1 week Ago
Veterans’ healthThere are 17 million health care workers in the United States compared to a general population of nearly 350 million; that’s a ratio of about 4.8%. There are 371,000 health care workers employed by the VA treating some 9.
1 million enrolled veterans; that’s a ratio of 4.07%. Apparently there is less fat in the VA than there is in the general health care industry.
I submit that the veteran population as a whole has a significantly more complex health profile than the general population given the higher survival rate for modern wounded veterans and the devastating effects of veterans’ exposure to toxic substances such as Agent Orange and burn pits. Veterans who have service-connected medical conditions deserve the best treatment our nation can provide. Wounded veterans need specialized care.
Veterans who have been exposed to toxins often have multiple complications.Every time I visit the VA I thank the doctors and nurses and staff who work there for their willingness to work in a veterans’ care setting for less money than they likely would make outside the VA.So, please hold your fire against any representative who advocates against cutting VA staff or budgets, which translates to cuts in service for veterans.
Veterans have earned those services regardless of the size of the national debt. The debt owed to veterans is a debt of honor that Americans should embrace.Peter Poirier, Virginia BeachStop hidingLast December, U.
S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, expanded his mobile office hours to include Williamsburg the second Thursday of every month.
This gave constituents an opportunity to meet with a member of his staff. At the last meeting, on Feb. 13, between 150 and 200 people showed up.
Wittman now no longer has mobile office hours in Williamsburg.Wittman is now having telephone town halls, which his website states will “begin with a call from me (Mr. Wittman) inviting residents to participate in a live conference call.
” The call will include a “brief update on my work, take questions and poll participants.” To be invited to an unspecified “future event,” you must sign up ahead of time. I presume the list of those who signed up will then be winnowed down to the lucky few who actually get to participate in the call.
Instead of real town halls and access to his staff, Wittman now offers us hokey by-invitation-only telephone town halls. Congressman, stop hiding. You need to have in-person real-time conversations with your constituents.
Show some backbone and meet your constituents face-to-face.Barbara Riebe, WilliamsburgUnwelcomeFor centuries the United States stood for freedom and hope in a troubled world. For the last 80 years, the U.
S. led the free countries of the world in the Cold War against Russian despotism and won.No more.
In the space of just a few months President Donald Trump and his inept people have trashed the very idea of a welcoming America, upended our alliances and allied our precious country with despots. We are descending into an unbalanced, chaotic multipolar nuclear world. War will be the eventual result.
At home, Trump and his administration have attacked America itself — Moscow could not have written a better script — and are building a domestic police force with tactics reminiscent of the Gestapo: searches without warrants, arrests without charges, jail without counsel and deportation without notice. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is only for immigrants. Trump is also assaulting judges, lawyers and the rule of law itself.
Can the courts survive four years of attacks?This is far beyond normal politics; all Americans must resist. If a fair vote is possible in 2026, vote against every member of Trump’s MAGA cult. March.
Demonstrate. ResistBob Killebrew, Newport NewsSign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter.
