Saturday, September 25, 2010

Blumenthal & McMahon – The Issues – Part VI– Veterans

This is the sixth in a series of postings on the policy proposal of the two major Senatorial candidates, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and former WWE Executive Linda McMahon.

The sixth topic is Veteran’s Affairs. Since “Senator” McMahon was first last time, “Senator” Blumenthal leads off this sixth part of the series. In both presentations, I have cut out some of the background and only left in the action statements.

“Senator” Richard Blumenthal
I have called for a comprehensive “No Veteran Left Behind” program to ensure that the depth of our country’s commitment to our veterans reflects the depth of their sacrifices on our behalf. My ideas include:

Modernize the Veterans Administration.
Improve the Claims Processing System and End the Backlog.
Accelerate Appeals.
Transition to Electronic Medical Records.
Streamline Military-to-VA Transition

Secure Job Opportunities for our Veterans. We must do everything we can to help returning veterans secure jobs and transition to civilian work.
New Incentives to Hire Veterans.
Support for Veteran Entrepreneurship.

Improve Veteran Health Care and Mental Health Services.
Improve Mental Health Services. Congress must provide the VA and the Department of Defense (DOD) with adequate funding and authority to recruit and retain critically needed behavioral health specialists. And we must make sure that both active military personnel and veterans have adequate access to mental health services.
Reduce the Stigma of Mental Health Services.

Provide Training and Higher Education.
Provide GI Bill Benefits for Vocational Programs.
Speed up Payments.

Support for Women Veterans.
Improving Women’s Health. The VA should increase funding for the hiring of female medical practitioners, especially those who specialize in women’s healthcare.
Reducing Sexual Assault. The VA should identify, track and report to Congress the outcomes of claims involving sexual assault and sexual harassment, including data on denial rates, length of processing time, and the types of related disabilities reported.

End Veteran Homelessness. I support expanding the HUD-VA Supportive Housing voucher program, extending its availability to reach all homeless veterans, and providing Section 8 vouchers to veterans in need of permanent housing.


“Senator” Linda McMahon
-“…We owe them our respect and support in return for their service.”
As Senator, I will work to ensure that the promises our government made to veterans, including health care, disability compensation, pensions and GI Bill benefits, are fulfilled.

Comments
“Senator” Blumenthal is more specific in how he would support veterans. “Senator” McMahon’s one statement does not provide much detail on how she will support veteran’s issues.

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