Two out of 70? Where's the beef?

Federal agencies and departments have always complained and will always assert that "earmarks" detract from their missions. It's called turf. But is there really any analysis out there showing that programs originating in Congress are more prone to waste and mismanagement than those originating in the Executive Branch?

When groups like TCS allege that earmarks harm national security, they lose credibility, big time.

Doesn't EVERY earmark knock an agency off it's priorities? After all, it tells an agency it can't spend money on what IT thinks its important. It can only spend money on what a congressman - or rather, a congressman's campaign donor - thinks is important. For almost 10 years at FDA, user fees are paid to FDA but the agency can't spend the money on inspections, surveillance, enforcement actions, or the staff and equipment used for these efforts. As a result, Chinese send us tainted drugs, leaded toys, contaminated pet food (and almost certainly, human food). Spinach, raw cheese, peanut butter and heparin have left people sick and even dead. Food presented at US ports for import is one of the top vulnerabilities of US security. Thank you to earmarks.

VA DOES NOT PAY, UNLESS YOU ARE A VA DIRECTOR!
When my AF husband died in Wadsworth VA Hospital, Sept 4, 1979, I was assured The Dept of VA would aaward me a VA widow's pension for his two tours od duty overseas and 20 years service. However, all I ever got from the Dept of VA is a flag to cover his coffin the dayof his funeral at March AFB in Riverside, CA.
That will be in the book I plan to write, trust me because our first president George Washington warned us, "If at anytime the government or Republic we have given you no longer works it is your duty to reform it.
The current governemnt only works for the rich and famous, the blue collar worker and the wounded warrior's widow are cast aside to die in poverty behind a faded flag used to ocver a grave...
Thanks a lot, Uncle Sam, maybe our grandchildren will become aware when our country goes to war, stay at home and demand the elected officials face the firing line while their overpaid mates and spoiled kids enjoy the great life...
The enlisted man is always on the front line, not the officer, and the officer's wives still collect enoughperks to play golf but those of us who were amrried to sgt or even a Master/Sgt as I was, watch the years go by saluting the faded flag ,used for our wounded warrior's funeral, quite aware we maynever see one benefit check on the VA check known as DIC, Dependent's Income Compensation because the omore widows they rob the more money is left over for their great divident and bonus...
Thank goodness there is a higher power and each of these political grave robbers will stand before a higher judge they cannot buy off...
My husband's service in China, Burma and India caused him to die helpless in constant pain from TB of the one with every piece of decayed bone in his spine creating such pain he could not move.
He was entitled to 100% disability as 100% disabled but Weadsworth VA never filed the claim for his widow's benefits because they were wise enough to know you can't colelct a big bonus unless there is a surplus and tne bets way to creat a surplus is don't pay benefits...ha.
I will sent up a page on the internet withbumnper stickers, "VA DOES NOT PAY"so cheap every one can afford them to get the message ot, my World War Two generation of widows was robbed, and so were the Vietman widows, and the next group they roby will be Iraq, because they have this system down to science...
I mailed so many copies of my marriage license, husband's death certificate and his honorable discharge to show he served 20 years, poor, patriotic chump...no check.
Now I will organize a group of owunded warrior widows to work for VA reform and save the next generation from poverty ...and politics...trust me. Widow of USAF Master Sgt Rudy L, Vance, DOD Sept 4, 1979, Wadsworth VA, CA...in "NO PAY VA Territory...
Even the flag they did give me for his casket has faded so badly I can no longer say, "These colors don't run, " because they do fade away.
Mrs. Rudy L. Vance
102 Holly Circle
Payson, Arizona 85541

PS: Just because I am eighty years old does not mean you are free to rob me, I shall remaintill age 100 and spend every day on the internet telling the world, the only message to military widows, is-
"Sorry about your loss..." The greatest loss though is pride in the red, white an dblue as our grandchildren wise up...theover paid civil service servants will one day see a new civil unrest like the civil war. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Mrs. Rudy L.Vance, USAF World War Two widow...mother of two Vietnam Vets who returned with injuries , NO VA pay...
George Washington's warning, "If atany time the republic we gave you no longer works it is your duty to reform it no longer works..."should be honored...or his spirit will not rest...he was an honest leader...who worked for the good of the country, not the good of career...

I know how you feel. The VA has been screwing me for years. This is part of a letter I wrote to President Bush.
Currently it is estimated that over 300,000 of the 2,500,000 who served in Vietnam died from Agent Orange related causes which translates into 12% of all those served in Vietnam died from dioxin poisoning. But what is really shameful is that most of those valiant servicemen and women died without being justly compensated for their injuries which has left many of their families destitute from having to pay for their medical treatment.
In addition, more than 4,500,000 Vietnamese have met with a similar fate. In a recent Associated Press article by Larry Neumeister it was stated that the "2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it agreed with U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein, who ruled in March 2005 in Brooklyn that Agent Orange was used to protect U.S. troops against ambush and not as a weapon of war against human populations. The three-judge panel said "It is significant that plaintiffs nowhere allege that the government intended to harm human beings through its use of Agent Orange." Jonathan C. Moore, a lawyer for the Vietnamese plaintiffs, said he was deeply disappointed. "It's both an unjust and an immoral outcome," he said, and promised to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."
A doctor has an emergency and is speeding down the road to get to the hospital and doesn't see a stop sign and collides with another vehicle injuring the other driver and his passengers. Neither the fact the doctor had an emergency at the hospital, nor did the fact the doctor failed to see the stop sign exonerates the doctor from this liability. Why should it matter what purpose Agent Orange was used for if it injured these human beings? Denying them their day in court is reprehensible.
We have a hymn that we sing at church "Lord, I Would Follow Thee". The 4th verse goes like this: "Savior, may I love my brother as I know thou lovest me. Find in thee my strength, my beacon, for thy servant I would be. Savior, my I love my brother - Lord, I would follow thee." This government was once founded upon the principle that we are our brother's keeper. The principle no longer exists.
The use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War is the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel so I am therefore importuning you, as the president of this nation, to rectify the injustice that has been perpetrated against these people and herewith am petitioning you, with a hope and a prayer, that your ears will be opened and your heart will be softened and you will have compassion unto them and will hear their cries of anguish for the shamefully way this nation has treated them over the many years by the continued hypocrisy of denying responsibility and fault for their injuries and health conditions and for the continued refusal to assistance and compensate them.
You may recall from Matthew 21:18-22 that: early one morning Jesus was on his way back to the city and he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up and found nothing but leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer".
More important is how your administration has treated the Vietnam War veterans. Professor Eugene Narrett reports in his essay "War and Culture" that you pledged $30 billion to Africa for its AIDS epidemic. That amidst all the flag-waving after 9/11 your administration removed the presumptive disability ratings for naval personnel stationed in or near Vietnam from 1962 to May 1975. He goes on to state that your administration changed the terms of the Agent Orange Act of 1991, that your administration refuses to provided benefits to those veterans with symptomatic illnesses associate with exposure to Agent Orange by promulgating rules requiring these navy veterans to prove that they had been on land at some point or in port; that notwithstanding the promulgation of this rule was found to be unconstitutional, by the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims (CAVA) in August 2006, your administration continues to withholding benefits from these veterans even though it only cost $10 billion over a ten year period to provide benefits to them. Funny you can provide for strangers in African but you can't provide for the veterans in this country who were injured in the line of duty. Why?You may be incline to deny Professor Narrett's assessment of this situation so let me provide you with my own experience with your administration.
In 1996 I applied for service connected disabilities and went for Agent Orange screening. I assumed the physical would be considered in my claim. In January 1997 my claim was denied on the basis that my conditions had not manifested themselves within 12 months of active duty. I requested the VA in August 2001 to reopen my 1996 claim on the basis they failed to consider my medical conditions were the result of exposure to Agent Orange. In March of 2002 the VA refused my request so I appealed and in January 2005 my claim was remanded on the basis the VA failed to consider that my medical conditions were caused by Agent Orange. So notwithstanding that I had "boot on the ground" in Vietnam I have been subject to the same discrimination as described by Professor Narrett. Assuming service connection would be granted after a hearing in August 2002 I started using the VA Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee to treat my medical conditions related to Agent Orange exposure. The VA billed me for a service that I am legally entitled to receive free so I refused to pay.In January 2004 the Treasury Department took $304 from me. Normally if a citizen disputes a debt he is allowed to go to court and have a judge sort the issues out so I filed a suit in federal court to get the money back but Federal Judge J. Daniel Breen held the issue was over veteran benefits and I wasn't allowed to pursue my issue in court. In January 2005 the Bureau of Veteran Appeals ruled in my favor on the Agent Orange issue and remanded my claim, but in September 2005 the VA recomputed their 2003 billing and took another $251, notwithstanding the remand order. Again I was denied the right to challenge the VA's action in court. Since the CAVA ruled in 2006 the rule change was unconstitutional using the Treasury Department to collect an illegal debt is nothing short of racketeering. There are always several sides to a story and what is interesting about this story is the amount that was illegally taken. If you join the mirror image to the 555 you will find a picture of fruit on a stem. It is said "by their fruits ye shall know them", so it is with me, please return my fruit.
It is amazing how your administration is so similar to what Isaiah predicted: "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless." (Isaiah 10:1-2)
It is my sincere hope and prayer that your administration will repent before it is too late; that you all may feel the suffering of those whom you have wrongfully done by the withholding of medical treatment and benefits; that you may be moved to show forth the same compassion and charity to them that you showed to the African AIDS victims for "charity is the pure love of Christ and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day shall be well with him." (Moroni 7:47)

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