Dushan Yanich – 4/3/05

This page was last updated on April 3, 2005.

Bush going after veterans; Dushan Yanich; Beaver County Times; April 3, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The current VA Republican budget for fiscal year 2005-2006, as presented by George Bush, includes some major changes for a certain class of veterans.

“Bush and in all probabilities U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart and Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter want to add the following changes to those vets who are in class seven or eight. (Class seven or eight are those whose family consists of husband and wife and that their combined yearly income exceeds $31,013. Income equals Social Security, pension and interest etc.)

* Pay a yearly $250 fee upfront for participating in the VA program that you earned because you put your life on the line for those politicians in Washington, D.C.

* Double your prescription payments.

“The newly appointed VA Administrator, Jim Nichelson, said on a recent TV interview (Lou Dobbs-CNN) that some of the vets should pay more because they can afford it.”

[RWC] As you can in any program, Mr. Yanich took a few points out of context to make it appear Republicans don’t want to provide for our veterans. Mr. Yanich failed to note the following points because they would torpedo his attempt to attack President Bush.

· VA funding is now higher than at any point in the past ten years, and it’s going up twice as fast under President Bush as under President Clinton.

· Funding for veterans in the first four Bush budgets increased 37.6%. If President Bush gets what he proposed for the 2006 budget, the total increase will be 40.6%. That’s 40.6% in five years compared to 31.6% during Clinton’s eight years.

“However, on the Social Security debates to make some changes, Bush does not want to increase the $90,000 level subject to additional Social Security payments because he calls it a tax increase.”

[RWC] Mr. Yanich failed to note today’s $90,000 maximum taxed earnings cap is 30 times the original $3,000 of 1935 and now increases every year by law. It more than doubled in the last 18 years alone and increased nearly $14,000 since 2000!

If eliminating the Socialist Security max taxed earnings cap wouldn’t be a tax increase, what would Mr. Yanich call it?

“The well to do class comes first, but it doesn’t bother George Bush to hit the middle class veteran right where it hurts the most - in your hard-earned income.”

[RWC] These make for nice talking points, until you look at the facts and find there’s no support for the bashing.