Tag Archives: veterans

Occupy Wall Street, Obama, The American Jobs Act, Veterans & Patriots

The same way that they filibustered the The American Jobs Act of 2011, Senate Republicans filibustered the Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012. According to the Examiner, here,

the proposal failed 58-40, with most Republicans voting against it. Sixty votes were needed to overcome the procedural hurdle and push the bill toward final passage. Five Republicans – Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Dean Heller (Nev.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) – voted with all 53 members of the Democratic Conference to sidestep the procedural roadblock.

I know the Republicans CLAIM to be “Fiscal Conservatives” and “Patriots” but the evidence shows that they are neither.
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Admiral and Mrs. Mullen on NPR – frank discussion of suicide, post-service homelessness in military

Here’s the summary of Scott Simon’s interview with Admiral and Mrs. Mike Mullen.  Admiral Mullen is the serving Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I found their candor and compassion – no easy answers, no platitudes, no avoidance of responsibility – striking:

In September, four soldiers at Ft. Hood, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, took their own lives in the course of one week. More than a hundred Army troops have killed themselves this year. Host Scott Simon talks with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deborah, about the increased efforts to curb suicides by military servicemen and women.

Link to interview. We’ll post transcript when it’s available, expected later today.

Mark Benjamin of Salon shreds Army credibility on report denying manipulation of PTSD diagnoses

-In an interview broadcast this morning on WNYC, Mark Benjamin, national correspondent for Salon.com, discredits an Army report which found that no manipulation of PTSD diagnoses at Fort Carson, Colorado. It seems appropriate to start by removing what is, on its, face, a strong piece of evidence – the Army’s self-exoneration. In the WNYC interview, Benjamin points out that:

  • What was released was a “summary” of an “informal” investigation
  • The summary report was itself heavily redacted, thus greatly reducing its persuasive value.
  • It ignored a tape recording supporting the underlying claim, earlier reported by Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

In other words, had the investigation been conducted by an inspector general, outside of the chain of command, offered some protection to witnesses concerned about retaliation, and at least took account of the original recording – the investigation’s conclusion(s) would be more credible for a number of reasons: (1) absence of a motive to fabricate, or a motive to ignore, evidence; (2) Offered witnesses – essentially whistle-blowers – some protection; and (3) didn’t obviously ignore relevant and facially credible evidence.

“I believe that I did have PTSD” is the latest piece in a series by Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna on Salon.com.

Links to their earlier pieces can be found at the bottom of the page.

PTSD Resources

At the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey

National Center for PTSD

VetTrauma.org

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Overview – Military Benefits from Military.com

The shrinking G.I. Bill

The Post World War II G.I. Bill paid 100% of tuition for veterans. Plus other benefits. Now it maxes out at $800 month. As U.S. Senators Jim Webb and Chuck argued in “A Post-Iraq G.I. Bill,”The New York Times, November 8, 2007: “[i]t is hardly enough to allow a veteran to attend man community colleges.

“In terms of providing true opportunity, the World War II G.I. Bill was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history. It paid college tuition and fees, bought textbooks and provided a monthly stipend for eight million of the 16 million who served. Many of our colleagues in the Senate who before the war could never have dreamed of college found themselves at some of the nation’s finest educational institutions.

Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey went to Columbia on the G.I. bill; John Warner of Virginia to Washington and Lee and the University of Virginia Law School; Daniel Inouye of Hawaii to the University of Hawaii and the George Washington University Law School; and Ted Stevens of Alaska to the University of California, Los Angeles, and Harvard Law School.

College costs have skyrocketed, and a full G.I. Bill for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan would be expensive. But Congress has recently appropriated $19 billion next year for federal education grants purely on the basis of financial need. A G.I. Bill for those who have given so much to our country, often including repeated combat tours, should be viewed as an obligation.

We must put together the right formula that will demonstrate our respect for those who have stepped forward to serve in these difficult times. First-class service to country deserves first-class appreciation.

Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel, A Post-Iraq G.I. Bill

, The New York Times, November 9, 2007.