NM Congressman Pearce Introduces "Healthy" Vet Bill

Posted by Rachel Pulaski on Thursday, February 10, 2011
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NM Congressman Steve Pearce
 Las Cruces, NM (February 10, 2011) Yesterday, Congressman Steve Pearce reintroduced H.R. 575, a bill that will improve healthcare access for veterans across New Mexico and nationwide. This legislation, entitled the Help Establish Access to Local Timely Healthcare for Your (HEALTHY) Vets Act, will allow veterans access to local healthcare facilities, saving them time, money, and physical strain. Currently, the federal government requires veterans to drive to VA hospitals for treatment. This is a major roadblock to healthcare for veterans in New Mexico, who may have to drive hundreds of miles to Albuquerque for medical attention. Congressman Pearce’s legislation would allow veterans to use local health providers in their own hometowns in Southern New Mexico. This saves both medical and travel expenses for veterans, allows them the convenience and comfort they deserve, and provides for quicker, less stressful treatment. Under the legislation, the VA Secretary will contract with local hospitals and doctors on a case-by-case basis to provide medical services, including primary care, for those veterans who live far away from VA medical facilities. Pearce, a Vietnam veteran, has made veterans a priority throughout his more than six years in Congress. 
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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know. Are we voters this gullible or is that just how politicians like Steve Pearce view us? How healthy can we vets be in an unhealthy economy? Congressman Pearce seems to take positions without thinking them through.

Steve Pearce recently spoke out against the proposed closing of the USPS sorting center in Las Cruces. He supports less government spending while opposing raising revenues by cutting tax loopholes or doing away with the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy. What does he think less government spending means if not the closing of government facilities, like the USPS sorting center in his district, and the shutting down of government services.

And now we hear that for the first time in history, the credit rating of our country has been downgraded due to the irresponsibility of congressmen like Steve Pearce. This entire ongoing financial crisis is one created by congress. It started with the war in Iraq and the decision in congress to fund it by taking out a loan. Steve Pearce voted “yes” to both. It was the first time in history that our government started a war then decided not to pay for it.

Congressman Pearce supports smaller government in the form of less regulation and government oversight. Lack of oversight brought us the bank failures and subsequent near bankruptcy of the auto industry. There again, we paid to alleviate both of those crises with borrowed money. A decision Steve Pearce agreed with.

Now, by allowing the government to shut down the FAA at a cost of $30 million per day while supporting the endless bickering in congress, Steve Pearce has contributed to this latest self induced crisis which has resulted in the downgrading of our nation’s credit report.

I am thoroughly disgusted by all of this, as we all should be. Congress, and our own representative Steve Pearce, is driving our country with his eyes closed. He is operating recklessly and without regard to the safety of you and me, his fellow citizens. With his disregard of our country’s financial well being, Congressman Pearce has jeopardized not just the state of our economy, by our national security as well.

China holds the majority of our national debt. They are our banker. Consider what happened in our country when the economy collapsed and homeowners lost their jobs. The banks foreclosed on their property and the former homeowners – and their families – were destitute and on the street. For them, the crisis was devastating.

The same could be true for our nation as a whole. Steve Pearce shares responsibility for putting our national security at risk. Reportedly, it is doubtful that China will start dumping the US debt that it holds. China itself would lose more than a trillion dollars if it did. But that’s what the war in Iraq cost. If Steve Pearce was willing to spend that amount of money to start an arguably unnecessary war on the opposite side of the planet, might not China, a communist country with vastly different values than ours, be willing to spend that amount to damage the United States? They could do that without raising so much as a pea shooter, much less risking the lives of their armed forces.

How will we ever catch up? With the downgrading of our nation’s credit score, interest rates will rise on the money we borrow in the future. More of our hard earned tax dollars will be spent to pay off the interest on the debt, less to pay off the principal. Congress is digging us into a hole and when you connect the dots, you find Steve Pearce has been holding one of the shovels ever since his first term.

I’m going to hold Steve Pearce accountable in the next election and I hope the rest of us do, too. I hope the Republican Party can find someone to seriously challenge him in the primaries, a responsible thinker, and that the Democrats nominate someone of a similar ilk.

August 7, 2011 at 3:53 PM

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