Memorial Day - A Time to Remember - A Time to Change the Law That Dishonors Them

Sgt. 1st Class David J. Salie had been an American soldier for almost 17 years. He had deployed many times, and he had been to war before. He had parachuted into Panama with the 82nd Airborne Division, served in the Gulf War and gone to Haiti with the 25th Infantry Division an now in Iraq. In the month before he left for Iraq with B Company, 2nd of the 69th Armor, 3rd Infantry Division, David went over his will with a fine-toothed comb, and he checked out his Survivor's Group Life Insurance, which provides protection for military people. He like all soldiers worried about his family and had to make sure that if he was killed, his family would be taken care of just as they would be if he were still alive.

On Valentines Day Feb. 14, 2005, David’s sweetheart and wife Deanna was informed that David had been killed that day by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. After making it through her husband's funeral, she was greeted with mountains of paperwork and escorted from office to office by a casualty officer. Her military identification card was changed and reissued when she signed up for the Veterans Administration's Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and the military's Survivor's Benefit Plan. Later after reviewing the paperwork she was shocked to discover that David had been wrong. He didn't know that dependents' compensation offsets the Survivor's Benefit Plan. DIC is a payment made to widows, their children and some parents who've lost a husband, father or son. Widows are entitled to the benefit for the remainder of their lives, unless they remarry. DIC comes from the Department of Veterans Affairs. SBP pays a deceased soldier's income, and it comes from the Department of Defense. The offset, a dollar-for-dollar deduction, is supposedly intended to prevent double-dipping from two similar benefit plans. But the Survivors Benefit Plan and Dependents Indemnity Compensation are provided for different reasons, and the offset leaves many military families with no survivors benefits at all. Others receive only the pittance that's left over after the offset is deducted.

As David’s family try to rebuild their shattered lives, the offset deals them a second blow. Grief and loss are hard enough to handle, but now they have more worries, such as providing homes, food, clothing and schooling for the families. This not how American’s should honor their hero’s who fight enemies for us, believing that their families would be cared for if they gave their lives. This is not a matter of whether you're for or against the war in Iraq. This is about those who died serving our country. It is a nonpartisan political issue that can be resolved. There are two bills pending in Congress in the Senate, S 935 sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, and in the House of Representatives, HR 1927 sponsored by Rep. Solomon Ortiz of Texas - that would eliminate the offset and help the families. As a tribute to our fallen heros on this Memorial Day you can do something to help. Please contact your senators and representatives and urge them to vote for these bills.

Ralph Hall http://www.house.gov/ralphhall/IMA/zipauth.htm, John Cornyn > cornyn.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Kay Bailey Hutchinson > hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html

We Need a People's Candidate

MAY 21, 2007 :: We Need a People's Candidate

Have you heard any of the rumors going around about potential Democratic candidates to challenge John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate in 2008? Well I have, and I don't like what I'm hearing. The Washington Beltway Insiders are trying to pick a candidate to run against Cornyn on the basis of their ideas about what the people of Texas need and want, and -- surprise, surprise -- on the basis of who has or can raise the most big money.

John Cornyn is a supporter of Bushite tyranny who needs to be taken out for the good of the people of this state, for the good of the whole country, and for the good of the Constitution that he has so repeatedly dishonored by being a lapdog for the Bushites' attempts to stuff our rights and our heritage into the trash. But I'll be damned if I want a private club of wealthy Beltway-centered elite deciding who the Texas Democratic nominee will be to carry the people's banner against Cornyn. And I'll be double damned if I want the choices for the people of Texas to be decided by the power of money rather than the power of the people. It appears nothing has changed with the Insiders. But we are supposed to live in a system of democracy, not aristocracy! The people are supposed to govern themselves, not be governed by money and those who have large amounts of it.

We cannot allow the blooming populist movement of the last few years go die on the vine in relation to the Cornyn seat. We need a people's candidate.

David Van Os

Wanna Be Blue Says:

David is right you know we need a progressive U.S. Senator. We say the Texas Democratic Party should draft David Van Os as our candidate for U. S. Senator. Send David an email urging him to run in the Democratic primary for the Senate. vanos@chezsnarko.com We need a change from the cookie cutter candidates offered by the Republicans. We need a man of the people! We need David Van Os.

David Van Os has been a civil rights/labor lawyer for over 29 years. A dedicated Democrat, he a is co-founder of the Texas Progressive Populist Caucus, and receiver of the 2005 Backbone Campaign's "Spine Award". David has proven day-in, day-out, that he stands for the PEOPLE of this great state, not its corporations. For more information contact Rachel Barrios-Van Os 210-332-7080 or visit http://vanosfortexasag.com

Why Criticize the President? By Christina Johnstone

Why criticize the president, because all polls (AKA: voice of the American people) indicate that on the Iraq war and Mr. Bush’s handling of this preemptive war is utmost on our collective mind, the debate should and will continue. In other words, to quote the President “Bring it on.” Of course Bush lied. He lied about WMD’s, using Colin Powell to point out cartoonish, false locations of WMD labs in Iraq. He lied when he said that the International Atomic Energy Commission report concluded that Iraq was just a few months away from developing a nuclear weapon. In reality, no such report existed. He not only lied about Iraq obtaining yellow cake from Niger, he unleashed the Republican slime machine, Cheney, Rove, Novak, Limbaugh, Colter and all of Fox News, to squash the truth. He lied to Congress and even used the press to lie to the American people, remember Armstrong Williams and other “journalists” on the Administration’s payroll? He had full national support when he went in to Afghanistan to root out the Taliban. Then, much to everyone’s amazement he simply forgot about his promise to get Osama Bin Ladin. He fires or retires anyone that disagrees with him and then lies and says he listens to the generals. He lied when he sent Rumsfield out to say that the war would last “6 day, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months.” and sent Cheney out to say that we would be greeted as liberators, and Wolfowitz went out to say this awful war would pay for itself. If he did not agree with these lies, why did he not disagree with these false statements as soon as they were uttered? Oh, and we must not forget Condoleezza Rice’s famous smoking gun/mushroom cloud remark that was repeated by Bush himself. This Administration’s methods of governance are threats, fear, lies and refusal to be accountable for any mistake. They are incompetent and are unfit to govern. George W. Bush’s lies began in his first campaign. He claimed to be a “uniter not a divider” and then uses the divisions in our country as political tools. He also said he was a “compassionate conservative” he is neither.

How Bush Celebrates National Military Appreciation Month

The Bush Administration has decided to show us just how much they appreciate the military. May, has been designated as the National Military Appreciation Month. How does he show his appreciation? He “strongly opposes the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 calling pay increases “unnecessary.” A death gratuity for federal civilian employees who die in support of military operations and new benefits for disabled retirees and the survivors of military retirees also drew complaints. He complained about lawmakers refusing to approve increases in co-pay fees for retirees and their families to hold down costs by making the troops and their families pay more. All of these things that the administration opposes have been recommended by The House Armed Services Committee for the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008. Talk about not supporting the troops! If they are wounded they end up in substandard housing and care at Walter Reed Hospital. While some military families receive food stamps and other funding when available, they live from pay check to pay check robbing Peter to pay Paul and Bush says a raise of 3.5% is “unnecessary” and you will pay more for health care. If you are a disable retiree or a survivor of retirees, no new benefits and if a civilian employee is killed, their survivors get nothing. Obviously, Bush does not agree with Lincoln who said “Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.”

State Law HB 218 Requiring a Photo ID to Vote

The State Senators who are standing up to stop the attempt to pass through HB 218 should be recognized as true statesmen. The underhanded way that the proponents of this bill tried to sneak this bill to a vote shows that they are not honorable men and women. They will try anything and do anything to have their way. Voter fraud is not the issue here it is voter suppression with an attempt to create what amounts to a modern-day poll tax. 21 million United States citizens do not have government-issued photo identification. Most common form of government-issued photo ID: a drivers’ license. Who do you think does not have a driver’s license? The urban poor, the elderly, the disabled and students, young people and others who have moved recently may not have IDs with their current information.
An identification/proof of citizenship restrictions cost money, amounting to a modern-day poll tax. A birth certificate usually costs $10 to $15. According to the Department of Bureau of Consular Affairs, only 25-27% of eligible Americans have passports, which now cost $97. Naturalization papers, if they are lost or damaged and need to be replaced cost $210. Freedom loving Texans must speak out against this blatant attempt at voter suppression. Let Senator Craig Estes know that you will not support him if he continues to support HB 218. (512) 463-0130 (512) 463-8874 Fax http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist30/dist30.htm

Rick Perry Says: Have Gun - Use It

In Texas, unless a mentally ill person has plenty of money and/or is fortunate enough to have health insurance with decent mental health benefits, the Governor appears to have the belief that execution is as good an option as providing care. Evidence of this is his refusal to stay the execution several mentally ill inmates on death row. Now he adds the licensed hand gun owner to the mix when he says, "It makes sense for Texans to be able to protect themselves from deranged individuals," Perry’s attitude is the state really has no responsibility to care for the mentally ill. Just let them roam free until they commit a horrible crime and then either execute them or if the state gets lucky some Rambo gun owner will save the state the trouble. Perry believes that guns should be allowed in stores, churches, shopping malls, universities, schools, bars, nightclubs, strip joints and pretty much anywhere. I’m confident that law enforcement official believes otherwise, the more guns on the street the more likely people will use them to kill their fellow man. It’s just a really easy way to deal with any situation. Accidental deaths will skyrocket. I can see it now on a Friday night under a full moon the emergency room at hospitals will be flooded with many more gunshot victims. This type of reasoning is truly barbaric. It smacks of heartless, inhumane, and sadistic reasoning. What happen to the age of enlightenment found in the 20th century? Is the 21st century a return to the 19th century when the law of the gun, not the law of reason prevailed? God help us. Pray for deliverance from this madness before we get caught in the crossfire.