HELP! I was Evil, and NOW I MUST PAY!!!

[IdaBriggs]

Urk. I was being mischevious and started a Spam thread to a (right wing) e-mail list I accidently ended up on through a friend of my father-in-law. (Long story) Anyway, this is what I sent --

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS -- If you love America and the people who serve in our Armed Services, please visit this page, and pass it on to as many people as you can. No matter who gets elected in November, our troops deserve BETTER!!!

http://www.ericblumrich.com/vets.html

To which one of the kind people replied --

=== (NOT ME) ===

Alright, enough is enough. Do not send me this bullshit when the truth is that the facts in this nicely put together presentation are skewed, partisan and in many cases flat wrong. If you are going to send me rheteroic and expect me to believe it then you better be able to defend it. Quit trying to say that your e-mail is not political posturing because that is all it is.

You want the truth; here it is. Go to http://thomas.loc.gov and click on fiscal year 2005 appropriations then click on VA, HUD highlights. It will show that there is a 1.3 billion increase in proposed budget from last year and the House recommended 800 million on top of that. How is that short changing our vets? 2004 has a similar story and so on. I do not have time to do all your homework but it is quite obvious you and others like you need someone to do it. If you look want to look at some other startling numbers, look at the past administration on defense. Kind of goes hand in hand. If you do not have the best equipment for the current troops, then there would be less veterns and more casulities.

I can respect everyone's opinion on who to vote for, whether the war in Iraq is just, your opinions on who will do a better job on the economy, terror, etc. But just make sure you have the facts straight.
========

HELP!!! I am NOT an expert in the VA stuff. I was just being a smart aleck!!! Do I owe him (and everybody else on the list) an apology? HELP!!! I don't want to be spreading misinformation! HELP!!!

[wryter2000]

1. Hmmm

Did you follow his link? I did, and I can't see what in heck he's referring to.

On edit: I guess I found it. Maybe you could forward it to the website when the link you sent your friends for a response? :shrug:

[Karenina]

2. The VA is a mess

according to anecdotes over the past years from a dear one who is a department head. They're understaffed, overworked and frustrated coping with the influx of new patients.

AN APOLOGY??? I don't think so. Maybe these will help.

Benefits: (N.B. having benefits legislated and actually receiving them in a timely fashion are two different things).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1698452

Illnesses and Injuries:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x596357

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x736996

[IdaBriggs]

3. Thanks. I think I need more, tho...

...so I'm going to repost in "General Discussion." Hopefully some of the folks there may have more information/knowledge. I appreciate your help!!! :) Best, Ida