Repub proposed 22% budget cut to VA

[THE_DEVIL]

https://www.va.gov/OPA/PRESSREL/pressrelease.cfm?id=5874​

Budget Cut Proposals Would Hurt Veterans​

WASHINGTON — While the President’s Budget details a plan to honor our country’s sacred obligation to care for America’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, the proposal to cut a broad range of critical programs by 22% would threaten critical services for Veterans – both at VA and across the federal government. The proposed 22% budget cut to VA would:

• Threaten Medical Care for Veterans. The proposal would mean 30 million fewer Veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration, leaving Veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.
• Undermine Access to Telehealth. Access to remote care through telehealth is essential for Veterans, particularly in rural areas. By reducing funding for necessary IT infrastructure and support, the proposal would impair VA’s ability to expand video-to-home telehealth services and limit the availability of medical equipment that can be provided to Veterans so they can attend important telehealth appointments from home.
• Worsen Wait Times for Benefits. Under the proposal, the Veterans Benefits Administration would eliminate more than 6,000 staff, increasing the disability claims backlog by an estimated 134,000 claims and forcing Veterans and their surviving loved ones to wait longer for the benefits they have earned, including pensions, life insurance, GI Bill educational supports, and employment services.
• Prevent Construction on the Health Care Facilities that Veterans need. Veterans deserve to receive care in state-of-the-art facilities, but the median VA hospital was built nearly 60 years ago – compared to just 13 years ago in the private sector. This proposal would cut up to $565 million for major construction projects, including critical clinical upgrades to hospitals and clinics. These cuts would negatively impact Veteran health care across America.
• Fail to Honor the Memory of All Veterans. The proposal would require VA’s National Cemetery Administration to eliminate approximately 500 staff, jeopardize NCA’s ability to maintain the final resting place of Veterans to national shrine standards, and delay the opening of 5 new national cemeteries that will serve nearly 1.6 million Veterans and eligible family members.

Beyond the direct impact on Veterans who use VA, these proposed cuts would negatively impact Veterans who access critical services across the federal government. Specifically, these proposed cuts would:

• Cut Housing for Veterans. Every Veteran deserves a good, safe home in this country they fought to defend. The proposal would eliminate funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for as many as 50,000 Veterans, putting them at greater risk of homelessness.
• Increase Food Insecurity for Veterans. About 1.3 million Veterans rely on SNAP. This proposal would take food assistance away from Veterans who are older by adding burdensome, bureaucratic requirements, and it would limit states’ flexibility to protect especially vulnerable people currently subject to work requirements. That would increase the likelihood that Veterans and their families go hungry.
• Deprive Veterans of mental health, substance use, and other health services. This proposal would mean deep cuts to Department of Health and Human Services community mental health centers, mental health and substance use prevention grants, and other public health programs. Supporting Veterans and their families in the community, especially those not enrolled in VA health care, has been a priority for HHS and these cuts could reduce access to timely care and services.
• Eliminate Job Training and Other Supports to Homeless Veterans. The proposal would mean that 4,200 fewer Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness would receive job training, counseling, and job readiness services provided through the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program.

###

This analysis assumes an across-the-board reduction of roughly 22% compared to currently enacted FY 2023 levels for non-defense discretionary accounts. That aligns with proposals to return discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels on an ongoing basis while exempting defense spending.​

 

[IowaPackFan]

2000: $47
2004: $60
2008: $85
2012: $124
2016: $174
2020: $218
2021: $234
2022: $274
2023: $305
***$ in Billions

I’ll allow a 22% cut.

 

[mnole03]

2000: $47
2004: $60
2008: $85
2012: $124
2016: $174
2020: $218
2021: $234
2022: $274
2023: $305
***$ in Billions

I’ll allow a 22% cut.

Anything happen after 2000 that might have dramatically changed the denominator?

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Times are tough. No group is exempt from budget cuts.

 

[SSG T]

2000: $47
2004: $60
2008: $85
2012: $124
2016: $174
2020: $218
2021: $234
2022: $274
2023: $305
***$ in Billions

I’ll allow a 22% cut.

See, that bottom number is what happens when you send a couple of million young people into combat zones where they get broken mentally and physically. If we're going to decide to do that, the paying for it on the other end comes with it. And that number will continue to get bigger as those young people become not young anymore.

Methinks you had no issue with paying for the thing that caused all those people to get broken. So, not wanting to pay to fix them makes one a piece of s***.


Funny, Republicans support the troops...until they're no longer useful, then they s*** on them. Kind of like I've been saying for years.

 

[SigMaintHawk]

2000: $47
2004: $60
2008: $85
2012: $124
2016: $174
2020: $218
2021: $234
2022: $274
2023: $305
***$ in Billions

I’ll allow a 22% cut.

I'd vote for an increase..Plenty of vets struggling with a myriad of issues..some small, some large. The government needs to support them to the fullest at all times.

 

[mnole03]

See, that bottom number is what happens when you send a couple of million young people into combat zones where they get broken mentally and physically. If we're going to decide to do that, the paying for it on the other end comes with it. And that number will continue to get bigger as those young people become not young anymore.

Methinks you had no issue with paying for the thing that caused all those people to get broken. So, not wanting to pay to fix them makes one a piece of s***.

Funny, Republicans support the troops...until they're no longer useful, then they s*** on them. Kind of like I've been saying for years.

Yup, the VA went from serving hundreds of thousands of veterans in predictable centralized retirement locations to serving millions all around the country.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

 

[runkpanole]

Support the troops!!! Well, fvck you, we have money to save.

Sincerely,

Today’s GOP

 

[mnole03]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

Yeah, you’ll save a ton of money by limiting telemedicine for combat veterans with mental health problems. That won’t come back to bite you.

 

[TigerHawk33]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

I’m going out on a limb and saying folks in certain income levels aren’t going to feel it.

 

[Chishawk1425]

Support the troops!!! Well, fvck you, we have money to save.

Sincerely,

Today’s GOP

And **** the Capitol Police.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Yeah, you’ll save a ton of money by limiting telemedicine for combat veterans with mental health problems. That won’t come back to bite you.

Your words, not mine.

 

[ConvenientParking]

Anything happen after 2000 that might have dramatically changed the denominator?

Bidenflation?

 

[Tom Paris]

https://www.va.gov/OPA/PRESSREL/pressrelease.cfm?id=5874​

Budget Cut Proposals Would Hurt Veterans​

WASHINGTON — While the President’s Budget details a plan to honor our country’s sacred obligation to care for America’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, the proposal to cut a broad range of critical programs by 22% would threaten critical services for Veterans – both at VA and across the federal government. The proposed 22% budget cut to VA would:

• Threaten Medical Care for Veterans. The proposal would mean 30 million fewer Veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration, leaving Veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.
• Undermine Access to Telehealth. Access to remote care through telehealth is essential for Veterans, particularly in rural areas. By reducing funding for necessary IT infrastructure and support, the proposal would impair VA’s ability to expand video-to-home telehealth services and limit the availability of medical equipment that can be provided to Veterans so they can attend important telehealth appointments from home.
• Worsen Wait Times for Benefits. Under the proposal, the Veterans Benefits Administration would eliminate more than 6,000 staff, increasing the disability claims backlog by an estimated 134,000 claims and forcing Veterans and their surviving loved ones to wait longer for the benefits they have earned, including pensions, life insurance, GI Bill educational supports, and employment services.
• Prevent Construction on the Health Care Facilities that Veterans need. Veterans deserve to receive care in state-of-the-art facilities, but the median VA hospital was built nearly 60 years ago – compared to just 13 years ago in the private sector. This proposal would cut up to $565 million for major construction projects, including critical clinical upgrades to hospitals and clinics. These cuts would negatively impact Veteran health care across America.
• Fail to Honor the Memory of All Veterans. The proposal would require VA’s National Cemetery Administration to eliminate approximately 500 staff, jeopardize NCA’s ability to maintain the final resting place of Veterans to national shrine standards, and delay the opening of 5 new national cemeteries that will serve nearly 1.6 million Veterans and eligible family members.

Beyond the direct impact on Veterans who use VA, these proposed cuts would negatively impact Veterans who access critical services across the federal government. Specifically, these proposed cuts would:

• Cut Housing for Veterans. Every Veteran deserves a good, safe home in this country they fought to defend. The proposal would eliminate funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for as many as 50,000 Veterans, putting them at greater risk of homelessness.
• Increase Food Insecurity for Veterans. About 1.3 million Veterans rely on SNAP. This proposal would take food assistance away from Veterans who are older by adding burdensome, bureaucratic requirements, and it would limit states’ flexibility to protect especially vulnerable people currently subject to work requirements. That would increase the likelihood that Veterans and their families go hungry.
• Deprive Veterans of mental health, substance use, and other health services. This proposal would mean deep cuts to Department of Health and Human Services community mental health centers, mental health and substance use prevention grants, and other public health programs. Supporting Veterans and their families in the community, especially those not enrolled in VA health care, has been a priority for HHS and these cuts could reduce access to timely care and services.
• Eliminate Job Training and Other Supports to Homeless Veterans. The proposal would mean that 4,200 fewer Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness would receive job training, counseling, and job readiness services provided through the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program.

###

This analysis assumes an across-the-board reduction of roughly 22% compared to currently enacted FY 2023 levels for non-defense discretionary accounts. That aligns with proposals to return discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels on an ongoing basis while exempting defense spending.​

Yes, once again Republicans show they don’t give a damn about Vets…but Vets will vote for them anyway. Uggghh!!

 

[Tom Paris]

Times are tough. No group is exempt from budget cuts.

Except for the wealthy.

 

[Tom Paris]

I'd vote for an increase..Plenty of vets struggling with a myriad of issues..some small, some large. The government needs to support them to the fullest at all times.

Absolutely right. All give some. Some give all. For us. This shouldn’t even be a thing. Take care of them!

 

[Tom Paris]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

Again, not the wealthy.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Again, not the wealthy.

Stop pushing false narratives.

 

[Tom Paris]

Stop pushing false narratives.

Oh please explain what’s false. This should be good.

 

[mnole03]

Bidenflation?

Could also be Tom Brady. The timing fits.

 

[SSG T]

Yup, the VA went from serving a tens of thousands of veterans in predictable centralized retirement locations to serving hundreds of thousands all around the country.

It was getting smaller in the late 90s/early 2000s because the WWII/Korea/Vietnam era vets were dying off in huge numbers. Plus, the wounds GWOT vets were being treated for were things that would have killed earlier generations, mainly because of how quick we could get to treatment facilities and medical technology (to be fair, much of that developed in those earlier wars).

On top of the fact that we're finally starting to acknowledge and treat the mental issues (still have a LONG ways to go there) brought about by combat instead of ignoring them and telling troops to tough it out.

 

[lucas80]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

Pretty sure you're one of the posters that gets all wadded up over black guys kneeling during the national anthem. You know, support the troops.

 

[JRHawk2003]

It was getting smaller in the late 90s/early 2000s because the WWII/Korea/Vietnam era vets were dying off in huge numbers. Plus, the wounds GWOT vets were being treated for were things that would have killed earlier generations, mainly because of how quick we could get to treatment facilities and medical technology (to be fair, much of that developed in those earlier wars).

On top of the fact that we're finally starting to acknowledge and treat the mental issues (still have a LONG ways to go there) brought about by combat instead of ignoring them and telling troops to tough it out.

We send these young men all over, and bring them back broken. The suicides are very troubling. I would gladly pay more tax for support services.

It's not much in our budget. We waste so much in pork laden weapons systems, we can give more to the people.

Also, some troop quarters are flat out ghettos. Like Section 8 housing. We can't do better than that?

 

[JWolf74]

The defense budget needs cut. However the medical and mental health care for veterans should be funded completely. We should fulfill our end of the agreement after we sent them to far off hell holes.

 

[JWolf74]

Yeah, you’ll save a ton of money by limiting telemedicine for combat veterans with mental health problems. That won’t come back to bite you.

More dead veterans by suicide means there's less vets that will need expensive medical care. But as long as they beat their chest with "support the troops" rhetoric and wear their flag lapels, they won't lose a single vote. I think we figured out the GOPs strategy here.

 

[lucas80]

More dead veterans by suicide means there's less vets that will need expensive medical care. But as long as they beat their chest with "support the troops" rhetoric and wear their flag lapels, they won't lose a single vote. I think we figured out the GOPs strategy here.

Veterans are just props to the GQP.

 

[mthawkeyes]

Everyone is losing sight of what is really important. Did they display one of these?

 

[4ohs]

Times are tough. No group is exempt from budget cuts.

Absolutely right. All give some. Some give all. For us. This shouldn’t even be a thing. Take care of them!

Many gave their last true measure of devotion. All vets should be taken care of. 100% no questions asked. Got a family full of them. All with health problems. All still sitting solidly R cause they apparently refuse to see what’s been explicitly shown them over the last 2-3 decades.

Hesitancy over taking care of our vets is one of, for me, the most rage inducing road blocks I’ve encountered over the years.

None of them even want to recognize the one senator who has always had their backs, having introduced the most vet friendly legislation over the years, by a long mile.

I thought Trump was done when he mocked McCain. Then got told by my dad (a Nam vet who voted McCain) that he brought it on himself.

It took a ****ing comedian getting serious to get help for burn pit victims cause uncle sane was just too bothered once again, not to mention what he did for 9/11 first responders.

I have really struggled over the years trying to understand the other side. Trying to find any sort of empathy, let alone sympathy for the other argument.

 

[Tom Paris]

More dead veterans by suicide means there's less vets that will need expensive medical care. But as long as they beat their chest with "support the troops" rhetoric and wear their flag lapels, they won't lose a single vote. I think we figured out the GOPs strategy here.

But we’re told Republican voters don’t actually vote against their best interests. Is there a single bill Republicans have passed in the last 40 years that benefits the middle class? Have they done ANYTHING for workers??

 

[Tom Paris]

Many gave their last true measure of devotion. All vets should be taken care of. 100% no questions asked. Got a family full of them. All with health problems. All still sitting solidly R cause they apparently refuse to see what’s been explicitly shown them over the last 2-3 decades.

Hesitancy over taking care of our vets is one of, for me, the most rage inducing road blocks I’ve encountered over the years.

None of them even want to recognize the one senator who has always had their backs, having introduced the most vet friendly legislation over the years, by a long mile.

I thought Trump was done when he mocked McCain. Then got told by my dad (a Nam vet who voted McCain) that he brought it on himself.

It took a ****ing comedian getting serious to get help for burn pit victims cause uncle sane was just too bothered once again, not to mention what he did for 9/11 first responders.

I have really struggled over the years trying to understand the other side. Trying to find any sort of empathy, let alone sympathy for the other argument.

Well said…which is why I get tired of trying to explain to people like Northern, constantly, why they’re backwards. It doesn’t sink in, but I’m an asshole because I don’t want to discuss something with them 20 times. They’re adults. Freaking learn.

 

[lucas80]

Incidentally, I heard some reporting today that ethanol subsidies are on the chopping block, and Ashley Hinson had a face to face meeting today with McCarthy to eliminate those cuts. I'll wager $100 that Ashley didn't say a word about VA cuts, but will probably get a positive response on the ethanol subsidies. Senator Breadbags who never wastes an opportunity to tell us she's a veteran won't say boo in public over VA cuts. Ethanol? Nah. Over her politically dead body.

 

[4ohs]

Well said…which is why I get tired of trying to explain to people like Northern, constantly, why they’re backwards. It doesn’t sink in, but I’m an asshole because I don’t want to discuss something with them 20 times. They’re adults. Freaking learn.

Learning is tough, and it challenges you’re ideas, you’re beliefs. My ex wife’s (you don’t want a pic) father was proud he’d never read a book because he was successful. He disdained education.

It never sinks in. They don’t allow new information. They live critiquing others, yet are incapable doing so to themself. There is no self awareness, nor any shame in the confidence. It’s a damn brick wall, and I’ve been pounding my head against it for way too long.

 

[mnole03]

Many gave their last true measure of devotion. All vets should be taken care of. 100% no questions asked. Got a family full of them. All with health problems. All still sitting solidly R cause they apparently refuse to see what’s been explicitly shown them over the last 2-3 decades.

Hesitancy over taking care of our vets is one of, for me, the most rage inducing road blocks I’ve encountered over the years.

None of them even want to recognize the one senator who has always had their backs, having introduced the most vet friendly legislation over the years, by a long mile.

I thought Trump was done when he mocked McCain. Then got told by my dad (a Nam vet who voted McCain) that he brought it on himself.

It took a ****ing comedian getting serious to get help for burn pit victims cause uncle sane was just too bothered once again, not to mention what he did for 9/11 first responders.

I have really struggled over the years trying to understand the other side. Trying to find any sort of empathy, let alone sympathy for the other argument.

John Kerry and Max Cleland had Silver Stars.

Trump made fun of a Gold Star mother and won the election.

 

[theiacowtipper]

Yeah, you’ll save a ton of money by limiting telemedicine for combat veterans with mental health problems. That won’t come back to bite you.

It will be much cheaper when they kill themselves.

 

[Tom Paris]

Learning is tough, and it challenges you’re ideas, you’re beliefs. My ex wife’s (you don’t want a pic) father was proud he’d never read a book because he was successful. He disdained education.

It never sinks in. They don’t allow new information. They live critiquing others, yet are incapable doing so to themself. There is no self awareness, nor any shame in the confidence. It’s a damn brick wall, and I’ve been pounding my head against it for way too long.

I’m sorry. I know it’s maddening.

 

[4ohs]

John Kerry and Max Cleland had Silver Stars.

Trump made fun of a Gold Star mother and won the election.

What’s really ingratiating, is that I get their beefs with government. I know why they don’t trust it and understand their arguments, agreeing with many of them.

Then they chose Trump as their standard bearer and have relentlessly backed such an unworthy individual. Trump could have done a LOT of good, could have broke barriers. An outsider finally breaking Washington down, exposing everything we’ve all known was there?

But he didn’t. He pays homage to greed and selfishness. You could literally see on his face the disappointment anytime he had to make a statement or approve a policy that didn’t immediately improve his own well being.

 

[SolarHawk]

If people would stop cheering on these foreign follies when their party is in office, we wouldn't have a need for much of this.

That aside, we need to care for everyone but we also need to recognize that there's bloat in government programs.

As previously stated, times are tough. Everyone is going to feel it.

Times are tough? For who?

 

[4ohs]

Times are tough? For who?

Not anyone filling the parking lot of the restaurant across the street every single night. I’ve been told the same, and in the next breath telling me the deal they got on some waygu beef.

But yeah Vets need to suffer more. Obviously.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

But as long as they beat their chest with "support the troops" rhetoric and wear their flag lapels, they won't lose a single vote. I think we figured out the GOPs strategy here.

Since the war began, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute.

How Much Aid Has the U.S. Sent Ukraine? Here Are Six Charts.

Six charts illustrate the extraordinary level of support the United States has provided Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.

www.cfr.org