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Posted: 3/25/2008 2:06:07 AM EDT
Motherfuckers.......
 Compromise could cut WWII Filipino vets’ pension By Rick Maze - [email protected] Posted : March 31, 2008 The top Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee proposes jump-starting a stalled veterans benefits bill by reducing a promised pension for World War II Filipino veterans and using the money to improve benefits for combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The proposal from Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has been endorsed by the Wounded Warrior Project, which represents new combat veterans, but is opposed by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, who has been pushing for the improved pensions. Akaka’s bill, S 1315, which passed the committee last year, would provide pensions to Filipino veterans who served alongside U.S. troops in World War II. Those living outside the U.S. would receive up to $4,500 a year if married and $3,600 if single under the pension proposal. Pensions were to begin May 1 under the plan, which was delayed once it passed the Veterans’ Affairs Committee because of opposition to the Filipino benefits. Burr said his bill is a fair compromise. Akaka said Burr’s proposal “is not acceptable to me” but added that he may be willing to allow a vote if other senators agree. Jeremy Chwat, executive vice president of the Wounded Warrior Project, said his group supports Burr’s compromise as a “balanced approach to funding programs and providing assistance to our nation’s wounded warriors.” Burr’s alternative, S 2640, would provide full pensions to Filipino veterans of World War II legally living in the U.S. and would provide full disability pay to any of those veterans with service-connected disabilities resulting from their support of U.S. operations. The money saved on pensions to Filipino veterans overseas would be used to increase other benefits, such as burial benefits that keep pace with inflation, better adaptive housing and auto grants for disabled veterans, and improved education benefits for National Guard and reserve members mobilized for two or more years. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 2:17:05 AM EDT
[#1]
[WillSmith]Oh, HELL no![/WillSmith]
My mother-in-law receives benefits as her husband was with Troop "G", 26th US Cavalry (Philippine Scouts) and died as a POW alongside a lot of Americans. Filipinos received "special attention" from the Japanese as they were considered "race traitors." He did not go quickly. My brother-in-law spent 31 years in the US Navy, the last 21 at the White House, and retired as Command Master Chief of the Navy's White House Logistics Unit (head Filipino steward). Both his daughters are Naval Officers, with one graduating near the top of her class ('88) from Annapolis. Filipinos who enlisted in OUR services rather than their own deserve every single benefit as any American, in my opinion. They faced the same risks, and did the same jobs. The same goes for the Gurkhas who serve the Crown. They serve alongside the British, sharing the same dangers, and giving their all just as any Tommy does. I have GOT to get me a bigger soapbox...  Edited to correct unit |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 2:30:09 AM EDT
[#2]
Why the hell don't they take a little money away from the fucking couch welfare queens instead.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 2:34:05 AM EDT
[#3]
My sentiments exactly. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 2:48:42 AM EDT
[#4]
Thanks guys for recognizing what my grandparent's generation did for ALL OF US during those dark times. Though our government also has pension plans for our vets, every single cent helps...
 The LAST thing I want to see,thank God I havent experienced it yet and dont want to, is a person who fought a tynranical force because it was the right thing to do... selling fishballs at the corner to support his family. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 3:02:27 AM EDT
[#5]
Another way for .gov to fuck over those that have risked all for their faithful service to us and their own nation...
No wonder the world has no trust in us anymore. Vets that are living here legally are okay... Just those elsewhere are screwed... Great. All because somehow current veterans are more deserving... Soon, a US born combat veterans pension will be reduced because his war is history, and the "current" veterans are more deserving... Well, divide and conquer...it works every time. WTF. CPO SWCC US Navy (Retired) |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 3:13:23 AM EDT
[#6]
Well said Chief.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:01:32 AM EDT
[#7]
Eroding more benefits by those who never served, whose priveleged parents never served, and whose priveleged children will never serve. Short memories and more broken promises. Makes me sick. The VA's around here have been giving vets one year clean bill of healths for a few months now - "your good to go until next year".
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:11:52 AM EDT
[#8]
You aren't allowed to criticize republicans on this site you communist-fascist-isolationist-nazist-libtard-moonbat-poopyface-butthole-mean to your mother-traitor.
Don't you realize REPUBLICANS IS TEH GUUUUUUUUD PARTIE! All the party die-hard on here will tell you that. How do they know? They asked the party. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:14:49 AM EDT
[#9]
We need to honor our commitments to ALL those who served beside us and fought with us.
Phillipino troops had it rough. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:37:45 AM EDT
[#10]
But then you can't steal what they were promised to buy votes. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 11:28:15 AM EDT
[#11]
Bump. I'm really waiting for Republican Party defense corps to explain this one to me.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 11:30:13 AM EDT
[#12]
All they'll say is "well, at least the Republicans aren't Democrats" and that excuses any behavior. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 11:30:46 AM EDT
[#13]
Damn nothing is sacred.
Max |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 11:33:04 AM EDT
[#14]
Hey, gotta pay for Bush's $15B AIDS package to Africa somehow.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:38:24 PM EDT
[#15]
Guess you didn't bother to read the article then. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:41:23 PM EDT
[#16]
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:44:52 PM EDT
[#17]
Shameful.
With all of the money that is wasted by our government each year, I find it impossible to believe that there is not enough to help one group of veterans without fucking over another group of veterans. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:47:29 PM EDT
[#18]
I read it, the direct benefit may be current vets, but the root issue comes back to the fact it all comes from the same bucket o gold so any money the gov spends impacts our programs, hence the welfare comments above also. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:51:42 PM EDT
[#19]
Because couch queens have a big enough voting block that they get taken care of by those in power. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:52:03 PM EDT
[#20]
Why these politicians choose to ignore this is beyond me. I guess sacrificing WWII vets' pensions instead would hurt their political careers less. Nonetheless, this bill is nothing short of betraying our allies after the sacrifices they've made. The politicians should've taken money from a useless agency instead but I guess not...
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:53:45 PM EDT
[#21]
If it weren't for all the guys in WW2, this country would be speaking german.Here's a couple thoughts-- How about those assholes cut their own salaries and congressional pensions? How about cutting off welfare to those who have made it a lifestyle? How about they quit sending money to every third world shithole on the planet? |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 4:56:45 PM EDT
[#22]
Generally speaking, the same cannot be said for veterans. We vote for whoever we think is best for the job and, quite often, it isn't Daddy Warbucks(D). |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:06:35 PM EDT
[#23]
One of the worst things about welfare is that the .gov rewards the welfare queens with more money for every child they have, perpetuating this horrible cycle that will drain more money out of our coffers. They should not be giving any financial incentives for having more children, but rather having less or none. But obviously this is too logical for any politician looking for a way to get more votes. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:11:03 PM EDT
[#24]
A big fuckin' +1 |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:11:11 PM EDT
[#25]
Don't worry about it. In 20 years, they'll reduce the pensions of Gulf War veterans to fund the pensions of the veterans of the Massachusets Massacre. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:13:30 PM EDT
[#26]
Why don't we completly kill all welfare to anyone caught abusing the system, then we can double all pensions for vets.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:15:10 PM EDT
[#27]
great idea! |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:30:50 PM EDT
[#28]
I am curious, do american's who served in WWII get the same benefit?
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:35:22 PM EDT
[#29]
I'm a member of the VFW also, and that's bullshit !
And by the way VFW means Veterans Fucked by Washington |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:36:16 PM EDT
[#30]
No. But, IIRC, the pension was part of the recruiting platform and then was considered an obligation to a people that suffered tremendously. Of course, the GOP doesn't give a rats ass about honoring obligations because those obligations don't get them votes. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:51:07 PM EDT
[#31]
I don't understand this. Are these vets that were enlisted in the U.S. Military ?
Did they serve until eligible for retirement ? |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 5:52:45 PM EDT
[#32]
Sounds good. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:02:47 PM EDT
[#33]
What's ironic is that some of the 20,000 soldiers the U.S. killed in the Philippine-American War may have been relatives of these men.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:06:57 PM EDT
[#34]
If you research what the Filipinos suffered through in WWII and especially how they supported Americans throughout the war (including those Americans in POW camps) and the resistance too. The Japanese raped and destroyed so much of the Philipines and the US did so little to rebuild (compared to spending in Europe)
There should be some program in the budget that we spend tax dollars on involving the Japanese (who are now doing so very well (thanks to us) that we can "shift the allocation" (or perhaps a import fee? ) to reward those who stood true and loyal by our fighting men. BIGGER_HAMMER 
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:09:22 PM EDT
[#35]
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:10:30 PM EDT
[#36]
fucking disgrace, my grandfather must be rolling in his grave.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:16:00 PM EDT
[#37]
Thanks, Does the PI .gov pay them anything ? Shouldn't their own .gov have some obligation for this ? Didn't they kick all US forces out of their country like Subic Bay etc. ? |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:20:01 PM EDT
[#38]
Here's my take on it:
Congress is trying to screw Filipino Vets out of their VA benefits under the guise of funding / funding programs for new disabled American Vets. The rate at which WWII Vets are dying makes this a moot point. There are about 6,000 surviving Filipino WWII vets, in about 10 years that number will be much less. This needs to be fucking stopped right now, as it sets up a precident of taking away funding for one group of Vets to fund another. How would you like it if in 2013 Congress passed a law that reduced the funding of Korean War Vets VA benefits to fund the latest Vets because 60 years had passed... |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:25:59 PM EDT
[#39]
I respect their sacrifice, but weren't they fighting for their own country as well ? Why doesn't their own government pay it's own citizens ? To me this is like paying French resistance fighters a pension out of USA tax money. I guess it's a nice gesture but why are we paying for it now ? |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:26:40 PM EDT
[#40]
Who gives a flying fuck if the PI.gov pays them anything. We kicked the Spanish out of the Philippines in August of 1898, at that point until 1946 the Philippines was an American colony. We OWE VA compensation to the Filipino Vets of WWII. 
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:27:50 PM EDT
[#41]
You need to learn American/Philippine history. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:29:09 PM EDT
[#42]
Because sometimes you need to man the fuck up and do what is right. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:30:59 PM EDT
[#43]
I know they kicked us out and shut down our basing rights in the 90's, what else am I missing ? They must be made of money to do that. Why can't their own .gov compensate them ? |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:32:39 PM EDT
[#44]
Because punishing the men who bled in the 40s for the actions of the men who postured in the 90s isn't what good nations do. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:35:29 PM EDT
[#45]
This kind off crap is disgraceful. The USA is better than this...
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:39:28 PM EDT
[#46]
IF they are successful here you can forget about any future veterans benefits as they will be cut or denied to veterans already receiving assistance.
drop them a line E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 904-296-7350, 877-TEAMWWP Fax: 904-296-7347 |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:40:20 PM EDT
[#47]
You are being obtuse or else trolling. Let me make it easy for you.  We kicked the Spanish out of the Philippines in August of 1898, at that point until 1946 the Philippines was an American colony. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 6:47:06 PM EDT
[#48]
Wow. First, MacArthur snuck out of the PI (to save his own sorry ass) and abandoned everybody to the Japanese, and now we're abandoning them again. That's just great.
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Posted: 3/25/2008 7:06:58 PM EDT
[#49]
This is severely disappointing. The shitbag politicians we have seem to take a never-ending delight in running our nations' word of honor down the crapper. |
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Posted: 3/25/2008 7:14:45 PM EDT
[#50]
Because back then, Americans governed their country. Also, funny you should mention the french, because something similar happened there too. During WW2, many Algerians and Moroccans who were under French colonial rule volunteered to liberate France from Nazi rule. They fought and died for that country, even though they were treated like crap because they weren't white...and when the war ended, they got similarly shafted with their veteran benefits. There's a movie about it, Days of Glory, and it wasn't until the movie exposed this injustice did France finally man up and pay the vets what they deserved. |
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