December 27, 2005
Fuck The Troops
The spiraling cost of post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans has triggered a politically charged debate and ignited fears that the government is trying to limit expensive benefits for emotionally scarred troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.In the past five years, the number of veterans receiving compensation for the disorder commonly called PTSD has grown nearly seven times as fast as the number receiving benefits for disabilities in general, according to a report this year by the inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs. A total of 215,871 veterans received PTSD benefit payments last year at a cost of $4.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 1999 -- a jump of more than 150 percent.
Experts say the sharp increase does not begin to factor in the potential impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the increase is largely the result of Vietnam War vets seeking treatment decades after their combat experiences. Facing a budget crunch, experts within and outside the Veterans Affairs Department are raising concerns about fraudulent claims, wondering whether the structure of government benefits discourages healing, and even questioning the utility and objectivity of the diagnosis itself.
"On the one hand, it is good that people are reaching out for help," said Jeff Schrade, communications director for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. "At the same time, as more people reach out for help, it squeezes the budget further."
Among the issues being discussed, he said, was whether veterans who show signs of recovery should continue to receive disability compensation: "Whether anyone has the political courage to cut them off -- I don't know that Congress has that will, but we'll see."
Yeah, you read that right: cutting off benefits is to be considered a "courageous" act.
Posted by Eddie Tews at December 27, 2005 11:12 AM
Comments
This may seem mean or inconsiderate, but is it wrong for the military to cut down on bullshit?
I have been doing VA loans for years, and work with at least two veterans a day, and yes there are some who have issues and some serious issues. Of the hundreds that I have met only one seemed to really have problems, and he was a MIA POW. I met one vet who was missing am arm and a leg, had broke his back, and still had bullets in his real leg. He was the recipient of five purple hearts, and had gone through serious drama in three wars, and came home to a wife that left him. Long story short, he deserved any help he could get, but he didn't want or need it. Now on the other hand, I have dealt with many many vets who were abusing the sysyetm and collecting benifits that they were basically scamming. Now they bragged about this. They could claim some bullshit mental illness from the war and get paid for it. Many of these guys weren't even actual combat, they were cooks and etc. One lady felt that she was really a man, and the VA paid for her sex change, and then paid her because the sex change was a disability. Then she/he claimed that he had a mental disability. Anyways he/she had an over 100% disabilty rating and was getting paid big bucks to do nothing. Some of these benifits paid for her "medical" marijuana. She/he drove to Berkeley to get this weed that was called "train wreck" and it cost good money. him/her and his/her girlfriend and friends would all smoke this, and this person laughed at he loved to get high, and how easy it is to scam the system.
Now the point is that when the government cracks down, or tries to prevent this type of bullshit, people try to say it's anti-military. It's all bullshit.
I had a friends father who was a military career man, and Clinton shut down his base, he lost his job and his house! -- Posted by: The Truth Hurts on December 28, 2005 09:02 AM
Fuck the troops? FUCK YOU! If I knew where you were I would buy a plane ticket out there TODAY and beat the living fuck out of you! You are a total piece of shit. -- Posted by: Jeff Aldridge on March 14, 2006 08:24 AM