Source: veterans-for-common-sense.org

Veterans Demand Apology from GOP and FOX for Lies About VA
Written by Veterans for Common Sense
Thursday, 27 August 2009 12:36
August 27, 2009 - The claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a manual encouraging veterans to "commit suicide," made by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, is an asinine assertion with no basis in fact.

Steele made the charge two days ago (August 25th) on FOX News. Steele's egregious comments are an outrageous slander against VA designed to create an atmosphere of mistrust and fear among the millions of our veterans who rely on the VA for medical care. Veterans demand an apology from Steele and FOX News.

"Let me be absolutely clear, Steele lied. There is no VA manual encouraging veterans to commit suicide," said Paul Sullivan, the executive director of VCS, a non-profit based in Washington, DC providing advocacy for veterans, especially veterans with mental health conditions.

Here is the full text of Steele's comments:

"If you want an example of bad public policy, let's look at this situation with our veterans where you have a manual out there, telling our veterans stuff like, ‘Are you really a value to your community?' and, you know, encouraging them to commit suicide. This is crazy coming from the government, and this is exactly what concerns people, what puts them in fear of what government controlled health care, of health care, will look like."

Source: Fox News, August 25, 2009:




In 2007, VCS worked closely with CBS Evening News investigators and uncovered the rising suicide epidemic among veterans, especially younger Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. VCS encourages veterans who need mental health counseling to contact VA. VCS also supports VA's new suicide prevention hotline established in 2007. In less than two years of operation, the hotline answered 150,000 calls from distraught veterans. The existence of the suicide prevention hotline contradicts Steele's claims that VA promotes suicide. Source: CBS News, November 13, 2007.

The unconscionable comments by Steele on FOX News followed an attempt last Sunday by FOX News to selectively edit government documents in an effort to attack VA. According to Media Matters:

"On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace repeatedly cropped quotes from a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) document to falsely suggest that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely and to accuse Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth of lying about it. In fact, contrary to Wallace's false assertions, the document he referred to does not require doctors to direct veterans to what conservatives have labeled the 'Death Book for Veterans.'" Source: Media Matters, August 23, 2009.


Read more: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/inde...

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The GOP and FOX News, a bunch of low-life SOB's!

Source: CNN

What got cut from the stimulus bill
Story Highlights
Bipartisan group of senators reaches compromise on stimulus bill

Items partially cut include funds for FBI construction, federal hybrid cars, EPA

Items entirely cut include funds for federal prisons, NASA, school construction

(CNN) -- A coalition of Democrats and some Republicans reached a compromise that trimmed billions in spending from an earlier version of the Senate economic stimulus bill.

CNN obtained, from a Democratic leadership aide, a list of some programs that have been cut -- either entirely or partially:

Partially cut:

• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)

• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)

• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)

• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)

• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)

• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)

• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)

Fully eliminated

• $55 million for historic preservation

• $122 million for new Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters

• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization

• $50 million for CSERES research

• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation

• $30 million for SD salaries

• $100 for distance learning

• $98 million for school nutrition

• $50 million for aquaculture

• $2 billion for broadband

• $100 million for NIST

• $50 million for detention trustee

• $25 million for Marshalls Construction

• $300 million for federal prisons

• $300 million for BYRNE Formula

• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive

• $10 million state and local law enforcement

• $50 million for NASA

• $50 million for aeronautics

• $50 million for exploration

• $50 million for Cross Agency Support

• $200 million for National Science Foundation

• $100 million for science

• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees

• $4.5 billion for GSA

• $89 million GSA operations

• $50 million from DHS

• $200 million TSA

• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use

• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife

• $55 million for historic preservation

• $20 million for working capital fund

• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement

• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management

• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start

• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity

• $2 billion for HIT Grants

• $600 million for Title I (NCLB)

• $16 billion for school construction

• $3.5 billion for higher education construction

• $1.25 billion for project based rental

• $2.25 for Neighborhood Stabilization

• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing

• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/07/sti...

The way it should be done. No more scab outfits doing sub-standard work. You will find union jobs have a higher safety record than non-union contractors.