http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT) A sign of political trouble for the president surfaced at a breakfast meeting in July at an unlikely place: the Capitol Hill headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Present were groups representing the leading veterans organizations. Their members might be viewed as likely Bush backers in 2004, given that troops are under fire overseas and given the traditional loyalty former servicemen and servicewomen show the commander in chief.
But angry over health care and other issues, the veterans told a White House official that it will take more than patriotic appeals to win the support of their combined membership of about 5 million.
Veterans are angry. And they're ready to take their frustrations out on the Washington politicians at the ballot box.
They say the praise for troops by the president, other top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders is "ringing hollow" because they have broken promises to veterans and active-duty soldiers about benefits and services.
Rick Weidman, director of government relations for the Vietnam Veterans of America, said that the president has a "credibility gap" and that "it's widening every day and it's getting deeper every day."
Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, replied: "No one honors this nation's veterans more" than the president.
While the American Legion, the VFW and other veterans organizations are prohibited from endorsing candidates, they intend to educate their members on issues and where the candidates stand.
The groups already have an advertising and letters-to-the-editor campaign in the works to pressure Congress when it returns after Labor Day to increase funds for veterans' health care.
Their complaint is that the White House and Congress have underfunded medical care. And House Republicans, they said, engaged in a public betrayal.
House Republican leaders invited top officials from the veterans community to a news conference in May before the Memorial Day recess to announce they would support $27.1 billion for veterans' health care.
The president had proposed $25.3 billion. Supporters of the higher amount said that $1.8 billion more would meet the demand for medical treatment caused by the increased use of troops in combat zones.
But when Congress returned after the holiday, the Republicans backed off in favor of the lower figure.
"We really thought we had won this battle, but they turned around and did a 180," said Steve Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion.
Among the veterans' other concerns:
_House Republican leaders refuse to allow consideration of a bill - authored by a Republican - to allow veterans with a disability related to their service to collect both their military pension and their disability compensation. Currently the disability payment is deducted from their pension.
"When the president was running, he said he supported it," said Joe Violante, national legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans. "Now the administration threatens to veto any bill that contains it."
_The administration wants to close seven hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs while enlarging others and building several new facilities, including centers for the blind and those with spinal cord injuries. Many veterans are worried the closings will make it hard to get medical treatment.
But VA Secretary Anthony Principi said in an interview: "This is not about closing hospitals. This is about transforming the VA health care system into a patient-focused health care system that adapts to medicine in the 21st century."
_The administration intends to drop more than half a million veterans from medical eligibility by 2005. It also has proposed higher prescription drug fees. Meanwhile, it takes an average of six months to get an appointment at a VA medical center.
Principi said he cut services to half a million veterans because their medical needs were a low priority and he wanted to reduce the waiting times for the VA's "core" clients - the seriously injured and disabled.
"Sometimes, leaders have to make difficult decisions," Principi said.
But the problem of long delays took on a name and face earlier this month with the plight of Sgt. Vannessa Turner, who contracted a mysterious illness while serving in Iraq and nearly died.
After she recovered, Turner was sent home to Massachusetts, where she tried to schedule an appointment at a VA hospital and was told she couldn't be seen until mid-October.
"As we get more Sgt. Turners coming back that need help, that will outrage not only the veterans community, but the private citizens of this country, who will say that we sent those kids over there, we got them busted up, now we're not meeting our obligations," Robertson said.
Among the Democratic candidates, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has emphasized his ties to the military and the veterans community. He has been a leader with Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Kerry will officially kick off his campaign this week in South Carolina, a key Southern test, alongside veterans of the boat crews he commanded in Vietnam and with the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in the background.
Veterans have also been perplexed by other administration actions, like the Pentagon's recent attempt to cut the pay of combat troops before quickly back-pedaling.
Veterans insist that their complaints are no reflection on their strong support for the troops in the field or their respect for the presidency.
It also seems unlikely that many will politically desert the president at a time of high support for the military, especially since an American Legion poll during the 2000 campaign gave him the edge over Al Gore by a 9-to-1 ratio.
But it's worth looking at what happened to an earlier president, Bush's father.
In the 1992 presidential election, veterans backed Democrat Bill Clinton, viewed by many at the time as a draft dodger, over Republican President George Bush, the hero of the Persian Gulf War, by a 2-1 ratio, according to exit polls.
Veterans were angry over their treatment by the VA and had running conflicts with its secretary, Edward Derwinski. Many thought they would fare better under Clinton.
"I believe that, like his father, there is a strong possibility that (President Bush) could very easily lose the support of veterans," said Richard Schneider, director of veterans affairs for the Non Commissioned Officers Association.
Schneider added: "It's not a foregone conclusion that this president is going to be re-elected. Quite the contrary. People are waiting. I think there is going to be an accountability from the veterans, not only for themselves, but for these veterans who are going to be coming out of Iraq."
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