It is terrible and should not be done. Let us donate on our own to who we want. On a rare occasion like publics did on 4th of July gave donations to wounded warrior so I gave 10 bucks but I don't want to be confronted every time I go into a store for a wide variety of charities.

should be complete, unconditional, not NOT charity, but a debt paid

K&R

People like to feel they're doing something. Whether it's wounded veterans, or an animal charity, or whatever, people can CHOOSE to support their favorite causes. Should we all sit back and say, "That's the government's job?"

We're the cause of their injuries and problems. It's our duty and responsibility to cover it.

for care of soldiers?, yes (although we shouldnt 'sit back', we should communicate that to our reps)

if you cant afford the care afterward, you cant afford the war

One of those "charities" just paid W $100,000 to give a speech. The previous year Laura Bush was paid $50,000 by the same charity. These charities should be monitored, to make sure the money is spent wisely. Giving that amount to a person responsible for the destruction is a joke. Now, here comes Jeb! wanting the same sweet deal for himself. NO MORE BUSH in our WH. Enough is more than enough.

time tends to whitewash, that gesture hosed the whitewash off and reminded us what's underneath the Bush's

And that 100 grand was given by a private donor.

IS the government's job to see to it they have the proper care and means to receive that care.
I won't even get into the fact that since WWII, none of the wars were needed but were drummed up by the government.

to throw change in a jar or write a check to supplement or whatever, then that's a good thing. I'll never complain about people choosing to support causes that are near and dear to their hearts.

We have a duty to fully fund veterans care. Anything else is gravy.

Our vets should not have to rely on the kindness of strangers for basic needs! We should all pay our taxes like good patriots, and that includes the folks who circumvent the system by rigging it with their wealth and influence.

And, while we're at it, stop using vets and troops as props at ballgames, which is really only taxpayer-funded recruitment advertising. Give them the benefits we promised them and stop the backdoor draft.

The good cause of helping out our Veterans is one you already are supporting with your tax dollars. We the citizenry ARE the government so increases that one feels should go to our Vets need not be coming out of your change jar or any of our change jars. Those 'supplements' need to come instead as increases right out of our collective change jar: OUR governments' coffers.

As you know, our government, which should be Of By and For US has been shifting to one Of By and For the WEALTHY. As has been pointed out, those representatives of the wealthy don't give a hoot about our Vets, which is why they have always voted against raising further assistance to them.

Those nickles, dimes and quarters you and everyone else would generously submit to this good cause, adds up to more money that can be cut from the existing Veterans Programs-money that can be legislated off to programs that in the end benefit the wealthy.

So instead of your generosity helping our Vets, it ultimately would be used to help the wealthy. The better way to have your generosity aid our vets is to make our representatives in Congress, (both houses), use the money we already give them to increase aid to our vets, not increase aid to those who are stealing from us already.

As a Disabled Vet, I thank you for your good will.

ALL OF THE COSTS through increased taxes. Let's see how many wars they want after that! Bernie has been fighting to get the VA funding his committee wants, but the Repugs who claim to love the troops, not so much! Our generousity should be on top of everything our government promised!

The government sent them off to war.

things like Wounded Warrior Project shouldn't have to exist. We should be taking better care of vets instead of funding boondoggle airplanes

--in any government program. It's my understanding that that is why many of these non-profits, including Wounded Warrior Project--exist.

... BECAUSE the government programs have been cut.

The solution is for the government to DO RIGHT by those they sent to fight overseas -- not to rely on the hit or miss of receiving private charity.

fall through the cracks? The government knows every person who served by simply looking up nine numbers. That's all that is needed to get the care and benefits they earned, simple.

Repukes "support" sending them to be killed & maimed in fraudulent wars, but essentially tell them to pound sound when they get back home.

but I also think far too many fall through the cracks. A country that cannot take care of its veterans has no business making more.

helping out the wounded vets, but also bringing them to the attention of all the braindead people who just sit in front of the TV. It would be far too easy for them to ignore the horrors of war if it wasn't right in front of their faces several times a day. Those commercials rip my heart out, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

don't allow news crews to take pictures or videos that will make people want to try to stop the war.

The other thing the military(-industrial-congressional complex) learned from the Viet Nam war was to ditch conscription. They ended the draft because people did not mind if other peoples' kids had to fight and die for no good reason. After all "they are volunteers."

same politicians paid for by the Military industrial complex and let past war criminals and liars skip away through a field of daisys.

i support "wounded warrior".

I just wish it weren't needed

Should we all sit back and say, "That's the government's job?"

Injured veterans should have to scrape and turn to charity after being severely wounded or traumatized in a war that the government dreamed up for corporate profit?

"Save your outrage." What a smug, disgusting thing to say. If the lack of follow-up support for "the troops" isn't outrageous, what is?

You are really a piece of work.

government safety net.

Why one or the other? Why not both?

a 100%. What happens when the charity drives are hurting?

No vet should ever have to depend on a charity, while some of them do great work our government owes it to them for serving their country. Period.

In post #4 you wrote:

People like to feel they're doing something. Whether it's wounded veterans, or an animal charity, or whatever, people can CHOOSE to support their favorite causes. Should we all sit back and say, "That's the government's job?"

How much you wanna bet, a good percentage of the rest went to "administrative fees"?


http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-president-george-w-bush-paid-100k-speak-veterans-group-n389181

Jul 9 2015, 8:05 am ET
Former President George W. Bush Was Paid $100K to Speak to Veterans Group

by Chris Jansing



George W. Bush criticized by veterans for $100,000 speaking fee 0:39

Former President George W. Bush was paid $100,000 to attend a veterans charity gala in Houston in 2012, NBC News has confirmed.

And the year before, former first lady Laura Bush received $50,000 for her remarks at a gala event for the same group, Helping a Hero. The nonprofit helps to outfit homes for veterans wounded during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Robert Clark, chairman of the Helping a Hero board, said in a statement that the former president's appearance actually helped to raise "significant funds" for the charity. The year that Bush spoke the charity netted almost $2.5 million; the next year was less than half that amount.

but $100,000?

He should have donated $100,000.

said that hos fee was negotiated DOWN from $250K, and that he also got a private jet to the tune of 70K from the charity. How he has the unmitigated gall to require a fee from a CHARITY aiding those maimed and traumatized in his VANITY WAR I do not understand.

I walk away from the TV whenever one of those commercials comes on.

We donate frequently to vets organizations but why should vets need our help? The government that hurt and maimed them owes them care.

I feel the same way about fundraisers for medical care for some injured community member. I'll donate, but why should families have to beg for help covering medical costs? Single payer for everybody!

I wonder where is the government? Why should wounded soldiers have to beg? We should be taking care of them as a part of their service. Why are we begging in order to help our wounded vets?

... is that all charity, whether for veterans or anybody else, should be supported by voluntary contributions only. It is one of the foundational stones of their entire world-view. In this view, government has no responsibility to care for anyone, or to protect anyone. It is the world-view of the would-be predator, who would probably be meat for other predators if the government they profess to despise didn't see to their safety and well-being.

-- Mal

This is the problem with Libertarianism, which would last as a Hobbesian war of all against all exactly as long as it took for the meanest predator to enslave or destroy the rest. What is wanted is not the "level playing field" beloved of the lying pundits, but a playing field distinctly tilted in the direction of one part of society.

-- Mal

Last edited Fri Sep 4, 2015, 08:29 PM - Edit history (2)

Each time, I wonder the same thing: with all we spend on defense, why is so little being allocated to veteran care that civilians are begged to donate as much as nineteen dollars a month?

I think there's a lot of scam artists that are making a quick buck off the vets. I've seen reports that say Wounded Warrior only spends 58% of it's collections on helping veterans.

Personally, I think outfits like Halliburton should be hit with a surcharge for veterans' care. The defense contractors are the ones who benefited from the war and pretty much the reason for it. (Halliburton was nearly bankrupt when Bush/Cheney took office - but it make 37 billion off the wars.)

Our government uses military professionals in the most offensive ways and then discards them like they mean nothing. Congress is full of incredibly pathetic people.

chooses to send our people to war, then, by all that is right and sane, those vets should be cared for. PERIOD.

(of course, it is also my firm belief that, any time our govt chooses to send our people into battle, the very first ones to go have to be those who choose to send our people--that includes congress, the various military heads, the contractors, etc., etc) oh, and they have to fund it out of their own pockets.

Should we go to war against these people: Yes, Yes!!
Should we fund the war on the backs of the poor and middle class: Yes, Yes!!
Should we support the troops while they are at war: Nooooo
Should we support the health and the care of returning troops: Noooooooooooo
Should we help more in making sure our troops can adjust to civilian life: Noooooooooo

was paved with good intentions

so they decided to start off with bad ones

I may just steal that.



-- Mal

are crooks. So, check out an organization before you donate.

I am non-violent. I want to country to tax for wars--every penny of it, including the cost of taking care of veterans later. You sent a kid into harm's way, you damn well better take care of him or her if he or she comes home, for the next 90 years, if necessary. And show the country how much that costs.

Couple of scams in my area I remember reading about.

I won't give them clothes or home items. Some of them give less than 2% to the vets. Many of them spend most of their money raising money.
I heard that some states have cut funds to departments that were supposed to inform veterans on their rights to services so they don't have to spend any money on providing the services, even and an interface.

A lot has to do with the mental health services that got cut under Reagan, put them on the street to fend for themselves. If a vet has no home address many times they can't get services, if they have mental issues like PTSD, that may have thm not asking for services.

And, by the way, when ever you see wounded warrior remember how fast that charity grew, all that TV advertising mans they spend almost half their money on advertising. I volunteer for a small charity, we spend 2% on fund raising, but that means that they pull in low figures, word of mouth or volunteers only. I am not saying they don't help, but that a large part of you donation is used to get more donations.

And make sure no one ever forgets Jeff Sessions saying that veterans expect an entitlement and we can't afford to pay for what we promised them. Send them to war and if they get injured, screw them.
Senator Called Veterans Choice Fix A ‘Blank Check’ Entitlement

Do you remember when Sen. Jeff Sessions spun his despicable opposition to Veterans Choice by calling the bill a “blank check” fix to a new “unlimited entitlement program”? Well I do.

When spinning his opposition vote, Sen. Sessions said, “I feel strongly we’ve got to do the right thing for our veterans. But I don’t think we should create a blank check, an unlimited entitlement program, now.” He is referencing the highly restrictive Veterans Choice Card Program. Apparently the only blank check Sen. Sessions is comfortable with is one that funds new wars or defense spending projects.

the rate at which we continue to create wounded veterans.

No more wounded veterans!
No more war!

I've been a federal employee off and on and I can tell you that the pay is good enough to attract the quality worker and the lazy entrenched bureaucrat.
After the latest revelations at the VA, I asked some friends who both work at the VA if the reforms would make things better or worse. Would the VA streamline processes and get rid of paperwork, or would they double down. True to their prediction, they doubled down and predictably the waits haven't changed, except for critical patients, those have gotten longer.
An interesting book that describes this same process in a SF hospital that was the last surviving "Almshouse" is called "God's Hotel". The hospital after government mandated reforms (in the 90's) had the same number of employees, but lost acredidation because many of the nursing positions had been switched over to middle management to process all the new forms.
Even if I had a magic wand, I don't know how you'd fix a system with bureaucrats only concerned with ensuring they look good to congress and workers who only care about themselves in a system that promotes both.
Even in other agencies I've worked for (state and federal) there are almost 2 distinct classes of employees, the ones who are only there to ensure that they look good to the higher ups (the kiss ups) and those just trying to do their job. In most cases the kiss ups are winning.

inevitable as greed and selfishness is bottomless to the "superiors".
Finally the common man is beginning to wake up! It sure took you a long time...think about why it took so long to "get it"

It would be easy for people to set up a donation site with some sad or tragic story that wasn't true to get people to send a few bucks. They would pile up quickly. I'd google the hell out of any group before I'd donate a penny.

They walk among us.

NOTE: I am not saying you shouldn't donate to the troops, just be careful. There are too many new groups asking for money. It's bad enough with the politicians. They NEVER stop asking.

If the American public sends troops into harms way then we have the responsibility, as a nation, to support them when they come home.

Medical attention, jobs, financial support while they and their families get on their feet; not this bullshit charity donation stuff (don't get me wrong, the charities are wonderful things). They DESERVE to be supported in a comprehensive manner by all of us ( i.e., the GOVERNMENT).

Here is a clear distinction between the troops and the military/government. I wish all those people with the magnetic "support the troops" stickers would live up to their platitude, suck it up and really SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

which go towards ending illegal and immoral elective wars of aggression and occupation by this rogue superpower.


Or something like that.

Says a boatload about our priorities as a society (those in power over it anyway), doesn't it? Don't give a shit about our veterans or education. And I'm sure we could list oodles of other examples.

Especially since these "warriors" are defending corporations and the status quo.

Same with school fund raising. It used to be the fund raising was for group travels like the French Club raising funds to go to France. Now it's for things like playground equipment that should be covered in the budget. Disgraceful.

Try classroom supplies.

Not only do the representatives of the 1% decline to fund the needed benefits, they refused to include in the budget the cost of the wars that left so many veterans in need of support.

So, let the kids of the veterans foot the bill for the wars, anyone as long as it's not the 1% getting their taxes raised.

Then cut their pay, medical, education and retirement benefits. Declare yourself a patriot.



You are now officially a Republican.

Repub. are very busy listening to The Donald...they don't give a rat's ass about veterans...

Why should veterans have to rely on charity? We have earned the right to quality healthcare, provided by the government. Bernie has it right, if we can't support wounded veterans, stop sending them to fight.

The endocrinologist, Dr. Carman Bahr, treated me, found a long standing problem that had been missed by many doctors, and started me on a lifetime course of treatment.

Not only did they treat vets, but Dr. Bahr's research (she was an endocrinologist) also led to one of the early insulin pumps, I think.

So it's not only the treatment of veterans we lost with the changes, but basic research that led to new ways to help people all over.

All to help the rich donors to the political parties stay richer.

Way past time, but progress is #1.

the thing that drives the hatred of repugs is "selfishness" the "I have mine fuck the rest of you." attitude. I'm pissed off also. In my opinion nothing is going to change in the country until the American people take to the streets by the tens of thousand in mass protest and national strike. Shut all consumer spending off for 6-months to a year till the rich cry uncle. Even if we have to get mad enough to start throwing rocks so be it. It is time for a revolution in this country. Voting every 2-4 years will not cut it any more.
Peace to you and yours my friend.
I myself have no hope. And I see no future.

to "wounded warrior".

cut cut cut.

Conclusion that REPUBLICANS hate everyone. The Poor, the disabled, the Veteran, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Women, Children, Young, old, geeze you name it. They are anti-everything except themselves, however, given a gun, they would probably shoot each other to get to the top.

GW Chimp gets paid 100k for speaking to veterans. This is so wrong.