Talk about burying the fuckin’ lede… Here’s the headline for an AP story:
The article starts off….
The Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress that its health care costs grew faster than expected and left a $1 billion hole in its budget this year, lawmakers said Thursday.
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said the department can meet this year’s health care costs by drawing on spare funds and money from other operations, including building construction.
And in paragraph number 6 (out of 11):
The shortage came to light during a routine budget review. Lawmakers said they are still gathering details, but it appears health care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and poor budget forecasting contributed to the problem.
Basically, someone forgot to plan for the casualties of war. Oops. But we know that’s not the first time BushCo hasn’t had a plan. And they certainly didn’t figure on having so many traumatic head injuries. Overall casualty rates seem to be down in this conflict (in comparison to other US imperial adventures) but the injuries are ending up being much more severe. And let’s not forget that there’s going to be a hefty mental health bill for this debacle.
Oh, yeah, it also seems the shortfall may have been intentional by BushCo.
“This shortfall results from either deliberate misdirection or gross incompetence by this administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
But, again, it’s Karl Rove and George W. Bush who say liberals are endangering our troops. Let’s see…. whose Republican-controlled Congress keeps underfunding for the Veterans Administration?
Addendum
From First Draft (in the comments):
- Senator Murray (D-WA) introduced an amendment to give an additional $1.98 billion in additional funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs, including over $600 million to help address a health care crisis in the VA system. The measure was defeated by Republicans.
- Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) introduced an amendment to research the current need for heavily-armored Humvees, and to provide $213 million to procure more of them. The amendment passed, despite the opposition of dozens of Republicans.
- Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) passed an amendment to require the federal government to equalize the gap between civilian and active duty salaries for federal employees mobilized for duty. The amendment passed the Senate — then, guess what, Republicans removed the amendment in the final budget report.
- Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced a successful Senate amendment to extend housing allowances for families of deceased service members, and another amendment to increase President Bush’s paltry death gratuity of $12,000 to $100,000.
Crossposted (with edits) at Diary of a Traitor
