Two House lawmakers launch new effort to make VA motto gender inclusive

Stripes.com

Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., want to change the motto to read: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”

Just google veteran suicides at a VA and the number is so large its unacceptable, and one of the driving reasons for me that both parties have failed the American people and we need to STOP voting for them.

Find a third party you can believe in rather than voting "against" the other team.
With all the problems the VA has why does an inclusive motto deserve to be even mentioned in congress, why not focus on the obscene amount of opiates they are prescribing to veterans, or the fact they have absurd rules that can get a vet kicked out of a program for being late to an appointment for his meds.

We have hadVets set themselves on fire ata Va hospital, shoot themselves, Hang themselves, and these idiots are concerned about an inclusive motto, I am so pissed off I dont know what else to say.

effort would be better spent providing actual services to wounded veterans.

instead we get PC BS.

a reply to: Irishhaf

It is almost impossible for a retired vet to get mental healthcare too.

The system has screwed them over so badly. I could never recommend military service to a young person, it is all lies!

Well what else are we to do now that all other important issues have been solved?

a reply to: Irishhaf


If I could draw cartoons, I'd draw one with a vet standing on a chair, tying a noose around his neck while congress is trying to get him to change his shoe laces to a prettier color and calling that, "progress".

a reply to: JAGStorm

I have had guys I served with ask if I would push my kid to the military...

My answer is an Emphatic NO, I wont stop him if he insists but I would never recommend it or encourage he do it, and I would not recommend it to any family or friends kids.

We have crap health care, we have non-existent mental health care and we are not a big enough voting block for congress to really care.

a reply to: Irishhaf

My dad served for 30 years, then 10 as a civilian.
He has paid with his life twice, the VA doesn't care, they wish he would just hurry up and die.

I really wonder if that is why they give these old timers such poor care.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Yeah dad did his 20, his father was a PoW in WW2 in the Pacific theater. Mom did 8 years in the Navy and still works for the DoD. Both of them highly discouraged me from joining up for a myriad of reasons, care for veterans was one of the biggest.

a reply to: Irishhaf

why does an inclusive motto deserve to be even mentioned in congress

Good grief! You don't get it?
Nothing is more important than promoting inclusivity! Nothing! Obviously you are an insensitive person who wants to exclude people who are worthy of being included. What a dinosaur!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Guarantee it, used to work with a Vietnam vet that was suffering from agent orange exposure, he went to the VA for the pain and they handed him a jar of Opiates.

He looked at them and said if I take that home ill be dead in 6 months, they just shrugged at him.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Someone should bug a board meeting. These yahoos in DC are truly that stupid and people vote for them. Look at that Cortez lady. I have stacked bags of rocks on pallets that are smarter than her. Our vets deserve better and I mean better than what the representatives in DC get. Maybe we send the representatives to the VA for their healthcare.

Maybe we send the representatives to the VA for their healthcare.

Yes, the first change for Congress. That should get something worth while moving.

It's obvious that 95% to 100% of Congress is not capable of doing the job.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
Stripes.com

Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., want to change the motto to read: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”

Just google veteran suicides at a VA and the number is so large its unacceptable, and one of the driving reasons for me that both parties have failed the American people and we need to STOP voting for them.

Find a third party you can believe in rather than voting "against" the other team.
With all the problems the VA has why does an inclusive motto deserve to be even mentioned in congress, why not focus on the obscene amount of opiates they are prescribing to veterans, or the fact they have absurd rules that can get a vet kicked out of a program for being late to an appointment for his meds.

We have hadVets set themselves on fire ata Va hospital, shoot themselves, Hang themselves, and these idiots are concerned about an inclusive motto, I am so pissed off I dont know what else to say.

This is probably the most thought about and as close to a veteran as these moonbats have ever been.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I'm so angry I'm shaking...

Well for this issue, I think the motto change is a good idea. The current motto "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." I just don't see why this has to be such a big deal as to take away from efforts to get veterans things they need. Because changing the motto here doesn't seem to be what people are angry about as much as the lack of attention to veterans and their needs not being met.

More than 200,000 women are in the active-duty military, including 69 generals and admirals. A quick look at women in the military, according to Pentagon figures:
Total numbers:
-- About 203,000 in 2011, or 14.5% of the active-duty force of nearly 1.4 million.
-- That number comprises about 74,000 in the Army, 53,000 in the Navy, 62,000 in the Air Force and 14,000 in the Marine Corps.

a reply to: StoutBroux

I don't care if they do away with the motto completely, I have been around the block enough to know exactly what this is meant to do... Its so these clowns can say I did something to help fix the VA.

I am sick of watching my brothers and sisters in the service think suicide is an answer because in many places the VA either cant meet their needs or just dont care about meeting their needs. while corrupt employees of the VA keep suing to get their jobs back and winning.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: StoutBroux

I don't care if they do away with the motto completely, I have been around the block enough to know exactly what this is meant to do... Its so these clowns can say I did something to help fix the VA.

I am sick of watching my brothers and sisters in the service think suicide is an answer because in many places the VA either cant meet their needs or just dont care about meeting their needs. while corrupt employees of the VA keep suing to get their jobs back and winning.

I don't think anyone believes it's what you indicate. The VA has been broken for years and suffers from what many government agencies and organizations do. The motto is a very minor thing in the big picture but at the same time, it also expresses the beliefs and sets an image of the Veterans Administration. To change it so the verbiage is supportive of all veterans is a correct action.


The failures of the VA will continue but the motto change shouldn't offend anyone. Hopefully, changes are happening that will resolve issues but I highly doubt it. Our government is broken and corrupt.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: Irishhaf


If I could draw cartoons, I'd draw one with a vet standing on a chair, tying a noose around his neck while congress is trying to get him to change his shoe laces to a prettier color and calling that, "progress".

I CAN draw cartoons, but Hustler magazine said that they were to smutty.

***BACK ON TOPIC***

I'm glad that these groups and Congresswhatever (what do we call members of congress these days) are worried this much about a motto, but still aren't that concerned about the outdated computers that the VA is still having to use. Thank the Pantheon of gods we have that the Statues and plaques will be up to date those. Least we offend those who probably won't serve so that those who do can suffer longer waits.

Some days I wish I was a millennial, then I realize that I'm still hungover from the night before.

a reply to: Guyfriday

My dad worked for the VA for about 2 years as a contractor and was wildly over paid (his words) as he managed the old system while they tried to transfer over to a newer network.

After 2 years they still hadn't finished the transfer, its such a gawd awful mess and congress is afraid to exercise their power over that organization.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Guyfriday

My dad worked for the VA for about 2 years as a contractor and was wildly over paid (his words) as he managed the old system while they tried to transfer over to a newer network.

After 2 years they still hadn't finished the transfer, its such a gawd awful mess and congress is afraid to exercise their power over that organization.

During my time in DC, I learned that the reason many lawmakers/breakers don't like to reform the VA isn't due to them not wanting to, but rather that the advent of HMOs and the people behind them would rather have Vets going to them instead of the free services of the VA. That's all it came down to, and yes I had an unnamed Senator tell me this (they are unnamed because I respect the openness of this person during my time there)


That was decades ago, but I can tell that nothing has changed for the better when it comes to dealing with the VA. It all comes down to buying and selling politicians and since the VA brings nothing of any use to the table for the average consumer, these power players would rather force politicians to undermine the VA and force Vets into using other services.

It's crap and everyone knows it, but they are to afraid to do anything about it. In the mean time the VA suffers by getting put at the bottom of the importance list and this causes Vets to get pushed aside for the next agenda these power players have. This is just one of the reason you see a ton of hate towards Trump. He came into office wanting to do something about the Veteran Crisis and started doing something (other than talk) about it. This does not go well for the power players of DC, so they attack, attack, attack, and tell their politicians to block and rant instead of compromise and fix issues like the VA.