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April 23, 2005

 

 

 

Steve Buyer’s One Cheek Sneak

 

Dismantling vets benefits and making it sound good

 

Opinion by Larry Scott

 

 

 

In journalism we call it a “one cheek sneak”…the late Friday afternoon press release.  The media is tucking in for the weekend and, most likely, the bad news in the press release will get overlooked.  By Monday morning, when most people tune back in to the news, the bad news from Friday will not be news any more.  And, the “one cheek sneak” will have slipped by unnoticed…hopefully.

 

Late Friday, April 22, 2005, I received such a press release via email.  It was from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  The heading on the press release sure sounded good:  Chairman Steve Buyer on Caring for Veterans:  “A sacred duty”.

 

Words like “sacred” always get my attention because only ministers use the word “sacred” and really mean it.  Politicians use “sacred” when they are trying to disguise their actions.  Just so with this press release.

 

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sure has a good Public Relations person.  They really know how to write a tear-jerking press release.  Filled with phrases like “sacred duty,” “highest priority,” “quality healthcare,” “Greatest Generation,” and “America has kept faith with its veterans,” this press release ranks right up there with the greatest works in American literature.  Unfortunately the category of literature is FICTION.

 

Like all good fiction, this press release has some elements of truth.  Like the date.  And the fact that it came from Rep. Buyer’s office.

 

Let’s take a look at some of the fiction in this press release.

 

     ■  Rep. Buyer continues to assert that the VA’s “core constituency” is “disabled and           indigent” veterans.  This appears to be his assertion and his alone.  I cannot find anything that legislates this definition.  Congress has made it clear that the VA is there to serve ALL veterans not just those who fall into Rep. Buyer’s narrow definition.  The 2005 edition of the Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents handbook clearly states, “Eligibility for most VA benefits is based upon discharge from active military service under other than dishonorable conditions.”  The term “core constituency” is not found in the handbook.  Rep. Buyer is redefining who is a veteran to serve his agenda.

 

     ■  The press release also states, “Provision of care for [veterans not in the “core constituency”] was contingent on VA having sufficient resources for its high-priority enrollees.”  There is an element of truth here.  If Congress had been properly funding the VA “sufficient resources” would not be an issue.  So, it’s not a problem of too many veterans.  It’s a problem of not enough funding to handle the healthcare needs of qualified veterans.  Rep. Buyer is twisting facts to serve his agenda.

 

     ■  Rep. Buyer says, “America has kept faith with its veterans.”  Tell that to the veterans in Portland, Oregon, and many other cities, who have to wait at least 12 months for medically necessary surgery.  They might have a different opinion.  Rep. Buyer is in denial to serve his agenda.

 

     ■  “The influx of enrollees who are not service-connected has strained VA’s ability to provide quality care to high-priority veterans who need it most,” said Rep. Buyer.  Again, he has it backwards.  Lack of funding is the reason the VA is strained.  And this type of faulty reasoning deliberately pits veteran against veteran.  Reality does not appear to be part of Rep. Buyer’s agenda.

 

     ■  The most dangerous of Rep. Buyer’s statements is the constant use of, “This was not our intent in Congress.”  Rep. Buyer claims the “intent of Congress” was only to care for his “core constituency” veterans, not all veterans.  Past Congresses knew very well what they were doing when they carefully defined VA benefits.  What Rep. Buyer is really saying is that he is “intent” on rewriting the VA benefits handbook to fit his agenda.

 

     ■  Rep. Buyer speaks of, “VA studies indicating that [enrolling veterans under the Veterans’ Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996] would likely be budget-neutral.”  I have never seen such a study.  I can’t find such a study.  If one exists, please forward it to me.  But, if anyone at the VA or in Congress honestly thought that allowing, potentially, millions of veterans to enroll in the VA system would not have an economic impact, they were living in Fantasyland.  This fantasy seems to fit Rep. Buyer’s agenda.

 

     ■  “We must ensure that…growth does not endanger high quality veterans health care,”  Rep. Buyer continues.  It won’t!  If the VA is properly funded.  It’s just that simple.  Then Rep. Buyer goes on to push for enrollment fees for many veterans.  Rep. Buyer’s agenda?

 

It is obvious.  Rep. Steve Buyer wants veterans to pay for their healthcare.  When they can get it.  If they can get it.

 

But, there’s more.  Rep. Buyer is “intent” on rewriting the VA benefits handbook with, as he says, “everything on the table.”  He also says that veterans who currently receive healthcare and compensation might not be exempt from changes in regulations.

 

The vehicle for these changes is the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission.  The VDBC will, according to its charter, determine “the appropriateness of the benefits, the appropriateness of the level of the benefits, and the appropriate standard(s) for determining whether a disability or death of a veteran should be compensated.”  The VDBC is, supposedly, bipartisan.  There are nine Republican appointees and four Democrat appointees on the Commission.  You figure it out.

 

The VDBC’s first meeting is May 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C.  If the Commission follows its charter and takes Rep. Buyer’s suggestions to heart, we will be able to watch our VA benefits disappear right before our eyes.

 

Why did Rep. Buyer issue this press release?  He has an agenda to sell and it’s a hard sell.  Dismantling VA benefits is not popular and Rep. Buyer has received a fair amount of bad press about his plans.  This press release is his way of trying to counter all of that bad press.

 

Well, I must congratulate Rep. Steve Buyer’s Public Relations person for writing a great “one cheek sneak” press release.  It had a great title, a quick read made it sound good and by Monday most of the media will have forgotten about it.   But there was nothing but bad news for veterans.  Just like a real, live “one cheek sneak” that didn’t quite work…this one stinks!