unable to take care of veterans, then the government should quit creating us,” he said. “And should another military family crisis arise like yesterday’s failure, I can guarantee the VFW will provide whatever financial assistance necessary to those families.”

American Legion

Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government three years in

Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government three years in
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 12, 2013

Like most Americans I woke up this morning, did my normal routine but on this 12th day of the government shutdown, it made more sense to just go back to bed and pull the covers over my head especially after turning on the news. Astonishing as it is, it seems as if every reporter has forgotten that this shutdown came after sequestration.

From The White House

Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, the information on this web site may not be up to date. Some submissions may not be processed, and we may not be able to respond to your inquiries.

What Is the Sequester? Why Now?

In the last few years, President Obama and both parties in Congress have worked together to reduce our deficit by more than $2.5 trillion through a combination of spending cuts and increased tax rates.

In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if they couldn’t agree on a plan to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion — including the $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction lawmakers in both parties have already accomplished over the last few years — about $1 trillion in automatic, arbitrary and across the board budget cuts would start to take effect in 2013.

“The whole design of these arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive and unappealing that Democrats and Republicans would actually get together and find a good compromise of sensible cuts as well as closing tax loopholes and so forth. And so this was all designed to say we can't do these bad cuts; let’s do something smarter. That was the whole point of this so-called sequestration." —PRESIDENT OBAMA

Unfortunately, Congress hasn’t compromised, and as a consequence, harmful cuts — known as the sequester — begin March 1.

These cuts will jeopardize our military readiness and eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research, and don’t take into account whether they eliminate some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or cut a vital service that Americans depend on every single day.

The Congress had plenty of time to actually prevent this. They had plenty of time to fix it and make it right for the people they just hurt. That wasn't good enough for them. Instead of apologizing to the American people for not doing their jobs, they demanded more suffering from us.

Poll: Just 25 Percent Think Their Own Member Of Congress Deserves Reelection
Huffington Post
Emily Swanson
October 11, 2013

Only one-quarter of Americans think that their own member of Congress should be reelected, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. That's a sharp departure from similar polls conducted before the government shutdown.

In the new survey, 25 percent of respondents said they believe the member of Congress from their district deserves to be reelected, while 47 percent said they did not. Another 27 percent said they weren't sure.

In a Gallup poll conducted last November, 59 percent said their own representative deserved reelection, while only 30 percent said he or she did not. Since Gallup began tracking the question in 1991, the percentage of Americans saying their own representative didn't deserve another term has never been higher than 40 percent.
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These people were elected by their districts but they are paid by the federal government, in other words, by the tax payers of the whole country. That is the way our democracy works. It doesn't matter if we agree with them or not, we pay them to do a job. It is their job to represent the people they got the votes from but it is also their job to work with the others also elected to do a job for their districts. It is not supposed to be about working to defeat the President or the agenda he laid out and won an election by the majority of the whole nation. He is the only one that has been elected that way.

When he was elected the first time, Republican members of House and Senate said their job was to defeat him. Didn't matter what it would do to the American people. We were not their priority.
The only way for that to happen was if they destroyed the nation. They did but the American people were smarter and voted for Obama again. His agenda won and their agenda failed.

So now we watch the country being destroyed by people elected to take care of the whole nation so hell bent on "getting re-elected" they made sure the country no longer functioned. Everyone gets hurt by this. What makes it worse is the military and our veterans, the very people that managed to work together to stay alive in combat for the sake of one another, are the first to suffer.

It isn't just about being paid for what their service to the nation cost them in terms of wounds and disabilities. It isn't about the hardships they all faced so they could be sent into combat or the fact their families faced hardships as well. It is about the fact members of congress did not put the nation first and let it all go to hell because a few members thought they won something. The something they thought they won was destroying every branch of the government no matter who got hurt in the end.

First they said it was about ending Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, that finally tried to do something about letting us live a better quality of life because more were able to go to a doctor. They didn't try to fix it. They just wanted it gone. The voters said they wanted it and re-elected Obama.

Members of congress then kept telling us how we were against it. Ok, then did they notice there was an election where the majority said they agreed with it?

That wasn't good enough so the House kept holding votes on ending it. They didn't get their own way over 40 times later when they were not doing their jobs on everything else.

Then came sequestration because they couldn't pass a budget for the rest of the country.

Still not good enough for them, they wanted more cuts and ending ACA that was passed by the House and the Senate along with being validated by the Supreme Court.

Still not good enough they wanted to just shut down the government. Then they gave up trying to defund Obamacare at the same time they demanded to talk about more cuts.

The only cuts the American people want right now is for them to cut the bullshit while getting paid to do the jobs they haven't wanted to do all these years later.

We're tried to suffering while they talk about what they won't do and what they want.

When someone says they want to burn down a house, do you sit and talk about? Do you ask them if they want to use matches or a lighter? So why did we give them lighter fluid?

Boehner Congressman Wrong!

Evan Almighty is being repeated only this time the wolves are the American People!

The Tea Party keeps getting blamed for wanting to end "Obamacare" but at least they wanted to tweak it instead of just kill it. They had some good ideas like letting people on Medicare opt into the healthcare coverage members of congress get. The rest, well they got what they wanted and here is the list too many members of congress took on.

Eliminates four Cabinet agencies — Energy, Education, Commerce, and HUD — and reduces or privatizes many others, including EPA, TSA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.

Ends farm subsidies, government student loans, and foreign aid to countries that don’t support us — luxuries we can no longer afford.

Saves Social Security and greatly improves future benefits by shifting ownership and control from government to individuals, through new SMART Accounts.

Gives Medicare seniors the right to opt into the Congressional health care plan.

Suspends pension contributions and COLAs for Members of Congress

End all foreign aid to countries that don’t support us

Eliminate all earmarks.

Trim annually appropriated spending to 2010 levels (one-time, 2.5% across-the-board savings, prior to other reductions).

Eliminate the Department of Education.

Eliminate the Department of Energy (transfer nuclear research and programs to Defense).

Eliminate HUD.

Eliminate Commerce Department business & economic development subsidies.

Eliminate Department of Commerce ethanol & unproven energy technology subsidies.

Eliminate the Legal Services Corporation.

Devolve most EPA duties to the states, cut the agency's budget by 50%, and fold it into the Interior Dept. Save, first year: Privatize the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA).

Shutter the Small Business Administration.

Privatize air traffic control

Eliminate certain federal job training programs.

Retire the AmeriCorps paid-volunteerism program.

Eliminate Title 10 family planning grants.

Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.

End urban mass transit grants.

Privatize Amtrak and end rail subsidies.3

Repeal Davis-Bacon labor rules.

End the welfare payment component of the Child Tax Credit program.

Reduce Bureau of Land Management by 50% from FY 2010 level.

Eliminate the Bureau of Reclamation.

Reduce U.S. Geological Survey by 20% from FY 2010 level.

Reduce number of federal workers to the 2008 level.

Cut the federal employee travel budget to $4 billion (half of FY 2000 spending).

Cut federal employee pay by 10 percent.

Consolidate 2,100 federal data centers and server warehouses down to 1,100 over 3 years.

Reduce unused or under-used federal building space by 25%.

By legislation, terminate all of the President's policy "czar" positions.

End all “green” technology initiatives. Let the private sector do the innovating.5

Social Security

Create optional SMART Accounts for new workers born after 1981

Increase the number of work-years used to calculate a senior's Social Security benefit level at retirement.

Tighten eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance.

UPDATE

Veteran Republicans Accusing Tea Party Lawmakers Of Staining GOP
CBS News
October 11, 2013

DES MOINES, Iowa — From county chairmen to national party luminaries, veteran Republicans across the country are accusing Tea Party lawmakers of staining the GOP with their refusal to bend in the budget impasse in Washington.

The Republican establishment also is signaling a willingness to strike back at the Tea Party in next fall’s elections.

“It’s time for someone to act like a grown-up in this process,” former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu argues, faulting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Tea Party Republicans in the House as much as President Barack Obama for taking an uncompromising stance.

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is just as pointed, saying this about the Tea Party-fueled refusal to support spending measures that include money for Obama’s health care law: “It never had a chance.”

The anger emanating from Republicans like Sununu and Barbour comes just three years after the GOP embraced the insurgent political group and rode its wave of new energy to return to power in the House.

Now, they’re lashing out with polls showing Republicans bearing most of the blame for the federal shutdown, which entered its 11th day Friday. In some places, they’re laying the groundwork to take action against the Tea Party in the 2014 congressional elections.
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