Bernie Sanders Plan to Address Veterans' Needs

[HerbChestnut]

https://berniesanders.com/issues/


While serious people can have legitimate differences about when our country should go to war, there should never be a debate whether we fulfill the promises made to the men and women who served this country in the military. As a nation, we have a moral obligation to provide the best quality care to those who have put their lives on the line to defend us.



Sen. Sanders believes that just as planes and tanks and guns are a cost of war, so is taking care of the men and women who we sent off to fight the war. It includes caring for the spouses and children who have to rebuild their lives after the loss of a loved one. It includes caring for the hundreds of thousands of veterans with multiple amputations or loss of eyesight, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. It includes veterans who are having difficulty keeping jobs in order to pay their bills, and it includes the terrible tragedy of veterans committing suicide. 



As the former Chairman and a current member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, one of Sen. Sanders’ highest priorities in Congress has been ensuring that our veterans receive the care and benefits they have earned.

Amid reports of unacceptable wait times at many VA medical facilities last year, Sen. Sanders spearheaded a bipartisan effort to pass the most comprehensive veterans’ legislation in decades. The landmark Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act increases accountability within the VA and ensures that all veterans have access to timely health care.

The law written by Sanders strengthens the VA health care system by authorizing 27 new medical facilities and by providing $5 billion to hire more doctors and nurses to care for the surging number of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It provides incentives to attract young doctors to the VA. It makes it easier for some veterans to see private doctors or go to community health centers, Department of Defense facilities or Indian Health Centers. It expanded VA educational benefits and improved care for survivors of sexual trauma while serving in the military.

Sen. Sanders wants to build on a program he has championed in Vermont, where the National Guard operates an innovative outreach program to provide pre-deployment and post-deployment support to family members and service members. This effort has been hugely successful in terms of making sure that veterans know about and receive the health care, mental health counseling, family assistance, transition assistance and other benefits they need to make sure they can live a healthy and productive life.

Moving forward, Sen. Sanders wants to expand veterans’ benefits by making comprehensive dental care available to all veterans at VA medical centers, and by expanding caregiver provisions. He believes we must do more to meet the mental health needs of our veterans, especially those who have served in harm’s way. We must fully restore cuts to military pensions that were insisted upon by Republicans in the last budget deal.
Instead of cutting benefits for the men and women who have served our country, we should ask the most profitable corporations and the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share.

Sen. Sanders also strongly believes that we must end the travesty of veterans’ homelessness. While huge gains have been made over the past six years, the fact that on any given night there are fifty thousand homeless veterans on the street is a national disgrace. We also need to make further improvements to the VA disability claims process, which while significantly streamlined, still takes far too long for many veterans.
Key Actions:

1. Authored the historic Veterans’ Access, Choice and Accountability Act to improve care and increase accountability at the VA.

2. Co-sponsored the Post-9/11 GI Bill to allow a new generation of veterans, servicemembers and dependents to seek a college degree.

3. Co-sponsored the Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act, to ensureVA facilities meet the needs of women veterans, and require every VA medical center to have obstetricians or gynecologists on staff.

4. Introduced legislation to restore all cuts to military pensions.

As President, Sen. Sanders will:

1. Fully fund and expand the VA so that every veteran gets the care that he or she has earned and deserves.

2. Substantially improve the processing of Veterans’ claims for compensation.

3. Expand the VA’s Caregivers Program.

4. Expand mental health service for Veterans.

5. Make comprehensive dental care available to all veterans at the VA.

[NuclearDem]

1. That's it?

O'Malley's plan to address issues faced by military families alone is longer than this whole proposal.

Where's the position on the 90/10 loophole?

Does he know why the VA health system backlog is so severe?

What does he plan to do to make DOD and VA health databases more cross-compatible?

What does he plan to do to hold VA executives accountable?

Does he believe in expanding GI Bill benefits to families of servicemembers?

How does he plan to address military sexual assault?

What does he plan to do about reforming the military justice system?

What protections will he guarantee for LGBT servicemembers?

Will he erase the OTH discharges for servicemembers discharged under DADT?

Does he support including women in combat roles? If so, what does he plan to do on the matter?

[Fearless]

2. Half or more of your questions are obvious.

[NuclearDem]

4. No, they're not.

These are complex issues requiring complex, detailed proposals.

"It should be obvious" it's not a policy proposal. O'Malley, for example, has a detailed explanation of what he believes is wrong with the VA health system, why the backlog is so severe, what he plans to do to fix it, and why he believes his proposal to fix it will work.

These are not questions with obvious answers.

[Fearless]

5. There actually are obvious answers. These are simple questions.

Is the VA underfunded. Yes. Should more funding be made available for personnel care? Yes. Should post-service services be increased, in particular for PTSD and other mental traumas? Yes.

Bernie Sanders was in charge of that committee in the Senate. His views are very clear on the topics at hand. Google them.

[NuclearDem]

7. I have looked for Sanders' answers on these questions.

They either don't exist, or don't exist in any meaningful detail.

And no, the trouble with the VA health system and the suicide epidemic is not simply solved by "needs more money." O'Malley has clear, detailed proposals to tackle the underlying issues. Sanders does not.

[Dawgs]

3. Jesus Christmas. We don't have to know every position on every issue right now.

It's about trust on what we already know.

I mean do you really think the answers to all of those questions matter now anyways, or that Bernie wouldn't address them if he actually did become President?

Come on. Give us more credit than that please.

[NuclearDem]

6. O'Malley has addressed every single one of these issues.

Clinton has addressed every single one of these issues.

IAVA and other veterans advocacy groups have been lobbying Veterans Affairs and Congressional officials for years with solutions to every one of these issues.

And O'Malley and Clinton weren't the damn chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

There's absolutely zero excuse for why there isn't a detailed proposal on these issues from the Sanders campaign.

[Aerows]

8. He has a plan to address their issues.

It's more than time to start discussing the direction our country is going in with regard to supporting our veterans, and I appreciate Bernie Sanders stepping up and speaking about the ways we can improve the lives of those returning home from war.

[LWolf]

9. K & R

[beam me up scottie]

10. K & R!

More positive threads, please!