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Featured Listener Comments Section: Contents List |
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Listener: S.
Category: Lubbock City Politics
Date: 28 May 2010
Time: 12:11:36 -0700
Remote Name: 69.149.123.200
Pratt,
The Lubbock City Council today unanimously passed Councilman Todd Klein’s
resolution calling for construction of a new Veterans Affairs hospital in
Lubbock, or to ask the feds to adopt a voucher program so Lubbock veterans might
receive care in other local hospital facilities.
Given that Obama has already proposed major cuts to Veterans’ medical benefits (tabled following negative reaction, but not out of the question), the overwhelming, out-of-control spending of this administration, and its obvious bias against the State of Texas (so well pointed out by Pratt on Texas), I find the Council’s action to be untimely and unnecessary. Do you recall not too many years ago when there was a threat to close the Big Spring VA hospital? If Lubbock, Texas, “makes waves” with the feds at this point in a precarious economic environment, what’s to stop them from a review concluding that we not only do not need a VA hospital, we don’t even need the VA outpatient clinic here? We’re less than 2 hours from the Amarillo facility, the VA runs transportation regularly, and they can save a lot of money by closing what we already have.
Now is NOT the time for expansion of veterans’ benefits, not just because of the economic conditions, but because of the mindset of the current administration. We need to be vigilant in order to keep the benefits already in place for our vets, and not risk more backlash against our state by requesting or demanding more. The VA fills a great need here; a 120-mile trip to Amarillo may be a hardship, but it’s been “do-able” for a lot of years.
Councilman Klein and the Lubbock City Council need to concentrate on more ways to save money, not spend it. And keep the feds out of our hair as much as possible.
S
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