American Legion commander “angered” after meeting Obama

Submitted by Trevor:

The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior officials from veterans service organizations joining the President, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group’s early afternoon conversation at The White House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the President earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part, ”

There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”

Special Guest on Snooper's BTR Program

Cross-posted from The Snooper Report

Guest - Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul E. Vallely

Join us this coming Monday on my Blog Talk Radio show. Time: 1300 hours CST (Texas time and 1PM CST for you civilians out there or, for you politicians, that is 1 hour later than noon and 1 hour before 2 PM). Tune and and feel free to call in for wisdom vision and Truth.

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul E. Vallely

Major General (Ret.) Paul E. Vallely graduated from West Point and was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1961. He graduated from Infantry School, Ranger and Airborne Schools, Jumpmaster School, the Command and General Staff School, The Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Army War College. His two combat tours in South Vietnam included positions as infantry company commander, intelligence officer, operations officer, military advisor and aide-de-camp. He has served on US security assistance missions on civilian-military relations to Europe, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Central America with in-country experience in Indonesia, Columbia, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras and Guatemala.

He was one of the first nominees for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations under President Reagan. From 1982-1986, he commanded the 351st Civil Affairs Command that included all Special Forces, Psychological Warfare and Civil Military units in the Western United States and Hawaii. He was the first President of the National Psychological Operations Association. He retired in 1993, at the rank of Major General from his position as Deputy Commanding General, Pacific.

His units participated in worldwide missions in Europe, Africa, Central America, Japan, Solomon Islands, Guam, Belgium, Korea and Thailand. He has served as a consultant to the Commanding General of the Special Operations Command as well as the DOD Anti-Drug and Counter -Terrorist Task Forces. He also designed and developed the Host-Nation Support Program in the Pacific for DOD and the State Department. Most recently, he has in-country security assistance - experience in El Salvador, Columbia and Indonesia in the development of civil-military relations interfacing with senior level military and civilian leadership.

Gen. Vallely is the Chairman of Stand Up America, serves as the Military Committee Chairman for The Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., is a supporter of the Jerusalem Summit Organization, is a Fox News military analyst, a conservative talk radio host, a frequent lecturer, his commentary has appeared in World Net Daily and many other publications.

Together with Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, Vallely co-authored a book published in 2004, entitled Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror. Vallely also co-authored a 1980 paper with then PSYOP analyst Michael Aquino entitled From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory.

Gen. Vallely is married to Marian Vallely and their son Private First Class Scott Paul Vallely died on April 20, 2004, while in his fourth week of Special Forces training.