The proposal from House Republicans for the budget would slash critical services for American soldiers that have left the field, the Veterans Administration explained in a release.
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“I have worked to ensure that veterans in our district—and throughout the country—have the tools they need when they come home to advance their careers and build their own American Dream,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) says on his website.
Yet, the bill would, among other things, cut 81,000 Veterans Health Administration jobs, making it more and more difficult for veterans to get quick care. It would also kill funding for rural telehealth, requiring veterans outside major cities to drive long ways to get care. It also slashes 6,000 benefits jobs, which would also increase the wait times that are already too long for veterans. The plan would also kill the $565 million that the VA was using to build new clinics to handle the increased need as wars create more and more essential care for veterans.
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At the same time, five new veteran cemetery facilities are in the process of being constructed. There are currently 4.5 million veterans buried at American national cemeteries. The Republicans want to stop all of them, making it less likely that veterans could be honored with a burial that highlights their service. It would also cut 500 jobs from cemeteries. Jobs include things like cleaning the cemeteries to keep them presentable for visitors, protecting the graves so there’s no vandalism, and preparing for funerals.
“Burial benefits available include gravesites, a Government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, all at no cost to the family,” the VA cemeteries site explains. That would be slashed under the GOP budget.
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A 2021 report revealed that the famous Arlington National Cemetary is running out of room, and they’re looking for creative solutions. It’s one of the many reasons the new cemeteries are needed.
“The Army is moving forward with a plan to limit in-ground burials at Arlington. Under the proposal, burials will be allowed only for service members who received the highest combat awards,”a KPBS report said. “That’s because Arlington is running out of space, even though a new expansion project will add over 80,000 new grave sites.”
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“We’re on the edge of seeing another benefit reduced, born on the backs of the military community,” said Mark Belinsky of the Military Officers Association of America. “If the changes occur, it’s something less. It’s a reduced benefit.”
The GOP budget would also cut out housing for 50,000 veterans. The war against food stamps that the GOP has been discussing would also make deep cuts for those who are disabled or retired and need an extra lift in nutritious food. There are deep cuts to mental health care at a time the suicide rate among veterans hasn’t changed much since 2018. It came down just 9.7 percent from 2018-2020, the VA said.
Not only would the budget kill housing for homeless veterans, but it would also stop job training for homeless veterans that can lift them out of poverty.
The entire VA budget would be cut by 22 percent.
America made a promise to its soldiers, but the new GOP plan seeks to renege on that pledge.
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Then again, it was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that to join the military was “like throwing your life away.”
“It’s a disaster from the top down and the bottom up. We can add in the training, the woke training, where they have to undergo this ridiculous ideology of the sick and satanic left,” Greene added.
