Obama Purposely Left Out One Entitlement Program: Veterans Benefits
Obama has decided that he just has to overhaul entitlement spending like Social Security and Medicare but he omitted one program and that is veterans benefits. To begin with it is important that I give a little education on entitlement programs. Government entitlement programs include several items such as Social Security, medicare and veterans benefits. (Not to be snide or anything but all American citizens that are entitled to these programs prepare to bend over because what ever Obama plans to do to these programs will not be pretty.)
Here is the information that is important on entitlement programs:
ENTITLEMENT SPENDING refers to funds for programs like Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, & veterans’ benefits. Funding levels are automatically set by the number of eligible recipients, not at the discretion of Congress.
Each person eligible for benefits by law receives them unless Congress changes the eligibility criteria. Entitlement payments represent the largest portion of the federal budget.
Everyone assumes that Social Security and Medicare are just for Seniors. This is not true. There are many disabled children that receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and there are many people younger than 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and some are veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the younger people receiving SSDI are veterans. The disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with egregious war injuries qualify and receive these benefits as well. There are roughly 25 million veterans in this country with at least 2.9 million veterans considered disabled. More veterans are aware of veterans compensation programs with the numbers increasing every day.
Some portion of these veterans, myself included are considered 100% disabled and unemployable. Those that fall into this category of disabled veterans qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (in most cases) in addition to veterans benefits. Social Security and Medicare are important to this population of veterans because of one fact, some veterans claims sit at Department of Veterans Affairs for years at a time unprocessed.
These veterans live on little more than their SSDI for years on end. They fight a system that is supposed to be bound by “the benefit of doubt goes to the veteran”, which is not the case. I know many veterans that are caught in this catch-22, their plight goes unnoticed.
What does this have to with Obama’s statement about entitlement spending? I believe he purposely left out veterans compensation to keep panic down among the military and veterans population. If he does “fix” the sustem nothing good will come of it especially with the VA.
Many tries have been made at “fixing” the VA system, all have failed. There are still long wait times for claims to be processed and even longer wait times for appeals often moving back and forth from regional offices and The Bureau of Veterans Appeals (some appeals have been waiting for 20 years for settlement). I don’t see any real fixes coming for the system, I see cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Benefits. And all of this is bad news for 2.9 million veterans and the so many other people receiving Social Security benefits.
1DiamondTiger
wrote on 8 January 2009 at 21:42
I am expecting some really interesting surprises to go along with the sales job he tried to do today.
we shall wait and see…
2SSIwillIncreaseInBenefits
wrote on 9 January 2009 at 14:07
Obama and Demogrants will protect SSI-Supplemental Security Income for those that have Never If Ever worked a single day in their lives.
You know who these people are. They are all out shopping on the 1st of the month. They all have Handicapped Placards on their plates or hangers.
Some of these people have been on SSI since 1974 because, They Are Depressed.
That’s right, you can collect in California SSI & SSP (This is why California is going flat broke!) at $907 an Individual and $1,560 a couple, ALL TAX FREE, ALL THE TIME.
Illegals can at age 65 come here and collect SSI & SSP.
Foreigners with a Sponsor can come here and collect SSI & SSP. This all includes MediCal, MediCaid, MediCare Part D, HUD/Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers both for Rental and/or Section 8 Homeownership. Check Pelosi’s October 1st, 2008 1st Stimulus Package-> HR-3221 and Maxine Water’s of Fannie/Fredde Fame-> HR-1851.
The 1st Stimulus was Power packed with Funding for Low-Income EVERYHING, nothing in it was there to help a Lower Middle-Class person at all.
The same will be with this 2nd Stimulus. Yes, Obama WILL cut the heck out of Senior Citizen Social Security & MediCare,for those Senior’s That Worked and Paid FICA.
But he will BLOAT, Swell, and Increase SSI benefits.
Social Security just received a raise in 25 years, SSI-for those that never worked, receives a COLA EACH YEAR.
Social Security pays taxes, SSI pays ZERO.
SSI CAN OWN A HOME ANY SIZE, ANY VALUE WHATSOEVER.
Their home can be paid for, free & clear, they still get SSI.
When ‘Head of Household’ get’s SSI,the entire family living there gets an SSI check too. A mail person can tell you some homes get a 1 inch thick stack!
Obama & Demogrants don’t care about Boomers or Old people, they care about the ‘Tweekers’ ‘Alcoholics’ ‘Crazies’ that have gotten SSI for decades with very minscule followup for a decade or more.
The Largest SSI collecting catagory is ‘Mental Other’ i.e., Depression, Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Agoraphobia, Can’t Read or Speak English qualifies, and there are millions of Able Bodied Frauds on SSI, that Never miss a Check or Get Re-Reviewed, or Re-Screened.
This SSI is the Problem, it’s tax free, full of fraud.
But,SSI will get more in this New Stimulus, while the FICA workers are cut.
Time for a Great Awakening
3navyvet48
wrote on 9 January 2009 at 14:22
I am not certain you are correct. I am afraid whatever The Big O’s plan is it won’t be good. I worry. I served my country and now I am disabled because of my service. This is what happens when you serve the military. My mother who worked on and off despite having schizophrenia could never get SSI. She was always refused….hers was a very disabling mental illness…the medications prescribed to her did little for her illness and left her with horrible side affects.
I have depression, PTSD as well physical disabilities….and as I said I have worked for half my life…I know I deserve my SSDI…
By the way my SSDI is taxable income. I pay taxes every month….
SSI isn’t all bad…my brother who has mental retardation and autism now receives SSI and Medicaid….funny thing is he has worked most of his life….he is in his 50s now. He decided three years ago that he didn’t want to work anymore because frankly he has been harassed over the years by co-workers…it was not an easy life for him. I am proud of him because he was the first person with MR/autism to be moved to work outside the shelter in our hojmetown back in MA. He has often been my hero….
4Torch Bearer
wrote on 10 January 2009 at 1:16
John McCain urges entitlement reform
June 16th 09:05:45 AM
Senator John McCain spoke to the Economic Club of New York a few days ago. A key excerpt:
A tsunami of entitlement spending is threatening our economy, while providing no real security to retirees. We have made promises that we cannot keep. Under moderately optimistic scenarios Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will in the decades to come grow as large as the entire government is today. Someday the government will be forced to make drastic cuts in these programs, or crippling increases in taxes on workers – or both. The longer we wait to make the hard choices necessary to repair these programs, the harder the problem becomes. My children and their children will not receive the benefits we will enjoy. That is an inescapable fact, and any politician who tells you otherwise, Democrat or Republican, is lying. It is hardly statesmanship to ignore the obvious imperative of reducing the growth of spending for retiree income support, health care, and long-term care. And yet, year after year, our government fails to act. This failure has a real and distressing cost. Our workers make their retirement plans based on promised benefits that cannot be paid even if we burden our children with crippling taxes. If we fix the system now, people will have time to plan accordingly, to ensure that they still have a comfortable retirement. If we wait, we make the problem worse and, in effect, lie to Americans who we encouraged to put their trust in a broken system. I have long supported supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts – but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept. People of good faith in both parties agree that we must make the hard decisions to restore solvency to these programs and that personal accounts can ease the impact of slower benefit growth. But, too often, we prefer to nurture our own ambitions rather than defend the public interest. It is long past time for our two parties to sit down together and fix our pressing entitlement problems. And while it is a smaller problem than health care, we should start with Social Security because the fix is obvious in comparison, and much simpler.
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It’s just too bad we elected Obumble instead of McCain. McCain was not afraid to cut Veteran’s Benefits and he would have gotten rid of Social Security and Medicare like Ronald Reagan should have. Instead we’ll watch while Obumble continues communistic public entitlements instead of giving Veterans personal savings accounts paid for out of their monthly stipend and then they can make their own contributions after they leave the service. The private industry would handle all of these issues better as Halliburton and KBR have proven better able to service our troops in Iraq than when things like food service and supply were handled by the military.
5navyvet48
wrote on 10 January 2009 at 2:46
We can’t cut veterans benefits. Sorry. Average veterans benfits is roughly $600 per month. There are a number of us who can no longer work. The government doesn’t need to be involved with my benefits. I give my husband most of my benefits. We save for our future since he is a fiscal conservative. McCain was and idiot for the votes he made on Veterans Benefits but what does he care he gets star treatment at the Phoenix VA. As for me the VA refuses to treat me. My hands are disasters, they have refused to fix them saying….it won’t do any good. They refuse to make my appointments….I have to call them up and harass them. When I see my therapist….they charge my husband’s insurance twice what they do a civilian and they charge for outpatient services more than 2x times what they pay my civilian doctor! The VA is getting their money back by ripping off employer health care plans…
By the way veterans benefits are not communistic entitlements. I served my country and was left 100% disabled by my service that gives you the right to make BS charges! When you serve this country the way I did come back and tell me about then I will by your bullshit!