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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsthe Wounded Warrior Project makes me Sick!
I keep seeing the ads on TV, and have no problem with the fact that people are raising money for our returning veterans. In fact, my hat is off to them. BUT THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE RAISING MONEY!!! The government should be covering every last expense these men and women have, from traumatic brain injuries to ingrown fucking toenails!
The fact that private funds even need to be sought for the physical and mental health care of these Americans is disgraceful.
No, that's not me in the photo, but it summarizes perfectly the way that I feel, especially after the election on Tursday.
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randys1
(16,286 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Start trillion dollar wars without any adequate means to help returning troops.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Old Nick
(468 posts)
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)"Inspector General report seeks action against ex-Wounded Warrior director"
In early 2013, Pentagon leaders transferred Burdette from the Wounded Warrior program to the Pentagon department that oversees all military health operations. According to federal investigators, he left in his wake a demoralized workforce. The report disclosed that 19 Pentagon employees — including senior executives and former military members with decades of leadership experience — testified that Burdette would “bully” and “yell” at them. Behind their backs, investigators reported he degraded them with slurs such as “liar,” “criminal” and “stupid,” employing a leadership style of “mocking and punishing subordinates.” When asked if he inspired employees or fostered trust,“no one replied affirmatively; two were undecided and 17 said ‘no,'” according to the report.
Is it just a shared name? Is the Pentagon's 'Wounded Warrior program' something totally separate?
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Though I think they do some co-ordination with WWP and the American Legion.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)These two unending wars have totaled a cost of over 6 Trillions of dollars -
Why the friggin' fuck can't some money be found from those defense contractrers profits, instead of asking America's middle class?
We in the middle class have already given them everything - 12 million homes re-possessed, jobs sent overseas.
I'd like to repeal Congressional salaries until the damn BS stops.
Old Nick
(468 posts)Obama himself has spent six years cleaning up for Bush & Cheney.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)If you mean by "cleaning up" his ensuring, through his appointment of some of the most rabidly corrupt people on the face of the earth, so that he and Michelle will never have a single worry about finances after they leave the WH, in that sense of "cleaning up," then, yep you' re right.
His Geithner and Holder appointments alone will get him tens of millions of dollars, through speeches he will be allowed to make in front of corporate podiums. Add in the favors he did for Monsanto and other big Gm firms, add in the favors done for the nuclear industry, for big Insurers and Big Pharma, etc, and he will probably see some 500 millions of quid pro quo speech monies.
I mean, look at how Mr and Mrs Clinton have fared:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5785022
Old Nick
(468 posts)that Obama is wealthy, but that hasn't exempted him from having to deal with the shit left over from Bush-Cheney, just as the middle class is being asked through WWP to deal with it through financial means which the government, not us, should be doing. They already have our tax dollars; they should use them to support those injured in war rather than starting NEW wars.
We're on the same side here. 
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Us being on the same side.
JeffHead
(1,186 posts)I agree. Every time we go to war we ought to set aside twice the cost of the war to take care of the brave people who actually fight it.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)Old Nick
(468 posts)A Native-American has a right to shred the flag as far as I'm concerned. Hanging it upside-down is mild, given what the Proud Wavers of Old Glory have done to America's indigenous peoples. I wonder how many of the people complaining about this so-called "desecration" even know the history of our country?
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)
Ampersand Unicode
(503 posts)Heck, they probably would have voted for a third term for him if they could. Or skirt around the constitution and give his father a second one.
These so-called patriots worship at the altar of Pope Gipper and the Bush Caesars. Evangelical Reaganism is also a religion of mass human sacrifice. Except that the humans being sacrificed (women, PoC, LGBT) aren't considered human in the first place; therefore, it's not such a big sacrifice.
If you think of the Republican Party as a religion of sorts, the Tea Party is kind of like the Protestant Reformation, whereas "establishment Republicans" are sort of like the monied-government Catholic Church. (Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ike would be "cafeteria Christians" and therefore not "real Republicans" at all. If anything, by today's GOP standards they'd be considered heretics -- er, communists.) Reagan is actually Martin Luther leading the charge to restore the "true spirit of the faith." The Bushes are the Puritans carrying Reagan's torch for "freedom" and "manifest destiny," because, er... what have those big-gummint Roman commie Democrats ever done for us anyway?
Martin Eden
(15,754 posts)
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)But hey, it's the voters fault.
Old Nick
(468 posts)Ultimately, it really is the voters' fault. Far too many Americans have stood idly by while the moneyed interests have taken over our country, and I don't exempt myself from such judgment.
sorefeet
(1,241 posts)I hate that commercial and wouldn't give a dime to wounded warriors. Let the war mongers pay for it. Let Lockheed and Boeing and Cheneys and Bush and the Kochs and all the rich muther fuckers who make their fortunes off of war. Veterans should want for nothing if tptb insist on perpetual war. Do other countries treat their Vets like we do ours?????
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)
MH1
(19,225 posts)Anyone who will listen.
It's BULLSHIT that private funds have to be raised for what WWP says it is raising them for.
(on a side note, does anyone know how good WWP is with the funds it raises? Does it do what it says it does, or does it exist mainly to provide some good-paying "non-profit" jobs for a few people?)
Old Nick
(468 posts)Reply #6
TxDemChem
(1,924 posts)I hate that we need these and other programs to take care of our vets.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)And they seem to have a lot of money to advertise for donations, because I see it all the time. I am disgusted that we are asked to donate to wounded warriors as if they are a charity case instead of a government responsibility. Besides, every time I see ads like this all over the place, I don't trust the organization to be doing anything more than filling the pockets of the people running it.
Old Nick
(468 posts)Those well-produced ads do cost a lot! And viewing wounded Americans as "charity cases" is nothing short of nauseating.
zentrum
(9,870 posts)....often give the directors a hefty salary. Plus perks of all kinds. Should be researched checked out.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Charities often pay a lot to directors who have the rolodex to bring in a lot more money.
smokey nj
(43,853 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)
Wounded Bear
(64,469 posts)I don't trust them.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)58% actually gets to vets. That's dismal performance. So many of these "play-on-your-heartstrings" charities are bogus BS. Honestly? I'd feel better about handing a buck to a guy holding a sign saying "Homeless Vet - please help"
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Be upset at the government for not supporting them, but I don't understand why the charity would make you sick.
840high
(17,196 posts)seem ok to me.
Ampersand Unicode
(503 posts)There shouldn't be a need for charities like WWP because the government -- that is, we the people, and the CONS that sent them over to get mutilated and go insane -- should be providing for them. Not a charity organization. In other words, it should not be a voluntary gift but an obligation on the part of our nation to provide for the brave men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice to defend this country that unfortunately turns its back on them.
Say what one might about the Greatest Generation, but at least we gave them the GI bill to get back on their feet after WW2. All those necessary benefits for our soldiers and their loved ones got shredded to shit after Vietnam and are now an absolute pathetic shell of what they once were for the vets coming home from the Middle East. FFS, the very countries we're fighting treat their soldiers better than we do! And we call ourselves "civilized"? Geez, even the Roman emperors knew the importance of providing military pensions and keeping their soldiers comfortable, lest there be a revolt!
But yeah, what did the Romans ever do for us anyway...
mountain grammy
(29,112 posts)could help a lot of vets.
TxVietVet
(1,905 posts)or under their codeword "entitlements".
I ran across a story a week back where Sen. Tom Coburn, *conservanazi* OK, was whining about vets taking advantage of money available to them when they get disabled or retired. Coburn claimed one person would drawing $208,757 in disability and in retirement money. It sounds like the conservanazis' "welfare queen" fairy tale.
I personally believe that if the conservanazis can conquer Social Security, Medicare and Medicade, the VA will tumble too. The heartless bastards would through veterans to the gutter. I think this story is just the beginning of what they will try to do.
http://news.yahoo.com/report-says-60-000-veterans-triple-benefits-090023452--politics.html
Please pass on the link on your FB pages if you have one.
BTW, I don't give to the Wounded Warriors Project. It's very top heavy with lots of money flowing out to "directors".
haele
(15,498 posts)But that's because a max redux pay of an O-10 is 70% of his or her active duty pay after 38 years in service, which would be around $168K (before taxes and payments for insurance and survivor's benefits if you want your spouse to continue to get half your retirement and Tricare benefits after you pass)and SSDI would get him an extra $16K a year, unless a better disability rate can be got from the VA because that O-10 lost limbs, hearing, and eyesight in the line of duty. And how many retired O-10's with 38 years in service running around that would be getting that much money? Maybe what, 25 still alive?
Senators and Representatives that have served in the US Congress for that long get retirement at close to that level themselves. Are they going to get rid of their benefits?
The median max disability and retirement that veterans tend to get is more like $60 - $72K a year for minimum 30 years service - retiring around 50 years old. Median for 20 years service with disability gets around $46K a year and those vets also tend to rely on Social Security if they don't have any other pension to make ends meet. (I retired reserves after 10 years active, so I'll be getting even less - probably around $30K a year for my 21 years of service - and that's still way more than my 15 years of 401K will net me...)
Military retirement does give one more than being on Social Security, but this is supposed to be a pension that is not "earned" until the vet has served at least 20 years.
If you aren't an officer, aren't disabled and leave the service at 19 years, 10 months - there's no retainer and no retirement. You get your VA benefits (the education grants and home loans, the access to VA health care if you are below the income cut-off, job training and search services) - and that's the best you can hope for from your time and service.
Now, Senator Coburn gets a nice close to six-figure pension with a COLA that will soon push him into six figures as soon as he leaves, as well as free health care for him and his dependents, free services, and all sorts of nice farewell gifts that he gets just because he was a Senator for a while. Even though he probably only really worked a quarter of the time he served - unless one counts campaigning as working.
Is he going to give all that up and not claim the money available to him because he's already rich and doesn't need it?
Is he? Is he going to ask all his fellow congress-critters - past, current, and future - to not claim their pensions unless they "really, really need it" to stay off the streets?
Haele
hopemountain
(3,919 posts)support all of the "socialist" programs by donating and volunteering. remember reagan and bush calling us out to stand up and be real americans? donate & volunteer ... it's the american thing to do. 
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)
progressoid
(53,285 posts)But we got those cool F-35s.
F4lconF16
(3,747 posts)Pursuing an aerospace degree. I can't stomach the defense industry, and I would feel wrong perpetuating it.
Old Nick
(468 posts)It should be called the Defence of Aerospace Industry Profits Department.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)
spanone
(141,915 posts)$600 BILLION a year for the fucking pentagon and these poor patriotic kids have to go begging to get treatment.
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)good at using people and then when they become useless to MIC they are tossed into the trash heap. Most young people that I have talked to join the military because they have no other choice.
Old Nick
(468 posts)That was the title of a doc released many years ago about football players, but it applies tenfold to the troops this country claims to love so much.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)from Master of Puppets.
Old Nick
(468 posts)the MIC wants us to act like puppets. Well, no sale, at least on my part!
Also a Metallica song. And "Justice for All" and "Eye of the Beholder"
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)maced666
(771 posts)That lasted less than two years, as it grew into a mega charity.
I gave quarterly those first two years then stopped when the 99% thing went away.
jen63
(813 posts)whenever a charity gives you a "gift" with their logo on it for your donation. How much money would they save for vets if they weren't paying for those "gifts?" I don't want any thing for my donation. Save that money for someone who can use it. Really weird. I wonder how many feel like I do? I don't need to prance around in public with their gift to let every one know how great I am that I donated.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)every time that ad comes on TV.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Exactly. Care for service members is a debt that our government is obligated to pay.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Thank you for this OP. One more symptom of the utter contempt of our warmongering oligarchy for Americans...even the Americans they feed into the war machine for profit.
K&R
Old Nick
(468 posts)Yes, the chickenhawks always say that they love and admire our men and women in uniform. Isn't it funny, then, that these "admirers" of the military have, for the most part, never served in the military? Oh, sure, George W. Bush had the courage to defend Texas (or was it Alabama?) from those Godless Communist Mississipians during the Vietnam era in the Air National Guard. But Cheney didn't (getting five deferments well before the first of his five heart attacks), while Paul Wolfowitz, the architect of the Iraq War, was too busy writing papers.
And what about their kids? Any of Bush's, Cheney's, Rumsfeld's or Wolfowitz's kids in the military? What about Judith Miller's children, or John Bolton's, or Bill Kristol's? No, they're all perfectly happy to have OUR kids fight and bleed and die for THEIR agendas. The whole fucking ELITE makes me sick, not just the WWP!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)organizations like this shouldn't be necessary.
Ampersand Unicode
(503 posts)A family friend who had served in Vietnam, died of cancer last week. The obit said "In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Wounded Warrior Project."
WWP is a good organization with good intent, but you're absolutely right: there shouldn't even be a need for private organizations to fill the void that OUR GOVERNMENT should be providing for our veterans.
This is what happens when "private charity" has to make up ground for services that the public sector should be providing. Hello, Baggers? You supposedly "pro-military" (and anti-veteran) baggers, who claim that Democrats "hate our vets and spit on them"?
WE CAN'T GIVE TO EVERYONE AND NOBODY DESERVES TO BE LEFT OUT!*
*...except, of course, for the "charitable contributions" our government makes to poor, impoverished oil companies like Halliburton, in dire need of assistance after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.....
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Without the 58% that actually gets through, Vets who need and deserve the help it provides would get precious little.
In the absence of what those Vets SHOULD get from the government, I feel compelled to contribute.
While I understand the point of the OP, the subject line is not how I would initiate the discussion.