Bush to Veterans: We Got What We need Out of Them. Fuck 'em.

Bush drug proposal enrages veterans
Plan may alienate military retirees by imposing higher fees for prescriptions

By DALE EISMAN

Copyright 2004 The Virginian-Pilot
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is considering dramatic increases in the fees military retirees pay for prescription drugs, a step that would roll back a benefit extended 33 months ago and risk alienating an important Republican constituency at the dawn of the 2004 campaign season.

Pentagon budget documents indicate that retirees may be asked to pay $10 -- up from $3 -- for each 90-day generic prescription filled by mail through Tricare, the military's health insurance program. Tricare's current $9 co-pay for a three-month supply of each brand-name drug would jump to $20.

The proposal also would impose charges for drugs the retirees now receive free at military hospitals and clinics. There would be a $10 fee for each generic prescription and a $20 charge for brand-name drugs dispensed at those facilities.

A Pentagon spokesman declined Wednesday to comment on the drug plan, calling it "pre-decisional." But word of the proposal was being spread at the speed of light by veterans service organizations, who were urging their thousands of members to send calls and letters of protest to the White House and members of Congress.

"It's something that we're going to look at very closely when we return," said Tom Gordy, chief of staff for Rep. Ed Schrock, R-Va. The House is to reconvene Jan. 20.

"You're tampering with a benefit that was earned by people putting their lives on the line," said James F. Lokovic, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant and deputy director of the Air Force Sergeants Association.

Lokovic's 136,000-member association already has sent Bush a letter warning of "significant backlash from millions of retired military voters" if the plan is included in the 2005 defense budget the administration will unveil in a few weeks.

"Somebody just isn't paying attention," the Military Officers Association of America said in "special alert" sent to its 390,000 members. "The war on terrorism is reminding the nation of servicemembers' sacrifices every night on the evening news ... and yet the administration seems to continue going out of its way to penalize the military community." Much more at link.

So, once again, BushCo. is entertaining the idea of trimming veteran's benefits. Now this is a pretty hard core GOP voting bloc. I think know exactly who the "somebody" in the MOAA statement is....An unelected president who is trying his darnedest to be a 'one-termer,' but the media and their corporate masters keep shielding us form the awful truth. See CNN rant below.