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Friday, February 29, 2008
Barack Obama speaks to Trib on veterans issues
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama held a town hall meeting in Houston with U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco to discuss veterans issues.
After the meeting, I spoke with Obama in a phone interview about how he would address issues facing veterans health care and benefits. Edwards, chairman of the U.S. House appropriations subcommittee over VA spending, has endorsed Obama.
Below is the full transcript from the conversation:
Tribune-Herald:
What was the message you wanted to get across in your town hall meeting in Houston today?
Barack Obama:
The fact that we have a sacred trust with our veterans. When we decide to send them overseas to fight our battles for us, we’ve got to make sure we are fighting for them and the benefits they have earned when they come home. We have not been doing that over the last several years. We continue to see chronic delays in dissaiblity payments. We continue to see our VA facilities not provide the kind of care that so many of veterans need. We are not doing the screening for post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health services that required. Here in Texas you have veterans in South Texas who are having to drive hours to get to nearest VA hospital. We’ve got a lot of middle income veterans who have been denied access to VA services altogether. And this administration has not provided the resources and the attention that is needed to upgrade the system and that is something that is going to be a top priority of mine when I am president of the United States.
Tribune-Herald:
How has the United States done in providing for the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?
Barack Obama:
We know we have not seen the kinds of screenings for post traumatic stress disorder that is one of the signature injuries of this war. The same is true for traumatic brain injury. I have been pushing on both those fronts, making sure that not only the screening is done but also that the mental health services are then provided.
We are seeing a growth in homeless veterans because we have not done that kind of adequate screening. Another major concern is how we are treating our National Guard men and women and reservists, who are being used essentially like active duty soldiers, but are getting the same benefits and the same care when they come home. I think that is something we are going to have to change.
Finally in respect to faciliteis like Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) or (William Beaumont Army Medical Center) here in Texas, what we are seeing is that those facilities don’t have all the upgrades they need despite the scandal at Walter Reed.
We just found out that President Bush has left out $400 million in appropriations for upgrading these facilities that are going to be coming through in a supplemental (bill) that were not included in the original budget. And that I think is typical for an administration that has low-balled the needs for the majority of our returning service men and women and that is something I intend to change when I am president of the United States.
Tribune-Herald:
You have said that as president that you would see to it that Congress passes on-time budgets for the VA. But even last year when Democrats were in control of Congress the VA budget was delayed for three months because of political squabbling. How will you do it any differently?
Barack Obama:
Typically the squabbling results from this administration not providing enough funding and having battles with a Democratic Congress or at least Democratic Senate and House members like Chet Edwards, who want to make sure that funding is in place.
Chet Edwards:
One thing on the timing specifically. One of the challenges was that the administration was threatening to veto the largest increase in VA health care and benefits funding in the history of the Veterans Administration. That delayed the process.
In addition, when Democratic Congress took over in 2007, the previous Congress had not even passed a VA budget, so we started out with a frozen budget for veterans hospitals during a time of war. So we had to catch up from the previous Congress and then fight the White House.
Let me just say why I am so enthusiastically supporting Sen. Obama. After years and years of presidential budgets that have woefully underfunded veterans and benefits, our veterans deserve a change in Washington. And I want a president who is going to propose budgets that truly honor the sacrifice of America’s heroes.
I have seen these inadequate budgets coming out of Democratic and Republican administrations. In all due respect, and I have respect for former president Clinton and Mrs. Clinton, but during the eight years of the Clinton White House, the VA budget was only increased by 38.3 percent. That wasn’t even close to keeping up with health care inflation and the increasing number of veterans needing that care.
In this administration we have seen inadquate VA budgets. In fact, the present budget from president Bush would cut current services for veterans by $20 billion over the next five years. That is just not right. I am convinced that Sen. Obama is going to be a champion for veterans and military families as president just as he has been a champion as a senator and as a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Tribune-Herald:
What are your thoughts on mandatory funding for the VA, a proposal that many veterans groups have advocated for instead of the discretionary funding process that is used now?
Barack Obama:
I think it is important for us to make sure we have on-time and adequate budgets and whatever is needed to put that in place I want to consider. As president I am going to be reviewing the possibilities of creating a mandatory budget versus the current appropriations process. But my priority is which ever way we do it, we’ve got to have on-time budgets and we have to have adequate budgets.
Tribune-Herald:
One of the complaints we hear most often about the VA is how long it takes for veterans to receive their benefits. We have a major benefits office in Waco, which last year got an influx of funding to hire more case workers. Besides more case workers what else can be done to improve the benefits delivery system?
Barack Obama:
Case workers are critical and we’ve got to make sure those caseworkers are in place and properly trained. One of the things that came up at the town hall meeting here in Houston was the fact that a lot of case workers are trained to think their job is to deny benefits. They end up being a lot like the claims officers at an insurance company, and that, in fact, is not the approrpriate approach. There shouldn’t be a bias against providing benefits, there should be an investigation as to what benefits are needed for these veterans. That would be one area that I would like to see improvements because often times I think that creates delays when their initial rejections are then overturned on appeal.
The second thing that we talked about during the town hall meeting is really doing a better job in making sure that every veteran’s military and service records are in electronic form and are digitally transmittable from the (Department of Defense) to the VA immediatley upon discharge.
I can’t tell you how many veterans I met who have stories about injuries they have received but they don’t know where their medical records are and it turns out they were in a warehouse somewhere and there was a fire in St. Louis and now they don’t know what to do and they get the run around.
It should not be the responsibility of an injured service man or woman to be thinking about their records. Their job should be to get well. They should be able to count on DOD to have those records in electronic form and easily transmittable to cut delays and that is going to be a top priority when I am president of the United States.
Chet Edwards:
What we need is a president who will bring the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the VA together and will say we are going to solve this problem. This problem has been kicked around for years now and I am convinced that as president Barack Obama is going to see that is done. There has been too much talk and too many promises for our veterans and our troops and our military families and he is going to be the president to see that we deliver on the promises that we have made to those who have served our country.
Tribune-Herald:
How would an Obama VA administration differ from a Hillary Clinton VA administration?
Barack Obama:
I don’t want to speak to Sen. Clinton’s plans. They are not ones that I am thoroughly familiar with. I can tell you how they are going to differ from George Bush’s VA and that is we are going to have every service man and woman having records kept that are accurate, that are provided in a timely way. We are going to reduce the backlogs of claims on disability payments. We are going to open up the VA to middle income veterans. We are going to make sure that facilities like Walter Reed are in tip-top shape and are providing the services that are needed. We are going to make sure that national guards men and women and our reservists are treated in a way that reflects the enormous responsibility that has been placed on their shoulders during this conflict.
We are going to make sure that we are upgrading the GI Bill so that when service men and women come home and they are pursuing an education that the benefits that they are provided actually will deliver on the college educations that they need to be successful, and we are going to make sure our budgets are on-time and adequate to accomplish these tasks.
I will be building on the work that I have done since I arrived in the United States Senate on the Veterans Affairs Committees, insisting that we have zero-tolerance for homeless veterans, insisting that we have got screening for post-traumatic stress disorder and insisting that our military family members get the support that they need.
That is something that came up in the town hall meeting that comes up again and again. The spouses and the children of these brave men and women are not getting the support that they need whether it is child care, adequate housing, school facilities that are appropriate. That is something that we’ve really got to work on and I intend to bring together military families from all across the country to meet with me and my secretary of the VA so that we are hearing from them directly because they are heroes just like those who are on the battlefield.
Clinton hits Obama on national security
5:05 p.m.: Sorry I dropped off the blog. Had some technical difficulties. But here’re some of Hillary’s choice words for Sen. Barack Obama, her rival in the fight for the Democratic nomination:
I also understand completely what it means when that phone rings at 3 a.m.
There isn’t any time to convene your advisers or do a survey about what will and what will not be popular.
You have to make a decision. And in the world that we face, with both challenges and opportunities, we need a president who picks up that phone ready to decide.
(large applause)
Sen. Obama says if we talk about national security in this campaign, we are trying to scare people. Well I don’t think people in Texas scare that easily. The American people aren’t afraid of the challenges and dangers that we face in the world. They want a president with the strength and wisdom to take those challenges and dangers head on. Now there is a big difference between giving speeches about national security and giving orders as commander in chief.
There is a big difference between delivering a speech at an anti-war rally as a state candidate and picking up that phone in the White House at 3 a.m. in the morning to deal with an international crisis.
Sen. Obama talks about these issues but when it came time to act he was missing in action. He gave a speech in 2002 against the war in Iraq and I commend him for that speech. By 2004, he was saying he wasn’t sure how he would vote because he has never had to vote. And he basically agreed that the way president Bush was conducting the war. By the time he got to the Senate, he voted exactly as I did.
It’s the difference between making a speech when you have no responsibility and having to step up and take charge.
2:37 p.m.: Gen. Wesley Clark and Hillary Clinton have taken the stage accompanied by thunderous appaulse.
2:32 p.m.: A Clinton press secretary said Hillary is in the building. We should be just a few minutes a way from go time. Fire marshal says there 1,257 people here now.
2:28 p.m.: Almost 30 minutes have passed and still no updates on when Hillary plans to take the stage. Campaign organizers are using the time to distribute information on how to caucus on Tuesday.
2:05 p.m.: No sign of Hillary yet. The crowd is starting to chant “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. And then it stopped. The music continues on the PA. This time it’s “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
1:58 p.m.: Fire marshal says there are more than 975 people here now with a trickle of people still coming in the doors. Things are starting to fill out now, but there is still room for more.
1:55 p.m.: With about five minutes before the beginning of the rally Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you going to go my way” is playing over the PA system. Isn’t the question all of the candidates are asking?
1:30 p.m.: Minutes before the beginning of the rally about 740 people have arrived at the convention center to welcome Clinton to Waco. There’s still plenty of room on the floor for people to watch and hear Clinton deliver her speech, which is supposed to focus on veterans issues.
Dem county party chair addresses primary, caucus confusion
John Cullar, the McLennan County Democratic Party chairman, sent out the notice below this week to address some of the confusion and misinformation circulating in advance of March 4 primary and caucus elections.
Here’s the message:
Notice of Meeting
What: How to conduct a precinct convention
When: Saturday, March 1, 2008, 10 a.m.
Where: McLennan County Democratic Headquarters, 3400 Bosque Boulevard, Waco, Texas
There is considerable misinformation floating out there about precinct conventions. For instance, some have been told that the doors to the convention will be closed at 7:15 p.m. That is incorrect and will be a violation of Texas Democratic Rules, resulting in the delegates chosen possibly being disqualified. The precinct conventions may not begin until 7:15 p.m. or until the last voter in line to vote at that precinct at 7 p.m. has completed voting, whichever is later. Late-arriving precinct convention attendees may participate even after the percentages, per the sign sheets, have been calculated for each Presidential candidate, and may be elected as a delegate by one of the Presidential caucuses; however, attendees arriving after the calculation of percentages will not change the percentage for either Presidential candidate.
While each precinct will have detailed instructions in the packet we prepare (the packets can be picked up at the precinct location from the Democratic Election Judge after the polls close at 7 p.m. on March 4), we will address the proper procedures and answer all questions concerning precinct conventions on Saturday morning.
By the way, there should be no real contentiousness between supporters of the opposing Presidential candidates at the precinct conventions. The only contest between the two campaigns is over the minute the sign-in sheets are tallied. That is, the only contest is to see which candidate can turn out the most delegates at the precinct convention; this will determine the percentage of delegates each candidate sends to the county convention. Once the percentage is set, the Obama delegates at the precinct convention will caucus to choose their County Convention delegates, and the Clinton delegates at the precinct convention will caucus to choose their County Convention delegates.
Hope to see you Saturday.
John Cullar, Chair, McLennan County Democratic Party
