@lizzyh7 They aren't stupid, they are brilliant , with semantics. And they are a bunch of greedy fuckers. And the repugnicans are all of that and more. They are greedy and callous.

What they are doing is stupid. And I don't understand what exactly is their end game? What is their exit strategy? Why do they want this much suffering? Do they think it's going to end well? Do they think they will be able to parrot all this free-market pablum forever?

At some point the shit hits fan and everyone gets dirty. Do they just think this (USA) is their little golden goose, and they are going to fly off and control it with drones from New Zealand?

It's like you can just feel it everywhere, we are on the brink of collapse. Everyone (almost) is just getting by, and we are all leveraged out on debts. People are stressed and angry everywhere you go...

Lose your job and start getting hungry, you're liable to do almost anything in your power, to fix that if it gets bad enough..lots of people out work and hungry, with children to feed, and you got a mob. Fold in all the guns in this country, you got something else entirely.

Apology if threadjack.
Rr

I have a friend who works for the VA and she's told me stories about the waste and fraud that make me sick. She's already sickened and cynical and is counting her days until retirement. All that crap about focusing on independence is crap too. Their leadership has been corporatized from what my friend tells me, it's all metrics and measurement now, with very little actual service to veterans themselves. And they apparently rely heavily on private colleges and training programs, which are really just a another sick waste of money that leaves the vets ill prepared for civilian life. Damn them for even considering taking away benefits. There's just nothing more to say except a bunch of screaming cuss words at the stupidity in this country. And the godamned greed above all.

@Meteor Man My friend has told me that the guy in charge before they put her in charge (unwillingly really, but she's a black female and they needed to hit a metric don't ya know) approved so many just outright stupid things to "train" veterans. One guy was going to be a scuba diver in, wait for it......Abilene, TX. OK. VA paid for equipment, training, etc and then of course there is no business opportunity for that guy unless he's going to move. Then there's the one who was going to be a golf pro who got clubs, memberships, etc. But nothing long term. She's told me of guys being told they can get degrees from private, for profit "colleges" which are worthless but VA will pay for that.

She has gotten extremely cynical and cannot wait to retire. I know hers is only one small part of it, but the whole thing is not what it is supposed to be. And the good ones like her will leave and are leaving, while the one's who don't really care stick around forever. She actually had one she had to finally fire as that person was not following up with veterans seeking benefits - she was one of those who just threw their applications in the garbage. Took my friend MONTHS to get rid of her and the bitch got paid the entire time! And while all that happens, veterans go homeless for fuck's sake.

I ran across this at Alternet:

Why Is It So Difficult for Veterans With PTSD to Get Service Dogs?

Waiting lists run a year to two years, and nonprofits estimate a trained service dog costs, on average, $20,000. Campaigns on sites like GoFundMe attest to the many who can’t afford a dog or don’t get hooked up with nonprofits.

There appears to be a VA study that questioned the effectiveness of therapeutic service dogs for PTSD. And of course there are budgetary restraints to consider:

There may be hope if a bill with bipartisan support before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, H.R. 2327, or the PAWS Act, passes. It would provide nonprofits $10 million in grants to provide service dogs to veterans with PTSD. However, in typical doublespeak, a VA spokesperson said, “While VA does not support the PAWS Act at this time primarily for reasons related to funding, VA Secretary Shulkin wants to work with Congress to find a way to make properly trained dogs available for veterans’ emotional support in a way that makes sense within VA’s budget.”

The callous disregard just never ends.

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Trump asked for $18 billion more than the regular budget and congress gave him $54 billion for the fun of it. You're damn right that they can find money for veterans if they wanted to. Point is, they don't. Cannon fodder have done their job, now like the rest of the people sucking off government, die already. This can't be anymore plain.

OK, let me just say right now:

Any DC politician who says they don't have the budget for helping vets can go fuck themselves right in the ear. Because they damned well know that they have all the military budget they want, as much as they want, forever and damned few questions asked.

Now tell me you don't have the budget for veterans, you fucker.

@MrWebster No.

Thank you for the video.

The Bonus Army is more like Occupy than anything else.

The crap hasn't changed has it.