[Cross posted at VetVoice]
President Bush took time yesterday to talk about how well the the War in Iraq was going and the "success" of the surge. I'll leave aside for the moment the ongoing debate on the validity of those claims. I would like to focus instead on the new kind of surge that is going on in our country's VA Medical Facilities.
Jim Benson, national VA spokesman, said about 300,000 of the nearly 1 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan need health care.Overall, patient visits have increased from about 200,000 to 300,000 a year.
"We've had a strong, steady increase over the last several years," Benson said.
So I'm assuming we will see President Bush in the Rose Garden again soon, announcing the opening of new facilities and the mass hiring of doctors, nurses, and support staff around the country to make this a successful surge as well. John McCain, the maverick and die-hard supporter of the troops that he is .....*cough*, thinks he's found a way around this by making combat-disabled troops the top priority of the VA.
No one wants to see combat injured veterans treated quickly and effectively more than this author, however we can't just keep covering up the problem. We can't treat some veterans while others wait. We need a health-care system that can medically treat all those who have served in the most efficient way possible.
Someone remind me again why the funding for treating veterans when they come home will be open for debate but the the war will be completely funded without any debate or conditions?
| < Rant: I Made 1 Late Credit Card Payment, So I Called... | Why so soft on offshore drilling? > |
