Rescinding the Cuts to Veteran's Pensions Was In the Cards From the Start

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

December's budget deal between Paul Ryan and Patty Murray included a bit of relief from the 2011 sequestration cuts, with the relief split evenly between domestic and military budgets. That even split was one of the guiding principles of the deal. But part of the military relief was paid for by $7 billion in cuts to veterans' pensions, something that immediately prompted a storm of protest and, eventually, a move to rescind the cuts. Jared Bernstein comments: True, that’s not huge bucks in the scheme of things. But the violation of this budget principle should not be taken lightly. A key point of the budget machinations that brought us to where we are today is that automatic spending cuts should be split between evenly between defense and non-defense (forget for a moment, that it’s not the discretionary side of the budget that’s responsible for our longer term fiscal challenges anyway). If Congress starts stealing from domestic programs to boost defense, it will unfairly and unwisely exacerbate already unsustainable pressures on domestic spending. I'd take a slightly different lesson from this: Democrats got snookered. Only a little bit, and they knew they were being played, but they still got snookered. It was obvious from the start that cuts to veterans' benefits would be unpopular and unlikely to stand, but Democrats agreed to them anyway in order to get the budget deal across the finish line. Maybe that was the right thing to do, but it was no...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

Related articles

• In Detroit Ruling, Threats to Promises and Assumptions (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Government Shutdown (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• My Next Move for Veterans is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan battle lung trouble upon return home (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Police Salaries and Pensions Push California City to Brink (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

National Mesothelioma Awareness Day Resolution Approved by Congress

The US House of Representative has passed a resolution designating September 26 as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day. The action came as the US House of Representatives unanimously, by roll call vote, approved the passage of a resolution (H. Res. 771). Representative Betty McCollum introduced the resolution that was supported by 58 co-sponsors.

The action by the House of Representatives follows prior approval of an identical resolution passed by the U.S. Senate (S. Res. 288) previously. The Senate resolution was sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (WA) and had 5 co-sponsors and was also approved by unanimous consent.

The test of the resolution is:

Whereas mesothelioma is a terminal, asbestos-related cancer that affects the linings of the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testicles;
Whereas workers exposed on a daily basis over a long period of time are most at risk, but even short-term exposures can cause the disease and an exposure to asbestos for as little as one month can result in mesothelioma 20-50 years later;
Whereas asbestos was used in the construction of virtually all office buildings, public schools, and homes built before 1975 and asbestos is still on the United States market in over 3,000 products;
Whereas there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos;
Whereas millions of workers in the United States have been, and continue to be, exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos;
Whereas the National Institutes of Health reported to Congress in 2006 that mesothelioma is a difficult disease to detect, diagnose, and treat;
Whereas the National Cancer Institute recognizes a clear need for new agents to improve the outlook for patients with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases;
Whereas for decades, the need to develop treatments for mesothelioma was overlooked and today, even the best available treatments usually have only a very limited effect and the expected survival time of those diagnosed with the disease is between 8 and 14 months;
Whereas mesothelioma has claimed the lives of such heroes and public servants as Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., and Congressman Bruce F. Vento, and a high percentage of today's mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos while serving in the United States Navy;
Whereas it is believed that many of the firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers from Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, may be at increased risk of contracting mesothelioma in the future;
Whereas the establishment of a National Mesothelioma Awareness Day would raise public awareness of the disease and of the need to develop treatments and enhance public awareness for it; and
Whereas cities and localities across the country are recognizing September 26 as Mesothelioma Awareness Day: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) supports the goals and ideals of Mesothelioma Awareness Day; and

(2) urges the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States, Federal departments and agencies, States, localities, organizations, and media to annually observe a National Mesothelioma Awareness day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Related articles

• UN Agency Urges Worldwide Asbestos Ban (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Asbestos-Tainted Zonolite Still Ignored By Feds: Government Refuses To Act (huffingtonpost.com)
• New Biomarkers Discovered for Mesothelioma May Lead to Early Detection (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• National Mesothelioma Awareness Day September 26 (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

National Mesothelioma Awareness Day September 26

A "National Mesothelioma  Awareness Day" will be commemorated on September 26, 2010. Nearly 3,000 individuals are afflicted yearly with this fatal disease associated with exposure to asbestos fiber. 

Last year, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced Senate Resolution 288 to commemorate September 26th as "National Mesothelioma  Awareness Day. " A similar resolution is now pending in the US House of Representatives. It was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

• Whereas mesothelioma is a terminal cancer related to exposure to asbestos that affects the lining of the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testicles;
• Whereas workers who are exposed to asbestos on a daily basis over a long period of time are most at risk, but even short-term exposures to asbestos can cause the disease;
• Whereas exposure to asbestos for as little as 1 month can cause mesothelioma 20 to 50 years later;
• Whereas asbestos was used in the construction of virtually all office buildings, public schools, and homes built before 1975, and more than 3,000 products sold in the United States contain asbestos;
• Whereas there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos;
• Whereas millions of workers in the United States have been, and continue to be, exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos;
• Whereas the National Institutes of Health reported to Congress in 2006 that mesothelioma is a difficult disease to detect, diagnose, and treat;
• Whereas the National Cancer Institute recognizes a clear need for new treatments to improve the outlook for patients with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases;
• Whereas the need to develop treatments for mesothelioma was overlooked for decades;
• Whereas even the best available treatments for mesothelioma typically have only a very limited effect, and a person diagnosed with mesothelioma is expected to survive between 8 and 14 months;
• Whereas mesothelioma has claimed the lives of such heroes and public servants as Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., and Congressman Bruce F. Vento;
• Whereas many mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy;
• Whereas it is believed that many of the firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers who served at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, may be at increased risk of contracting mesothelioma in the future; and
• Whereas cities and localities throughout the United States will recognize September 26, 2009, as `Mesothelioma Awareness Day'

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.