Obama Biden 2008 Plan for Veterans
September 8, 2008 by John Allen · 6 Comments
Obama Campaign to Hold Veterans Forum
Read Obama’s Full 5 Page Plan for Veterans Affairs
This past Tuesday, Barack Obama’s Veterans Affairs adviser 1st Lt. Bill Dooling (Ret.) led discussions in Indianapolis, Anderson and Fort Wayne on Barack Obama’s plan to build a 21st century Veterans Administration, according to a press release from the Obama campaign.
The forum included fully funding for our VA medical facilities, expanding the number of veterans centers, and ensuring veterans have every opportunity to succeed following their service to our country.
1st Lt. Bill Dooling (Ret.) is a union organizer, retired teacher of 30 years, and Vietnam Veteran of the U.S. Army Security Agency. Since 2004, he has served on the Democratic National Committee’s Veterans and Military Families Council.
"People need to find out about Obama’s 21st Century Veterans Administration Plan", says Dooling
"Keeping faith with those who serve must always be a core American value and a cornerstone of American patriotism. Because America’s commitment to its servicemen and women begins at enlistment, and it must never end."
— Barack Obama, Speech in Kansas City, MO, August 21, 2007
The Problem
- Wounded Troops Suffer: The Walter Reed scandal showed that we don’t always provide returning service members with the care they deserve.
- Veterans Budget Shortfalls: In 2005, a multi-billion dollar VA funding shortfall required Congress to step in and bail out the system.
- Benefits Bureaucracy is Broken: There are currently more than 400,000 claims pending with the Veterans Benefits Administration. VA error rates have grown to more than 100,000 cases a year.
- There is Shortage of Care for PTSD: Veterans are coming home with record levels of combat stress, but we are not adequately providing for them.
Barack Obama’s PlanA Sacred Trust
Barack Obama believes America has a sacred trust with our veterans. He is committed to creating a 21st Century Department of Veterans’ Affairs that provides the care and benefits our nation’s veterans deserve.
- Allow All Veterans Back into the VA: One of Obama’s first acts will be reversing the 2003 ban on enrolling modest-income veterans, which has denied care to a million veterans.
- Strengthen VA Care: Obama will make the VA a leader of national health care reform so that veterans get the best care possible. He will improve care for polytrauma vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging, and women’s health.
- Combat Homelessness among Our Nation’s Veterans: Obama will establish a national "zero tolerance" policy for veterans falling into homelessness by expanding proven programs and launching innovative services to prevent veterans from falling into homelessness.
- Fight Veterans Employment Discrimination: Obama will crack down on employers who commit job discrimination against guardsmen and reservists.
Help for Returning Service Members
Obama will improve the quality of health care for veterans, rebuild the VA’s broken benefits system, and combat homelessness among veterans.
- Ensure a Seamless Transition: Obama will demand that the military and the VA coordinate to provide a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life.
- Fully Fund VA Medical Care: Barack Obama will fully fund the VA so it has all the resources it needs to serve the veterans who need it, when they need it. Obama will establish a world-class VA Planning Division to avoid future budget shortfalls.
- Fix the Benefits Bureaucracy: Obama will hire additional claims workers, and improve training and accountability so that VA benefit decisions are rated fairly and consistently. He also will transform the paper benefit claims process to an electronic one to reduce errors and improve timeliness.
Improved Mental Health Treatment
Obama will improve mental health treatment for troops and veterans suffering from combat-related psychological injuries.
- Improve Mental Health Treatment: Obama will improve mental health care at every stage of military service. He will recruit more health professionals, improve screening, offer more support to families and make PTSD benefits claims fairer.
- Improve Care for Traumatic Brain Injury: Obama will establish standards of care for Traumatic Brain Injury, the signature injury of the Iraq war.
- Expand Vet Centers: Obama will expand and strengthen Vet Centers to provide more counseling for vets and their families.
Barack Obama’s Record
Record of Advocacy:
Click to Read the McCain-Palin Plan
Read Obama’s Full 5 Page Plan for Veterans Affairs: http://obama.3cdn.net/975b85c9939790ce2e_kr41mvuq5.pdf
I applaud Senator Obama’s plan to change how this nation cares for veterans. However, nowhere in his 5-page plan do I see any mention of our POW/MIAs or their families. I find this to be an unacceptable oversight.
POW/MIA advocate in Michigan
And you expect more from McCain?
When is Barak Obama going to make sure that all of the pending V.A. claims get taken care of? My husband has been fighting to get his V.A. benefits for over 20 years.
When men and women are asked to serve their country and leave their families to go over seas and risk their lives to protect their country, then they should not have to come home and fight for their benefits.
The United States of America is a piss poor country that doesn’t take care of their own , but has their nose stuck in other countries trying to tell them what to do.
How about taking care of your own before going abroad and helping others!
just tonight i watched on a new broadcast the obama what have the vetens pay for their medicine and hospital care, if he does this and gets this passed the nation promise to veterns will be broken.
Like I said back in Janurary of 2009. We help other countries but not our own. We could have housed many homeless people in Bangor, Maine using the abandoned Wal-Mart store but instead they chose to tear it down and build a new one in the wet lands that we were all against. When big co-operations have lots of money then paying fines to the EPA is no big deal.
If our President was smart and fullfilled his campaign promise then the Veterans would have they’re benefits and the economy would be fixed.
Oh! but we need to go help the people in Hatti. Who cares about the ones in the good old U.S.A. Let them go homeless and starve to death. When they go to see a doctor then just turn them away cause they have no health insurance. When they go to get a loan at a bank then just turn them away again because they have bad credit.
Looks like smoke and mirrors.
I want out of the DVA system altogether. This crap has been said MANY times before, and it is business as usual within a few months. the VA system is severely flawed, and the only way to solve the problem, is if we all stand up and outright sue the DVA.
When they see thousands of Veterans filing a Class Action THEN they will listen.
I want out altogether, and not have to deal with the Bureacratic BS. Life is to short, and I no longer want to play by THEIR Illogical rules.
Go here and read my blog. It’s a short version, of what I’ve been through.
thank You.
Bruce M.
http://usgovissues.blogspot.com/