“Injury in Iraq was just start of troubles” Where was BO when this happened?

[jody]

Injury in Iraq was just start of troubles

WASHINGTON — When Army National Guard Lt. Michael McMichael returned to Franklinton, N.C., from Iraq in January 2005, it took a while for his wife to recognize the changes in him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Then the problems grew. McMichael lost his job, exploded at home and walked out on his family. In the three years since his return from Iraq, McMichael has tumbled from being a skinny but content war veteran to a troubled husband and father who's unemployed, walking with a cane and suffering tremors and nightmares.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I represent thousands of wives, family members, mothers," Jackie McMichael told the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs. "There are thousands who need this."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"We stand ready to correct the (problems) we heard about this morning," said Kristin Day, a chief consultant for managed care within the Department of Veteran Affairs. "By statute, the VA can provide limited services to families."

BO is a member of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and his campaign propaganda claims he’s a champion of rights of veterans like McMichael.

Is this is the best BO can do?

[Birthmark]

1. He's also running for President.

I doubt that he can personally look after each and every veteran.

[DemVet]

5. Will the same lame excuse apply if he becomes POTUS?

He's too busy?

[Birthmark]

8. Personally? I should hope so!

The President, whoever it is, doesn't have time to do more than say, "Fix that!" when or if such situations come to his/her attention.

[jody]

7. Problems with VA existed before BO was assigned to the senate committee. He's done next to nothing

on that committee to help veterans.

I do see your point however, the best BO could have done was tell people like McMichael to chant "hope, change, . . . , hope, change".

[Birthmark]

10. Well, what should he do?

Senators have limited time and limited power. Maybe the things we should be looking at are:

1. What did he bring to the Committee's attention and what was his plan (if any) for addressing these issues?

2. What did the Committee bring to Obama's attention and what was his plan (if any) for addressing these issues?

3. What measures did he support/oppose/sponsor?

Look, I think the guy is an empty suit and that his slogan should be "Tweaking" instead of "Change", but that doesn't mean I can't be fair to him. I should. And I will.

[jody]

13. Congresspedia says BO missed 19 of 37 meetings of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Missed Committee on Veterans Affairs meetings

"Obama claimed that veterans committee was 'one of my first priorities.' He said, 'One of my first priorities was obtaining a seat on the Veterans Committee…And the thing that I pledged when I was sworn in as the Senator was that if nothing else in the first couple of years in the Senate, I could make absolutely certain that there would have been a strong advocate in the United States Senate,' at a Veterans Town Hall Meeting, May 23, 2005.

"Obama has skipped 19 of 37 VA committee meetings in the 109th congress. Obama’s attendance record was the second worst of all Democrats on the committee. He attended just 18 of the committee’s 37 meetings in Washington D.C.," SusanUnPC reported December 20, 2007, at No Quarter Blog.

I don't expect a first term senator to do anything but I have a problem with BO claiming accomplishments for Vets when he did what all junior senators do -- nothing!

[midnight]

2. BO is a member of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs

and his campaign propaganda claims he’s a a champion of rights of veterans like McMichael. Then where was BO when Edwards discussed the hundreds of thousands of homeless vets sleeping under bridges.... come on.... This is so outrages....The two candidates that we are left with can find money to continue this war, but not to fund our brave soldiers once they come home.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Where was Hillary?

How can she sleep at night knowing she voted to send this man to war?

[TeamsterDem]

4. So the bull**** really does trickle downhill, I see

Now it's Barack Obama's fault that returning Veterans are getting poor health care? I guess that means it's Hillary's fault that some soldiers and Marines were ill-equipped in Iraq since, you know, she's on the Armed Services Committee. Nice logic. :eyes:

[islandmkl]

6. Barack should just reach down into the quagmire that is the VA....

snap his fingers, somehow avoid all the bureaucratic entanglements, overcome an Administration that only wants 'good, healthy' soldiers to send to war, SINGLEHANDEDLY bring a monstrous entity to a screeching halt...

and just make things run right.....

yeah, why hasn't Barack done this? what's holding him back?

we should have never left the job for Barack to do by himself....just proves he is a liar, inexperienced, a false prophet, and is not qualified to be President....

should have known...

[atreides1]

9. There are other Democrats on the Committee you know?

This is why I believe in a "Resign to Run" law. Because those seeking higher office, in this case the presidency, cannot represent their constituents as they should. Also, it would take away that safety net of being able to keep your old job if you can't get the new one.

But here are two bills that Senator Obama is a cosponsor of, and Senator Clinton is also a cosponsor of S.2471.

S.2471 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. (introduced 12/13/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 12/13/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.2377 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the quality of care provided to veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, to encourage highly qualified doctors to serve in hard-to-fill positions in such medical facilities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard (introduced 11/16/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 11/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

And there are other bills that the committee is working on that will help veterans like Lt. Michael McMichael.

[cali]

11. Hilly holds some responsibility for each and every

wounded Iraq War vet, in a way that only the people who voted and supported that war do. And she hasn't done anymore for the vets that she helped send off to that vile war than Obama. They've both worked on healthcare for wounded vets, but she has their blood and shattered psyches on her hands in a way he does not.

[TeamsterDem]

12. Bingo!!!!

Can't add anything to a perfect post, just wanted to offer a pat on the back. Thank you for summing up so concisely what I was thinking but couldn't word effectively.

[Melinda]

14. Sorry, where is Obama mentioned in that article? Was Clinton?

Clinton voted for that mess, remember?

As far as your allegations of "claims", read his legislative history for yourself... I'm not doing that part for you:

http://obama.senate.gov/issues/veterans/

His legislative record is not fiction.

And in the year you ask about, 2005, Obama, as a new senator, addressed these issues directly to veterans http://obama.senate.gov/speech/050328-obama_remarks_to_the_american_/index.php">here and http://obama.senate.gov/speech/050530-remarks_of_senator_barack_obam/index.php">here.

Now having said that, I know your post was disengenuous at best. Those of us who really care to know facts, do our own damn research.

Have a super day.

[jody]

15. None of the bills BO cites at the link you gave have moved out of committee. Do your own work before

you start touting BO's accomplishments.

He missed over half the meetings of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

[Melinda]

16. You asked what he has done, and I showed you. You don't like the answer? Tough.

But then again, as I infered in my first response, you're only looking for a fight anyway.

Not here.

Peace out.

[jody]

18. You cited BS. You won't score many points in a discussion with such false assertions. n/t

[Melinda]

24. I'm not the one looking to score points; you asked, now you refute... bet you won't cause you can't.

Now, let's see you score those points you seem to consider so very important. Refute the legislative record I posted; show everyone on DU how each, which is a matter of public record, is false assertion.

:rofl:

[cottonseed]

17. It's going to take an Obama to clean up after Clinton's IWR vote.

There's a lot of work to do. No doubt.

[jody]

20. Agree "There's a lot of work to do. No doubt." I don't believe BO, HC or MC can get much done for

disabled vets including me because the U.S. is bankrupt.

[cottonseed]

22. I agree with your agree.

This country's big debate on BO vs HC vs MC isn't going to a damn thing about what's really ailing us. The debate I'm ready to hear is how we get our finances back in order. I can already see inflating our money supply (see: $200B yesterday), privatizing infrastructure, foreign investment (selling off of us business), and corporate deregulation. Bush was the real travesty. I think in 8 years they were able to put in place their plan to "starve the beast". A lot of work to do indeed.

[LSK]

19. you might want to take Civics 101 and learn how Government works

BO cannot draft bills, pass them through both Houses of Congress and sign them into law by himself. Do you know of any Senators who can do that?

[peacebaby3]

21. As the spouse of an Iraq war vet, I hold Clinton responsible for her

vote on the IWR. She has yet to admit it was a mistake or apologize. She has to take responsibility for her mistake in supporting a march to war.

I have a choice in this election to vote for a candidate that didn't support this failed invasion and occupation that caused me, my spouse, and my family along with many others to live through this hell.

If we are going to discuss the fact that any elected official running for president is going to miss his or her work, then maybe since Clinton helped create the crisis we are facing now in the care of our wounded vets, she should have never run for president or she should drop out now to help fix her mistake. OR could she believe that if she is elected president she can fix the problem more quickly in that role? Could that be the way Obama feels also - that if he is elected president it will change the trajectory of the country and we can move in a different direction including changing the way our vets are treated and ending the "war" in Iraq? He has introduced bills that would seem to be very supportive of those changes for vets and their families. Clinton has signed on to one of them also.

Have you ever dealt with getting a bill out of committee? It's difficult and many, many bills die there and are introduced over and over again. Any candidate running for president will have a hard time dealing with the issue. That goes for Obama, Clinton or any other candidate. If you don't like that fact, you are going to have to change the way our election process works.

[HeraldSquare212]

23. He was trying to make sure the Senator who helped send McMichael to war doesn't become President.