7 SUNDAYS
Our “7 Sundays” logo.
(This is a 7 part series on the major issues in this Presidential election and where the candidates stand. The information is directly from each candidate’s website. The order of appearance will vary from week to week because we will use a coin toss to determine what candidate’s views will appear first).
VETERANS
Today we give you an insight into where both candidates stand on Veterans from their respective websites. However at the end of this edition is a link to Miltary.com that has some very good contrasts on the issue between the two.
10/16/16
VETERANS
TRUMP
Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting backlogs. No more excessive red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.
•Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members' post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
• Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.
Donald J. Trump's 10 Point Plan to Reform The Department of Veterans Affairs
1. Appoint a VA Secretary whose sole purpose will be to serve veterans. Under a Trump Administration, the needs of D.C. bureaucrats will no longer be placed above those of our veterans.
2. Use the powers of the presidency to remove and discipline the federal employees and managers who have violated the public's trust and failed to carry out the duties on behalf of our veterans.
3. Ask that Congress pass legislation that empowers the Secretary of the VA to discipline or terminate any employee who has jeopardized the health, safety or well-being of a veteran.
4. Create a commission to investigate all the fraud, cover-ups, and wrong-doing that has taken place in the VA, and present these findings to Congress to spur legislative reform.
5. Protect and promote honest employees at the VA who highlight wrongdoing, and guarantee their jobs will be protected.
6. Create a private White House hotline, which will be active 24 hours a day answered by a real person. It will be devoted to answering veteran's complaints of wrongdoing at the VA and ensure no complaints fall through the cracks.
7. Stop giving bonuses to any VA employees who are wasting money, and start rewarding employees who seek to improve the VA's service, cut waste, and save lives.
8. Reform the visa system to ensure veterans are at the front of the line for health services, not the back.
9. Increase the number of mental health care professionals, and allow veteran's to be able to seek mental health care outside of the VA.
10. Ensure every veteran has the choice to seek care at the VA or at a private service provider of their own choice. Under a Trump Administration, no veteran will die waiting for service.
CLINTON
Hillary Clinton’s father, Hugh Rodham, was a chief petty officer at Naval Station Great Lakes during World War II. He instilled in Hillary at an early age the importance of supporting our men and women in uniform, as well as military families and veterans—and an empathy for the challenges that many service members and veterans face.
Hillary believes that by supporting our veterans, we strengthen our military, our economy, and our country. She knows that we cannot separate supporting our veterans from our broader commitment to take care of our troops—soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen—and their families.
To support our veterans and ensure they have the opportunities and tools they need to succeed upon returning home, Hillary will:
• Fundamentally reform veterans’ health care to ensure access to timely and high quality care and block efforts to privatize the VA—including improving health care for women at the VHA, ending the veteran suicide epidemic, and continuing efforts to identify and treat invisible, latent, and toxic wounds of war that affect veterans, family members, and caregivers after their service.
• Build a 21st-century Department of Veterans Affairs to deliver world-class care.Hillary was outraged by the recent scandals at the VA, and as president, she will demand accountability and performance from VA leadership. Many veterans have to wait an unacceptably long time to see a doctor or to process disability claims and appeals. Hillary will make the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) a seamless partner in health care. She does not believe that privatization will solve the problems that the VHA is facing—this department must deliver high-quality care while acting as an integrated payer-purchaser and facilitating a full range of services for all veterans, regardless of where they live.
• Empower veterans and strengthen our economy and communities by connecting their unique skills to the jobs of the future. Hillary will make the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill a lasting part of our social contract with those who serve, expand tax credits for veterans’ employment, improve certification and credentialing programs, strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs, and create pathways for service members to enter growing career fields. She will also protect veterans from discrimination and predatory companies and work to end veteran homelessness.
• Overhaul VA governance to create a new veteran-centric model of excellence by creating a culture of accountability, service, and excellence at the VA; providing budgetary certainty; and ensuring our veterans are buried with the honor, distinction, and integrity they deserve.
Read the fact sheet
Our military families serve alongside our men and women in uniform. To strengthen services and support for military families, Hillary will:
• Realign the demands of a military career to accommodate 21st-century family realities while maintaining a strong force by enabling more flexibility in military careers and giving servicemembers and their families a greater say in their lives. That includes increasing access to child care both on and off the base, maintaining a commitment to to extended leave policies, and more.
• Back military spouses as they pursue education, seek jobs, build careers and secure their finances by expanding spousal employment support and training initiatives while in service and during transition.
•Ensure military children receive a high-quality education and the resources to succeed by improving military schools, enhancing the experience of military children in public schools, and ensuring key benefits are available for all military families.
The Miltary.com link http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/09/12/heres-where-clinton-trump-stand-on-veterans-issues.html