The bad news came last week when we learned that Bush’s Department of Veterans Affairs came up at least $1 billion short in meeting the current health care needs for veterans. The worse news came when we learned the shortfall was actually over $2 billion. The good news is, thanks to Senate Dems, Congress is fixing Bush’s mistake.
As U.S. war injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan mounted, Congress on Tuesday hurriedly crafted legislation to provide around $1.5 billion in “emergency” funds for veterans’ health care programs stretched thin by combat and aging veterans of past wars. Approval of the funds was expected on Wednesday in the Senate and probably in early July in the House of Representatives.
The effort came after the Bush administration acknowledged that it had significantly underestimated veterans health care funds needed for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1.
“The bottom line is there is a surge in demand in VA services across the board,” Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson told a House panel.
The House Appropriations Committee estimated the overall budget shortfall at $2.6 billion, with about $1.1 billion of that already being addressed in a spending bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A Bush administration official, who asked not to be identified, estimated the overall budget shortfall at around $2.1 billion.
This is quite a debacle for the Bush administration. Dems insisted more funds would be necessary, but the Bush gang disagreed. Dems said the number of veterans needing care was exceeding expectations, but the Bush gang insisted they had everything under control. Even when Congress recently started talking about an emergency appropriations bill, the White House resisted the effort. Fortunately, senators from both parties were able to work to correct Bush’s mistake.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis complained that the Veterans Administration was silent as his panel wrote a fiscal 2006 veterans spending bill. The measure, he said, could have responded to the funding shortage.
“It borders on stupidity,” said Lewis, a California Republican. “I think someone was hoping they could hide the ball for a while.”
“Borders”?