War & Peace: June 2005 Archives

Not that I'm surprised, but holy freakin' g*d: 

V.A. Faces $2.6 Billion Shortfall in Medical Care  

The Bush administration disclosed yesterday that it had vastly underestimated the number of service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking medical treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and warned that the health care programs will be short at least $2.6 billion next year unless Congress approves additional funds.

Veterans Affairs budget documents projected that 23,553 veterans would return this year from Iraq and Afghanistan and seek medical treatment. However, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson told a Senate committee that the number has been revised upward to 103,000 for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. He said the original estimates were based on outdated assumptions from 2002.

"The bottom line is there is a surge in demand in VA [health] services across the board," Nicholson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Just last week, the VA revealed that the rise in demand for VA health facilities had caused a $1 billion shortfall in operating funds for the current year. That would more than double in the coming year without congressional intervention.

Put that on your "Support our troops" ribbon... 

I complain about religious people and groups a lot, because their priorities often seem very out of whack to me.

But when I see religious people doing the right thing, I need to give them credit for it.

From an article about the crisis in Sudan:

American evangelicals are in a rare position to be listened to, not just heard, in Washington and the United Nations. One goal for evangelicals is to bring political priorities closer to biblical values. International relief groups know firsthand that when American evangelicals speak with one voice, policymakers in Washington pay attention. And high-level pressure gets results overseas.

The United States is one very fractured country right now. But apparently, there are things we citizens agree on. Wouldn't it be lovely if the fundamentalists shifted gears, and we could work together to end the genocide in Sudan?