Veterans group spending $200k in N.C.

"No knowledgeable prior service, active service or military retiree would believe that garbage about Elizabeth Dole."

No "Knowledgeable" veteran would merely take a politician's word that they are good for veterans (or just glance at their website), they would take the time to actually find out for themselves. Here's why you can't take Liddy Dole's word:

"Mr. Secretary, a 2005 Department of Veteran’s Affairs study published in the New England Journal of Medicine recently showed that more than 26 percent of Afghanistan and Iraq combat veterans treated at VA hospitals were diagnosed with mental disorders. Many have reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. We have the best trained, best equipped troops in the world, but are we falling short when it comes to mental health services when they return home? This is especially important to me, representing North Carolina, a state with so many troops that have seen combat on the ground. What are we doing to ensure that when our troops return home, they have professional counseling easily available to them and that they know where and how to seek that type of counseling?"

This was from an Armed Services Committee hearing less than a week after she voted "no" for this:

- $14 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration for Compensation and Pensions for the years of 2006 through 2010

- $6.9 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Health Administration for Medical Care between the years 2006 through 2010

- $1 billion for the establishment of the Veterans Hospital Improvement Fund

Take the time to find out, people. It's not as easy as merely going to Dole's website, but the truth these days is seldom right at your fingertips. If you really want to know, you gotta go look.

No knowledgeable prior service, active service or military retiree would believe that garbage about Elizabeth Dole. That's about like saying Bob Dole doesn't know about combat. Keep Elizabeth in the Senate fighting for Service men and women!

I do believe Senator Doles does care tremendously about the well-being of our troops and making sure she can do everything can...AND ALL IT TOOK WAS ME GOING TO HER SENATE PAGE AND TYPING IN SOLDIER IN THE SEARCH BAR...I WONDER HOW MUCH THE N&0 WOULD PAY ME FOR THIS RESEARCH????

September 30th, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - Over the weekend the Senate approved funding requested by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a member of the Armed Services Committee, for life-saving, injury-preventing technologies and rehabilitation programs for service members. The measures were part of a larger legislative package that provided fiscal year 2009 funds for military construction and the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

In the defense appropriations bill, Dole worked to secure $2.8 million for an advanced combat helmet that will be developed in Stanley, N.C. She also obtained $3 million for the production of Fibrin Adhesive Stat (FAST) Dressings, high-tech bandages that halt bleeding immediately and will help save lives on the battlefield. Additionally, Dole secured $3 million for the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University, which is leading the country in conducting tissue regeneration research.

“The resources and benefits we provide to our service members are so important and well deserved – and certainly one of the most critical investments we can make is in developing the equipment and technology that prevent injuries and save lives on the battlefield,” said Dole.

Additionally, Dole worked with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to secure $2.8 million in funding to support the Army’s photomedicine research program, which is developing a wide variety of laser surgical devices that are demonstrating great promise in repairing battlefield injuries.

The legislation also includes $789 million for 35 different military construction projects in North Carolina, and Dole helped push for the inclusion of:

• $13.96 million for a child development center at Camp Lejeune; and
• $12.2 million for a new support center at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Dole helped secure funds for additional initiatives that support service members and North Carolina defense industry jobs, including:

• $4 million for environmentally sealed, ruggedized flat-panel avionics displays for aircraft, produced by Combat Displays in New Bern;
• $4 million for the Metals Affordability Initiative in Monroe, which is developing new alloys with improved wear, heat and corrosion resistance;
• $2.5 million for Energizer Battery Manufacturing (with a production facility in Asheboro) to develop a high power, ultra-lightweight zinc-air battery;
• $2.4 million for Lord Corporation in Cary, which manufactures innovative magneto-rheological (MR) suspension components for tactical wheeled vehicles;
• $2 million for IMO Pump in Monroe, which manufactures advanced lubrication pumps for use on the Navy’s Whidbey Island class of ships;
• $2 million for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Northrop Grumman to continue research on using silicon carbide as a semiconductor as part of its Superlattice Nanotechnology program;
• $1.7 million to INI Power Systems in Morrisville to further develop and produce its lightweight “Soldier Portable Power Pack”;
• $1.6 million for RFMD Infrastructure Product Group in Charlotte and Greensboro, to continue research of using Gallium Nitride as a semiconductor as part of its Gallium Nitride RF Power Technology program;
• $1.6 million for Longworth Industries in West End, which produces flame resistant cold weather undergarments;
• $1.6 million for The Timken Company, to develop advanced jet engine bearing technologies at facilities in North Carolina and Ohio;
• $1.44 million for RTI International in Research Triangle Park, to continue development of 3-D Technology for Advanced Sensor Systems (3D-TASS), which would allow the military to utilize smaller, high-performance sensors;
• $1.2 million for Superstructure Particle Evaluation and Characterization with Targeted Reaction Analysis (SPECTRA) research, the objective of which is to develop dietary supplements to enhance human resistance to low-level exposure to chemical and biological agents, at East Carolina University in Greenville;
• $1.2 million for hydrogen fuel cell development by Microcell in Raleigh;
• $960,000 for Nekton Research in Durham, to continue development of its mobile acoustic decoys for surface ship defense;
• $800,000 for Moog Components Group in Murphy, to continue development of an electronic motion actuation systems for Navy submarines;
• $55 million for Impact Aid, which funds public school districts across the nation that are adjacent to military installations (based on the number of military dependents attending that district’s schools);
• $20 million for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program; and
• $16 million for the Readiness Environmental Protection Initiative, which purchases land adjacent to military installations to protect training areas from encroachment.

Dole also advocated for Department of Defense cancer research funding that was included in the bill.

• $20 million for the Ovarian Cancer Research Program
• $150 million for the Breast Cancer Research Program
• $80 million for the Prostate Cancer Research Program

"The ad appears to be the same one used in 2006 in a Virginia Senate race. According to the watchdog site FactCheck.org, the votes came on a 2003 amendment that would have appropriated just over $1 billion for unspecified "National Guard and Reserve Equipment" but made no mention of body armor. The amendment lost on a generally party-line vote.

The group called the ad false."

Watch the ad again, please. It lists vote #116 (which the Guard and Reserve really needed), but it also lists vote #376 that Republicans also voted against, to wit:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:1:./temp/~r108FGnOo2:e44727:

"SA 1817. Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. CORZINE) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 1689, making emergency supplemental appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan security and reconstruction for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes; as follows:

On page 2, line 20, strike ``$24,946,464,000:'' and insert ``$25,268,464,000, of which $322,000,000 shall be available to provide safety equipment through the Rapid Fielding Initiative and the Iraqi Battlefield Clearance program:''."

Shifting $322,000,000 from Iraq reconstruction funds into safety equipment for our troops. This amendment didn't add a dime to the funding bill, but it did reallocate funds away from contractors and towards our soldiers. But apparently the contractors, many of whom pocketed millions while performing poorly (if at all), were more important to Liddy than troops in the field. Here's an AUSA article from 2003:

http://www3.ausa.org/WEBINT/DeptHome.nsf/byid/KGRG-6DSQD9

"Rapid Fielding Initiative to Equip All Brigade Combat Teams
09/08/2003

The Army plans to fully equip all of its brigade combat teams next year under its rapid fielding initiative, 40 more than this year.

Speaking at an Association of the United States Army acquisition symposium in Falls Church, Va., Brig. Gen. James Moran said in addition to providing every soldier with their own individual body armor, soldiers will receive the clothing, targeting sites, ammunition and communication equipment needed to fight today’s battles in the war against terrorism.

Commanders fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan have been told to submit “operational statements” detailing the equipment they need for their soldiers. The statements are fast tracked through the Army acquisition command for quick approval – getting supplies in the hands of soldiers faster.

“I understand dollars are short, but we ought to be able to buy boots for our soldiers,” Moran said.

He added that field commanders are coming back to him saying: “Finally, someone cares about us as individual soldiers.”

Again...another horrid case of reporting by the N&O...

Call this guy Ryan and do a story...

Factcheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation. The current president, chairman, and sole director of the Foundation is Leonore Annenberg.

You can inspect the public record of Leonore Annenberg's political donations--lots of them, almost entirely to right-wing Republicans-- here.

For what it's worth, and evidently it's worth quite a bit, Ms. Annenberg has donated $13,000 to Senator Dole since 1999.