Bill O’Reilly either downplays the numbers of or essentially denies the existence of homeless vets, according to rankled or frothing lefties, respectively. This would seem to be an important distinction, though it’s causing some confusion.
Many of them argue that someone who cares about the troops won’t argue with the numbers provided by the VA, ~200,000. O’Reilly would probably say that the numbers are vastly inflated, as they serve as a stimulus to donations to various veterans support groups and lobbying efforts. Either way, it seems to me that O’Reilly’s challenge to the statistics provides us with an opportunity to discern the extent of the problem with much greater accuracy, which ought to be a welcome development. If the number are as the VA states (according to the left), then it is clear that our approach to the problem needs to be overhauled completely.
Does anyone know if a greater percentage of soldiers become bums than the rest of society? Seems to me that bums, addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill come from pretty much all segments of society.. A buttload of people are “Vets” .. one would expect a percentage of that buttload to become bums just like the rest of society… Neither more nor less of a percentage.. Vets are normal people.. not some mutant group.. I’m a Vet and I dont even know any vets that are bums… Plus… just a tip.. many of those guys you see holding signs on the freeway offramp that read “Homeless Vet- Will Work For Food- God Bless” really arent vets.. Theyre just bums working the sympathy angle…
Anything to hammer O’Reilly…the left can’t stand him.
A homeless veterans foundation – or some other institution – will emerge out of all the controversy, provided by private contributions, of course, from people who truly care, and who’ll put their money where their mouths are.
Dan,
Sorry to have not commented on your posts today. I have been writing and dealing with troll “steve” in the Sullivan thread.
As to the merits of this post, I agree. A government bureacracy — even one with the laudable mission of helping veterans — is not going to be inclined to under-estimate the number of people in need of its services. The federal gov’t continues to operate an a “current services” budget, which creates an incentive for agencies to have as may “clients” as possible.
It would also be far preferable to have an accurate account because the agencies involved could then shift into the mode of arguing for increased budgets (as agencies do) on the notion that they can get more for their budget money focused on an accurate number, instead of the incentive to inflate the base number.
I’m also mildly surprised that we have not heard more from the Left about the debatable epidemic of homeless vets being linked to the completely bogus epidemic of merdering killbot vets. Maybe they’re saving it for closer to November.
So, they’re telling us that we need to believe Bu$hco?
I was just kidding, Karl. We both had posts up for 30 minutes that hadn’t attracted any comments yet.
Sorry about the infestation.
The solution to homeless vets is to raise recruiting standards. Next question.
I wonder if Ace would murder hoboes so blithely if he knew some of them might be vets. But there’s a solution to the killbot problem, anyway.
I heard the O’Reilly broadcast on this subject. He was not denying the 200,000 number. He was questioning the “why” of it, attributing the homeless rate to those with mental health and/or drug addiction issues, as opposed to homelessness due to poverty.
I figured as much, Sara.
I would not be surprised if the VA did over estimate the number of homeless vets though I also suspect that it was more a case of “better to overestimate and have too much than underestimate and not have enough resources” than any case of evil empire building. At the same time, there are those who claim veteran status in order to access benefits they would not be entitled to. The history of Congress, who has the responsibility of appropriating the funds for veteran services, giving veterans the short shift and of folks claiming to be veterans in order to game the system goes back to the Revolutionary War.
The VA itself claims about half of all homeless veterans suffer from mental illness, and more than two-thirds suffer from alcohol or drug abuse problems, if this article (Link goes to google cache)about Homeless Vets is to be believed.
If the vets are homeless, then it is their own damn fault! You know how much it costs to take one of my little kitties to the vet now? It almost leaves me homeless! There is no reason they couldn’t afford nice houses for the kind of money they make! I don’t… what?
…what?
Oh… never mind.
To expand on what Sara said, I saw the TV segment. We wasn’t disputing the 200,000 number. He was going on about how John Edwards was using this statistic to imply that economy was bad – when in fact the homelessness problem was almost entirely a result of mental health and drug issues (as it is with the general homeless population). He and his guests on the subject agreed that the 200,000 number was terrible and inexcusable, and that the government in general and the VA in particular should be ashamed of this number and find a way to resolve the issue.
Here in Tampa the only homeless “vets” (and I use quotation marks because the guys holding the signs on the side of the road may- or may-not be actual vets) I see panhandling are at least in their late 50s, 60s etc. I have seen ZERO guys in their 20s or 30s who are homeless and panhandling. Now I know that this sampling is very far from complete, but if the number was 200,000 I would think that vets other than Viet Nam vets would be visible.
Oh, and I mention the use of the signs because their signs proclaim them to be vets who will work for food, beer, etc.
That’s probably how the survey was done, Ken. “If you’ve ever seen a guy on the side of the road with a sign indicating that he’s a homeless veteran, please call 1-800-KILLBOT.” Total up the number of calls and voila!
the government in general and the VA in particular should be ashamed of this number and find a way to resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, with the laws the way they are now, you cannot involuntarily commit someone with a mental illness or drug abuse problem. They have to want the help.
MIssed all this drama – so my first question is: Are these numbers of homeless vets supposed to represent all vets or just those recently discharged?
My hometown had a huge event set up to care for, house, link up with social services, etc…any homeless vets. Didn’t get any takers. We generally look after our own down at the Legion Post, etc.
Remember, “vet” could be someone who spent 2-3 years in, and crashed and burned dozens of years later. The linkage of “homelessness” and “vet” is what you have to look at. Well, and the motives of the people making the claims…
Just you wait. When Hillary the Blessed(PBUH) is [strike]invested[/strike] elected then all the homeless will promptly disappear. As they oddly did when Slick Willie was elected in ’92.
Since the late ’80’s I do not believe _any_ estimate of the number of homeless from _any_ source.
I’m still waiting for the great heterosexual AIDS epidemic.
And Where’s My Flying Car????
Buncha lying so-and-so’s.
medication should kick in any time n