Our Veterans Deserve Better - Part Two

Everyday we welcome home our warriors and thank them for their service. But the public life of our military is often much different than the private day to day struggle so many face.

Men and women of our armed forces and their families are using more food stamps than in the past - redeeming them at nearly twice the civilian rate, according to Defense Commissary Agency.

From 2007 to 2008 the use of food stamps by military personnel and their dependents increased 25 percent, while Americans overall rose 13 percent.

Oops! I'm not being politically correct here. The government in an effort to remove the stigma of being poor renamed the food stamp program. It is now called by the acronym SNAP which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

In addition to on base Family Assistance offices, many U.S. military installations now have a WIC office to assist dependents, The WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program is described by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who administers it, as: "WIC provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum mothers, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk."

The thought that such an acknowledgement of our military's' dependents being "at risk" while their fathers and mothers are risking their lives in our nation's service is inexcusable.

The United States currently has the largest deployment of National Guard since World War II. Some 45 percent of U.S. troops currently in Iraq and Afghanistan are reservists or Guardsman. More troops have been deployed to those locations than in all the wars since WWII.

Many of the lower pay grades of the active military as well as members of the reserve and National Guard are forced to supplement their military pay with the SNAP program.

I was unable to find definitive numbers from an objective source for the actual pay cuts many of our reservists and Guardsman have taken when they are called to active duty. Some organizations claim it to be as much as 70 percent.

While I am not advocating paying our citizen soldiers the equivalent of their private sector employers perhaps other measures could be put in place such as suspending interest payments on a mortgage they might have or, maybe placing a moratorium on credit card payments if the card is not being used.

Although it is just One Person's View, how can we as a nation allow men and women who are willing to pay the ultimate price be asked to have their families sacrifice more than the uncertainty of the lives of their loved ones?

Our Veterans Deserve Better - Part One

As promised last Friday this is the first of a three part series about our veterans and the crises they face every day. Today's blog targets the unemployment problems they confront when returning home. On Wednesday I'll examine the growing number of active military forced to utilize food stamps. Finally, Friday's views will address those who find themselves living on the streets - homeless.

Last year, 1.9 million veterans had deployed for the wars since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Some have struggled with mental health problems, addictions and homelessness as they return home. Difficulty finding work often makes this adjustment that much harder.

There have been numerous reports of our men and women coming home expecting to return to their old employers only to be told they no longer have a job. These are the very people we welcome back as heroes; these are the people who have taken an oath to protect our nation from "enemies foreign and domestic" in order to preserve our way of life.

Many of the unemployed are members of the Guard and Reserves who have been deployed multiple times. For these citizen soldiers, being deployed two or three times in a five-year period they are discovering the job market views their skills as less competitive. Many companies already hurt by the economy are reluctant to hire them. Other companies are wary of hiring someone who could deploy again or will have medical appointments because of war-related health problems.

Perhaps a possible solution to helping them be more competitive would be to make it easier to transfer certifications they have for jobs they performed in the military into the civilian workforce. Or be given credit for the additional job related skills they acquired.

The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The national unemployment rate for last year was 9.3 percent.

There is a Federal law designed to protect our returning warriors. Yet, the question lingers, why is the unemployment rate so much higher for our young veterans compared to non-veterans. 

The following is the Federal law taken verbatim from the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (20 CFR, 1002):

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects service members' reemployment rights when returning from a period of service in the uniformed services, including those called up from the reserves or National Guard, and prohibits employer discrimination based on military service or obligation.

USERRA provides that returning service members are to be reemployed in the job they would have attained had they not been absent for military service, (the "escalator" principle), with the same seniority, status and pay, as well as other rights and benefits determined by seniority. USERRA also requires that reasonable efforts (such as training or retraining) be made to enable returning service members to qualify for reemployment, if the service member cannot qualify for the "escalator" position, he or she must be reemployed, if qualified, in any other position that is nearest to the escalator position and then to the pre-service position.  

The time limits for returning to work are as follows:

• Less than 31 days service: By the beginning of the first regularly scheduled work period after the end of the calendar day of duty, plus time required to return home safely and an eight hour rest period, if this is impossible or unreasonable, then as soon as possible.
• 31 to 180 days: The employee must apply for reemployment no later than 14 days after completion of military service. If this is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of the employee, then as soon as possible.
• 181 days or more: The employee must apply for reemployment no later than 90 days after completion of military service.

• Service-connected injury or illness: Reporting or application deadlines are extended for up to two years for persons who are hospitalized or convalescing. 

We can all help our returning warriors in their difficult transition.  Get involved with local veterans groups. Volunteer with such organizations as Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves (www.esgr.org). And contact your senator or congressman or congresswoman asking them mandate the enforcement of USERRA. Finally, if you know a returning veteran, take them to lunch and offer to help them network for all their needs.

A Time of Resurrection

Earlier this month I briefly touched on the subject of our veterans who are homeless. Over the years I have been involved in efforts to help educate the public and, more importantly, to help those in need.

Since a blog provides a platform, I have decided from now until Easter the focus will be on the homeless, on our active duty military and our veterans who find themselves in situations, I believe, are inexcusable.

We are the wealthiest country in history. Our nation welcomes home its heroes everyday. Yet, there are men and women who wear the uniform that must utilize food stamps each month just to get by. Our returning warriors shed the uniform with the hope of resuming a normal life only to be told they don't have a job anymore.

Thousands of our veterans have no place to call home and many more of our citizens survive each day on the streets sleeping in doorways and under bridges.

Easter is a time when the resurrection of life is celebrated. Maybe its also time that every reader of One Person's Views could find a way, no matter how small it may be, to help resurrect the dignity and life of another.

There are many preconceived notions about who the homeless are. One thing I know for certain is they are as representative of our society as various neighborhoods in a city reflect our nation's demographics.

It is true there are men and women who are homeless due to substance or alcohol abuse. A number of the homeless are uneducated. Some indeed suffer from medical and/or mental problems. But there are also people homeless because they lost their job and life savings; many are well educated and even from affluent families. The greater majority would rather have a job and not depend on the kindness of strangers to provide the necessities of life.

If, over the next week or so, I have succeeded in raising your awareness and made you think is is possible for one person to make a difference in another person's life but you just don't know where or how to start, let me know by adding a comment and I will reply with suggestions where you can go or what you can personally do to help you make that difference.

Until Monday, have a great weekend and take some time to realize how truly fortunate you are to have such simple things we take for granted like shelter and food.

Thinking IS Fun

Since I have attempted to use Mondays as a fun way to start the week and this week was focused on - like it or not - a piece of history, Monday's humor falls on Wednesday this week.

As I state in my profile I am a big proponent of thinking and questioning what so many accept as the "norm." On the back of my vehicle I have a bumper sticker that reads: "Why Be Normal?" And, I put it on upside down. I do not have any desire to fall into the classification of "normal." Hence, the following thoughts.

According to a dictionary the word myth is defined as: "A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology." Or, "A fictitious story, person, or thing."

There is a novel by Romain Gary titled The Ski Bum  where he expands on the meaning of the word myth. "A myth" he writes "is something no man has ever seen. That's how God got so far."

As a thinking individual, not prone to blind acceptance, one of the things I have to wonder about is the story of Moses. Oh yea, this will no doubt cause some folks to get upset but, it's my blog and I can do what I want.

Back in the time of the character Moses it is accepted that people were superstitious. Now I can't help but think here is this man surrounded by a culture of superstition and he goes walking on a hill when, for no apparent reason, a bush bursts into flame and he hears his name being called from the heavens.

I can picture the image of a man alone being somewhat surprised by a bush suddenly engulfed in fire, hearing his name booming from out of nowhere. What I find hard to imagine is anyone in that day and time stopping and answering. The more predominant mental picture is of robes flowing in the wind and sandals kicking up dust as he runs like hell to safety.

Another popular myth is that the phrase: "God helps those who helps themselves" is taken from the Bible. Actually, it is a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

While on the subject of the Bible I would like to clarify another popular belief. It is not a book. In reality it is an Anthology, a collection of 66 books written by at least 40 human authors over a period of time.

Continuing the theme of thinking, how about the term oxymoron. That word is derived from the Greek oxumoros meaning pointedly foolish.

Somewhat similar as when one person tells another they lost an item; more often than not the response is: "Where did you lose it?"

Here is a brief exercise in thinking. How did these common conjoined words become so popular? And, more to the point, did a thinking person conjure up the association?

All natural artificial flavor.
Bankrupt millionaire.
Civilized warfare.
Intimate strangers.
Jumbo shrimp.
Kosher ham.
Melted ice.
Non-stick glue.
Pretty ugly.

Perhaps, after the news of the day has been digested and you wonder what next? You can look back at this, smile and know life is fun ... if you think.

Healthcare Reform - Bravos or Boos

The Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives recorded a Roll Call vote of that body last night; passing one of the most controversial and most publicized bills in the 111th Congress - Healthcare Reform.

There were 219 Ayes and 212 Noes (sic) entered into the record. Crossing the aisle were 34 Democrats to join with the 178 Republicans to cast a No vote.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with what happened last night the Healthcare Reform legislation becomes a milestone marking nearly 50 years of attempts to change our nation's way of addressing healthcare.

The United States now joins all the other industrialized nations to offer such care to its citizens. Will it work? If I employed a crystal ball I could answer that but all I can do is offer One Person's Views of what I hope will change.

In three years the United States has slipped from 33rd, in 2006, to 46th, in 2009, in the world in infant mortality rates. We are behind such nations as France, Malta, South Korea and Cuba. We are the most advanced and wealthiest country on the planet but the rate our infants are dying is appalling.

Many studies show the U.S. spending more on healthcare than other countries that are healthier and spend less. Perhaps, now more people will be better able to seek preventive care and not wait until the cost of treating their illness becomes a major expense. They might be able to afford to see a doctor in the early stages of an ailment instead of waiting then having to go to the emergency room where costs are greater and more often leads to hospitalization.

Access to preventive care is one part of the Bill that will help reduce cost. Another thing that must be done is to address and aggressively investigate and prosecute Medicare fraud. The figure for such fraud is reported to be some $60 billion a year.

There is good and bad contained in the legislation. It will allow about 32 million more Americans to be insured. The cap is to be removed from insurance coverage for illness and treatment. And, it will not permit exclusion of coverage for pre-existing conditions. Although, this provision only guarantees that immediately for children then adults will be included in four years.

For seniors facing massive drug costs the Bill gradually closes the "doughnut hole" coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that seniors fall into once they have spent $2,830. Seniors who hit the gap this year will receive a $250 rebate. Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap receive a discount on name brand drugs, initially 50 percent off. When the gap is completely eliminated in 2020, they will still be responsible for 25 percent off the cost of their medications until Medicare's catastrophic coverage kicks in.

Already there are states waiting in the wings with plans to sue the Federal government. The wrangling is not yet over as the Bill again must pass Senate hurdles.

It is my opinion we would have had a better Bill, perhaps a more comprehensive and more effective one if those who walk the halls of the Capitol, on both sides of the aisle, blocked out special interest groups with their spin and their deep pockets and actually walked among those they represent and talked with ... not to ... their constituents and really listened to their concerns not just heard the voices.

A wonderful analogy was given to me last Saturday as the arguements were playing out. "They remind me," this person said, "of bullies on a school playground."

27 Days and Counting

In two days it will officially be spring. In 16 days the Easter bunny magically hides eggs. But in 27 days the American public magically tries to keep its money from the Infernal ... oops ... Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as the deadline for filing 2009 taxes descends upon us.

According to one popular internet source, an IRS publication states: "If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner."

While this is comical, it is true; theves must pay income tax on stolen property they keep or face tax evasion charges. But since the Constitution protects individuals from self incrimination, you can tuck it into the 'Other Income' line (this is Line 21 on the 2009 IRS Form 1040).

Way back in 1927 a liquor bootlegger was charged with tax evasion for not reporting his illicit income, and he argued in doing so he would have incriminated himself in violation of the Fifth Amendment guarantee. Justice Holmes, writing for the U.S. Supreme Court majority first dismisses the idea that illegally acquired income is exempt from income tax.

That decision can't help but bring the question to mind: "How many politicians take advantage of the 'Other Income' line?

A creative pursuit this time of year is finding deductions that allow us to keep as much of our money as possible. Some have even attempted to write-off money spent for a wedding gift for the boss's daughter, claiming it as an employee business expense. This wasn't successful.

The United States Tax Code consists of some 20,000 plus pages and loopholes do exist.

Here is a sampling of just a few from free beer to free pet food and  free boob jobs (breast augmentation actually).

In a novel promotion, a gas station owner gave his customers free beer in lieu of trading stamps. Proving that sometimes beer and gasoline do mix. The Tax Court allowed the write-off as a business expense.

Here kitty ... kitty ... kitty.

A couple who owned a junkyard was allowed to write off the cost of cat food they set out to attract wild cats. The feral felines did more than just eat; they also took care of rats and snakes on the property, making the place safer for customers.

When the case reached the Tax Court, IRS lawyers conceded that the cost was deductible.

Have a breathing problem? Put in a pool, you might be able to deduct it.

A taxpayer with emphysema put in a pool after his doctor told him to develop an exercise regimen. He swam in it twice a day and improved his breathing capacity. Turns out he swam in the pool more than his family did.

The Tax Court allowed him to deduct the cost of the pool (to the extent the cost exceeded its added value to the property) as a medical expense because it's primary use was for medical care. The court also allow the cost of heating the pool, pool chemicals and a proportionate amount of insuring the pool area as medical expenses.

Among some of the more practical deductions permitted include allowing parents to deduct children's music lessons and the cost of buying a clarinet. The IRS ruled it is a legitimate write-off on the grounds that orthodontists said clarinet playing can help with kids' overbites.

Also permitted is the cost of transportation to and from an Alcoholics Anonymous Center.

But examine write-offs closely.

In an effort get more tips, a stripper with the stage name "Chesty Love" decided to get breast implants to make her a size 56FF. A female Tax Court judge allowed Chesty to write off the cost of her operation, equating her new assets to a stage prop. Alas, the surgery proved to a problem for poor Chesty. She later tripped and ruptured one of her implants.

I am reminded of a statement once made by former President Jimmy Carter who said: "the U.S. tax code is a crime against humanity."

Ignorance is Bliss or the Texas Textbook Proposals

If "Ignorance is Bliss," then the proposed changes for grades K through 12 in Texas school textbooks will prove our upcoming generations some of the happiest people on the planet.

As a native Texan I am ashamed so few people, 10 to be exact, might in essence rewrite history to fall in line with their myopic thinking.

Gone from the pages of American history would be such iconic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Edward Kennedy and Cesar Chavez. Joe McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who was censured by the Senate years ago, would be viewed in a more positive portrayal.

Thomas Jefferson would no longer be included among the writers influencing the nation's intellectual origins. But in the view of the "good conservative Christian" members of the Texas State Board of Education the fact he helped pioneer the legal theory of the separation of church and state, does not make Mr. Jefferson a model founding father in the board's judgement.

Among the intellectual forerunners to be highlighted in Jefferson's place are: medieval Catholic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, Puritan theologian John Calvin and conservative British law scholar William Blackstone.

Other shifts in the reporting of history would be an emphasis on such organizations as the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association. Programs such as Title IX - which provides for equal gender access to educational resources - and affirmative action, intended to remedy historic workplace discrimination against African-Americans, would be said to have created adverse "unintended consequences" in the cirriculums preferred language.

There would be no mention of recent third-party presidential candidates such as Ralph Nader and Ross Perot. Meanwhile, the recommendations include an entry listing Confederate General Stonewall Jackson as a role model for effective leadership and a statement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis accompanying a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

One other addition to the texts would include country and western music among on of the nation's important cultural movements. The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.

The following paragraph is taken from the New York Times Magazine and tends to put a few things into perspective:

This is how history is made - or rather, how the hue and cry of the present and near past gets lodged into the long-term cultural memory or else is allowed to quietly fade into an inaudible whisper. Public education has always been a battleground between cultural forces; one reason that Texas' school-board members find themselves at the very center of the battlefield is, not surprisingly, money. The state's $22 billion education fund is among the largest educational endowments in the country. Texas uses some of that money to buy or distribute a staggering 48 million textbooks annually - which rather inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead. Texas, on the other hand, was one of the first states to adopt statewide cirriculum guidelines, back in 1998, and the guidelines it came up with (which are referred to as TEKS - pronounced "teaks" - for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were clear, broad and inclusive enough that many other states used them as a model in devising their own. And while technology is changing things, textbooks - printed or online - are still the backbone of education.


According to The College Board the 2009 SAT Scores by State place Texas 45th out of the 50 states. And, perhaps, more appalling, Texas is in 47th place in per capita student spending.


For a state ranking at the bottom of the list perhaps the entire Texas Board of Education should be replaced with members who value a competitive, quality education for our children as opposed to one filled with political content.