Hello Joe B

   Thank You for the links and for recognizing the sacrafices made by those who have served our country.

    There is one particular group of veterans that I hope gets more attention from the incoming administration than from past administrations. That is our homeless Veterans. It seems that once our soldiers finally do return home, they are somehow lost in the shuffle of partisan politics and budget restraints. Now, we have soldiers coming home from the Middle East and adding to the ranks of our homeless veterans spanning all the way back to WW11.

   Thank You Joe, for allowing us the opportunity to offer our support for all of our service members in your forum here.

Hundreds of OEF/OIF Vets Homeless
Numbers Rising
(article from the Washington Post, scroll at the end of this page)
700,000 Homeless Veterans (Read the article below)
300, 000 back From War with TBI
http://www.veteransvillage.org/Homeless.html

Sincerely, Billdaddy

Well I guess we can have our conversation here as some only want one sided posts in their forums.  Of course my forum is ope for any discussion but it seems folks are scared to have these discussions without preconditions as our President Elect would.

Yes it is a travesty, that no clean legislation could come over the past two years since the left wing of the democrat party too control of the house and senate in 2006.  Instead they loaded pork and unreasonable conditions to all bills related to these Veterans and Heroes of our time.  Instead some choose to blame the other side for their own self righteousness.  Thereby not providing true support for our Veterans.  They were more interested in making statements and unreasonable demands on the actual legislation that would have directed resources to the very problem you wish to point out and offer no real solutions for except to attach Pre-Conditions.

This is a time of change but not away from a true free democratic society that lives by the rule of laws and morals, agreed upon and followed by all.  This is the only true path to Unity and Love for All.

We have to decide to define the Changes that will truly benefit all and not just those unwilling to put forth the effort to achieve goals, dreams and desires.

Respectfully,

Jim Allen III - I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid

Greetings All

   Actually, there has been some legislation passed recently that helps homeless veterans as well as active service members.

Obama Bill to Help Get Homeless Veterans off the Streets Passes Senate Veterans Affairs Committee

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Printable Format

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: June 22, 2006

Obama Bill to Help Get Homeless Veterans off the Streets Passes Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
IL Senator Urges Swift Consideration by Full Senate

WASHINGTON - Legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) that would improve and extend services to homeless veterans passed the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee today. The legislation was included as part of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committees omnibus bill, a bipartisan effort combining a number of pieces of legislation to improve benefits and services for veterans.

"Each and every night, more than 200,000 of our nation's veterans are homeless," said Obama. "More than 400,000 will experience homelessness over the course of a year, but our government is doing far too little to help get these veterans off the streets. This legislation will provide some much-needed assistance to these veterans who have sacrificed so much for us."

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that one in every three homeless adult males is a veteran. Illinois is one of seven states with more than 10,000 homeless veterans. If national estimates are true in Illinois, the number of homeless veterans in Chicago is 38,000 over the course of a year. Despite the tremendous demand for homeless services, the federal government serves only a tiny fraction of those who are in need.

The legislation that passed Committee today includes a number of proposals from legislation Senator Obama had previously introduced (S.1180, the SAVE Act and S.3475 the Homes for Heroes Act) to expand and improve services for homeless veterans. The bill permanently authorizes and increases funding to $130 million per year for a competitive grant program to provide homeless services to veterans. It greatly increases a successful program to provide rental vouchers to homeless veterans. The legislation extends programs to providing treatment for veterans with mental illnesses and other special needs. And it permanently extends VA's ability to transfer property it owns to homeless shelters.

"Far too often we see men and women on street corners with handwritten signs that say 'Homeless Veteran-Will Work for Food,'" said Obama. "Sometimes we give a dollar, sometimes we just keep walking. These are soldiers who fought in World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq. They made a commitment to their country when they chose to serve - and now we must keep our commitment to them. Because when we make the decision to send our troops to war, we also make the decision to care for them, to speak for them, and to think of them - always - when they come home."

Senator Obama is a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Sincerely, Billdaddy

Greetings All

   It was not my intention to begin another debate about who best serves the interests of our veterans. Being a veteran, I have done a lot of research on this topic and I just want to present some factual information regarding who supports veterans issues and who does not.

    The truth is, I believe it is more important now to move forward in the direction of improving things for our service members and veterans. Looking for solutions is more important than placing blame for past mistakes. We have a new administration coming into power now and I believe that we should begin to focus more on getting them to honor their promises to serve our veterans better than to keep looking for who to blame for the past.

   Just for the record though,,,,,,,,

VETERANS and a STRONG DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE

Veterans

 Despite flowery rhetoric, the Bush administration’s record on veterans' issues has been dismal. It has repeatedly attempted to slash funding for veterans’ health care, and opposed proposals for mandatory funding of VA health care programs. It had to be pressured into going along with a compromise that only eliminated the disabled veterans tax for some veterans, and has stubbornly blocked legislation to completely eliminate the provisions that still prevent many veterans from receiving both disability and pension benefits. It has failed to reduce backlogs in VA programs, and has supported the closing of VA hospitals, even though there has been a big increase in the number of veterans who need assistance.

The UAW believes that our nation must honor the men and women who have served in our armed forces, and must make sure that they receive adequate benefits. Thus, we will continue to oppose proposals and policies by the Bush administration and GOP Congressional leaders that short change America's veterans.

Action

 * Tell Congress to fully fund veterans’ health care programs, to stop the closing of VA hospitals, and to pass legislation to provide mandatory funding for veterans' health care benefits.

* Urge Congress to support other initiatives to help our nation’s veterans, including elimination of the disabled veterans tax and steps to reduce the backlogs in the VA system.

Buy American Requirements and the Need for a Strong Defense Industrial Base

http://www.uaw.org/cap/05/issues/issue19.cfm

Sincerely, Billdaddy

NOW the media is working on their "new story"...wondering who Barack Obama IS: