The head of the American Legion on Friday blasted President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal as a “stealth privatization” of veterans services.
Legion National Commander Charles Schmidt said the White House’s proposed budget for Veterans Affairs was an “unacceptable attack” on those who served the nation.
Trump has touted his $186 billion plan as veteran-friendly for its $4 billion increase in discretionary funding.
It includes an expansion of the VA’s Choice Card Program, which allows veterans to seek medical appointments with private-sector physicians at taxpayers’ expense.
But its increased costs were going to be offset by cuts to services used by older vets — including rounding down the cost of living increases for veterans and doing away with a program that helped unemployed ex-military.
Schmidt said the budget did little to serve the needs of elder vets.
“This plan breaks faith with veterans,” Schmidt said.
“The administration’s budget … would effectively lower the earnings of our most vulnerable veterans by reducing or eliminating disability payments from veterans who are the most in need,” he said.
He also criticized the “cannibalization” of services needed for the Choice program.
“It is a ‘stealth’ privatization attempt which The American Legion fully opposes. Choice should not be advanced to the detriment of cost-of-living increases for veterans,” he said.
