Mercredi 01 septembre 2010

Aging vets' costs concern Obama's deficit co-chair

RALEIGH, N.C. – The system that automatically awards disability benefits to some veterans because of concerns about Agent Orange seems contrary to efforts to control federal spending, the Republican co-chairman of President Barack Obama's deficit commission said Tuesday. Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson's comments came a day after The Associated Press reported that diabetes has become the most frequently compensated ailment among Vietnam veterans,ugg boots for cheap even though decades of research has failed to find more than a possible link between the defoliant Agent Orange and diabetes. "The irony (is) that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess," said Simpson, an Army veteran who was once chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. The Department of Veterans Affairs has also allowed Vietnam veterans to get money for ailments such as lung cancer and prostate cancer, and the agency finalized a proposal Tuesday to grant payments for heart disease — the nation's leading cause of death. Simpson declined to say whether the issue would become part of his work on Obama's panel examining the nation's debt. He looked to Congress to make a change. Sen. Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat who currently chairs the VA committee,UGG Rainier Eskimo Boots said Tuesday he will address the broader issue of so-called presumptive conditions at a hearing previously set for Sept. 23. The committee will look to "see what changes Congress and VA may need to make to existing law and policy," Akaka said in an e-mail. "It is our solemn responsibility to help veterans with disabilities suffered in their service to our country," said Akaka, who served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. "That responsibility also requires us to make sure limited resources are available for those who truly need and are entitled to them." Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat and Vietnam combat veteran, has also raised questions about the spending. The leading Republican on the committee, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, has not responded to several requests for comment on the topic in recent months. Because of concerns about Agent Orange, Congress set up a system in 1991 to grant automatic benefits to veterans who served in Vietnam at any point during a 13-year period and later got an ailment linked to the defoliant. The VA has done that with a series of ailments with strong indications of an association to Agent Orange,mbt including Hodgkin's disease, soft-tissue cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Other ailments have been added even though and Institute of Medicine review has found they only have a potential association and that they could not rule out other factors. Those maladies include prostate cancer, lung cancer and diabetes. The committee has said that, for diabetes, more powerful influences include family history, physical inactivity and obesity. The AP found in reviewing millions of VA compensation records that diabetes is now the most frequently compensated ailment, ahead of post- traumatic stress disorder, hearing loss or general wounds. VA officials use a complex formula when awarding benefits and do not track how much is spent for a specific ailment, but AP calculations based on the records suggest that Vietnam veterans with diabetes should receive at least $850 million each year. Paul Sullivan, executive director for the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense, said it would be unreasonable for veterans to have to prove on a case-by-case basis that their illness came from Agent Orange. UGG Seline Boots He believes the science supports the decision by VA to grant presumptive benefits. "The presumptive law is absolutely essential," he said. "Money should not be an issue." Sullivan also said many veterans file claims not for the compensation but for access to free health care. The VA also acknowledged in its heart disease rule Tuesday that it could cost billions more than initially anticipated. The initial projection was that the new ailments, mostly heart disease but also Parkinson's disease and certain types of leukemia, would total $42.2 billion over 10 years. mbt shoes But that was based on disease prevalence rates for the general population, not representative of the aging class of Vietnam veterans. VA used an age-adjusted formula in its latest proposal and estimated that it could cost some $67 billion in the next decade. "It's the kind of thing that's just driving us to this $1 trillion, $400 billion deficit this year," Simpson said. "It's not that I'm an uncaring person, but common sense is the most uncommon thing in Washington."
Par enjoyenjoy - 0 commentaire(s)le 01 septembre 2010
Mardi 03 août 2010

Manufacturing grows for 12th straight month in July

U.S. manufacturing grew for a 12th straight month in July, providing a boost to the slowing economic recovery, the Institute for Supply Management said swiss shoesMonday. Wall Street reacted favorably to the report, the first major economic indicator for July, causing the Dow Jones industrial average to surge 208 points. Though its growth has steadily slipped since peaking in April, manufacturing helped drive the early stages of the recovery. The index fell to 55.5 in July from 56.2 in June, though it remains well above the 32.5 reading in December 2008, the low point during the recession. For the last year, the index has stayed above 50, which indicates expansion. Measures of production and new orders, MBT M.Walk Shoeswhich signal future business, both grew more slowly last month. But more manufacturers said they were willing to hire, which could help ease high unemployment. Though the manufacturing sector stays healthy, the construction industry has struggled since the federal government ended a popular home buyers tax credit April 30. Construction spending edged up slightly in June, but the boost was because of government projects, according to a separate report Monday from the Commerce Department. Private-sector activity fell. Spending on housing construction dropped in JuneMBT Mens M.Walk Shoes for a second consecutive month, sliding 0.8% after an even bigger 1.5% decline in May. Spending on nonresidential building projects tumbled for a 15th consecutive month, dropping 0.5% in June. This sector has been hit hard by the economic downturn, which has triggered rising defaults on commercial real estate projects. That has prompted banks to tighten lending standards and made it harder for builders to get financing for new projects. But overall public construction rose 1.5%, reflecting a 1.1% increase in spending by state and local governments on roads, sewer projects and public buildings, and a 4.6% increase in federal government spending on projectsMBT Womens M.Walk Shoes. The recovery remains slow, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Monday in a speech to an annual meeting of Southern lawmakers in Charleston, S.C. "We have a considerable way to go to achieve a full recovery in our economy, and many Americans are still grappling with unemployment, foreclosure and lost savings," he said. Unemployment has been near double digits all year and economists expect it to stay that way through the rest of the year. Businesses are adding jobs, but not enough to bring down the unemployment rate. As a result, consumers are holding back on their spending. But the worst of theMBT Sapatu Shoes financial crisis is behind the nation, Bernanke said, and the economy is growing again.
Par enjoyenjoy - 1 commentaire(s)le 03 août 2010
Lundi 02 août 2010

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Par enjoyenjoy - 0 commentaire(s)le 02 août 2010

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