Tag: veterans

Commentary: DOD Must Strengthen Support for Veterans

RealClearWire
Military Veterans

Veterans have positively impacted the success of our nation since its inception. Our nation’s service members make up every aspect of our society and represent every ethnic group at some level. Military service is highly regarded by the vast majority of our nation. For many, it provides a chance to grow, transform and serve something greater than themselves. Countless veterans continue their service to their country as leaders in business, government, and their communities. Their inherent leadership skills coupled with a time-honored ethos make them first-round draft choices for any organization.

Although many veterans find the path to the next chapter of their life a rewarding and exciting time, too many struggle, often because civilian and government organizations have little to no real understanding of military service’s attributes. Some of our nation’s most successful businesses have active recruitment of veterans and veteran resource groups in their companies. This isn’t sentimental – they have benefitted from that investment. Many more could benefit from a more in-depth understanding of what veterans truly offer.

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Commentary: A Call for All Americans to Help Stop Veteran Suicides

RealClearWire
Veteran Funeral

Later this month will mark a year from a day that shocked the Veteran community. On March 27, 2023, I along  with many Americans were saddened to learn of the unfortunate passing of Navy SEAL Veteran Douglas “Mike” Day.

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States File Brief in Lawsuit to Force VA to Cover Gender Affirming Surgery

The Center Square
Doctors performing surgery

A group of states filed a friend of the court brief supporting a transgender veterans group that filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeking gender-confirmation surgery for 163,000 transgender veterans.

The Transgender American Veterans Association lawsuit, filed last month, seeks an order that the Department of Veterans Affairs act on the group’s 2016 rule-making petition for gender-confirmation surgery.

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Trump Announces Plans to End Funding for Homeless Hotels and Focus on Veterans

The Center Square

Former President Donald Trump said he would end the funding for homeless immigrants in hotels if elected president.

“Under crooked Joe Biden, the U.S. government has spent nearly $1 billion to house illegal aliens and foreign migrants in expensive, luxury hotels courtesy of you, the American taxpayer, and they want to spend billions and billions more,” Trump said in a video message posted on his social media platform. “In many states, we are running out of hotel space because the rooms are all booked up with illegal aliens living in a very large way on the American taxpayers’ dime.”

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Nearly 40 Percent of Veterans Reported Concerns About Being Able to Pay Medical Bills

The Center Square

A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that nearly 40% of veterans reported concerns about being able to pay their medical bills. 

Overall, the report found that 12.8% of veterans aged 25-64 had problems paying medical bills, 8.4% had forgone medical care and 38.4% were somewhat or very worried about being able to pay their medical bills if they got sick or had an accident. 

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Biden Budget to Fund ‘Transgender’ Treatments for Veterans

Virginia Star Staff

The Biden Administration’s proposed budget for 2024 includes funding for genital mutilation surgeries and hormone treatments for veterans who think they are “transgender.”

As the Daily Caller reports, the budget proposal comes after the Department of Veterans Affairs was ordered to lift a 20-year ban on such transgender procedures in June of 2021, thus allowing such treatments to be covered by Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.

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Virginia House of Delegates Passes Bill Eliminating Age Restriction for Military Benefit Tax Relief

The Center Square

Virginia may soon make younger veterans eligible for an income tax subtraction on military retirement pay under a bill that received bipartisan support in the House of Delegates Tuesday. 

House Bill 1436 received broad bipartisan support during a floor vote in the House Tuesday, passing out of the chamber in a 98-0 vote. The bill, authored by Del. John McGuire, R-Goochland, would remove the existing 55 and older age restriction for individuals eligible for a military benefits income tax subtraction. 

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Virginia May Let Younger Veterans Get Tax Break

The Center Square

Virginia lawmakers may soon consider removing the existing age restriction on people eligible for a military benefits income tax subtraction under a bill pre-filed ahead of the 2023 session. 

House Bill 1436 by Del. John J. McGuire, R-Goochland, proposes removing the age 55 or older restriction, which would allow younger veterans to take advantage of income tax subtractions of up to $40,000 in military benefits in the coming years.

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More than 100,000 Veterans Hired Through Virginia Program

The Center Square

More than 100,000 veterans have been hired through a Virginia program that educates and trains veterans and helps connect them with employers, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced.

Virginia Values Veterans, which is run by the Virginia Department of Veteran Services, started in 2012. According to a news release, the program works with employers to develop long-term strategies and best practices to recruit, hire and retain veterans. The department also works with more than 2,100 businesses, educational institutions and state and local government agencies.

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Biden Signs Funding Bill for Veterans Exposed to Toxins

The Center Square

President Joe Biden signed the veterans health care bill known as the PACT Act Wednesday, expanding health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxins.

After a short struggle between Senate Democrats and Republicans, the PACT Act has been signed into law and will offer benefits and services to more than five million veterans exposed to toxins during their time of service.

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Governor Glenn Youngkin Donates Salary to Virginia Veterans Services Foundation

Cooper Moran

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin elected to donate his second-quarter salary to the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation, a group that helps fund various veteran-focused services in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The donation, which totaled $43,750, follows previous donations of his gubernatorial salary and Youngkin’s commitment to assist individuals who have served our country.

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As Virginia Legislative Session Begins, Bills to Increase School Security Weighed

Peter D'Abrosca

As the 2021-2022 legislative year begins in Virginia, one bill would mandate security protocols for school board meetings statewide.

HB 12 says schools would be required to “limit to the lowest feasible number the entry points in each public school building in the local school division” and “ensure that each individual who seeks to enter any school building in the local school division is screened with a handheld metal detector wand by a school security officer or another appropriate school board employee who is appropriately trained in such method of screening.”

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Facebook Buys up the Outstanding Invoices of Minority-Owned Small Businesses

Virginia Star Staff

Facebook is spending $100 million to buy up the outstanding invoices of small businesses owned by women, racial minorities, veterans, disabled people and LGBTQ+ people, the company announced last week.

The Invoice Fast Track Program allows certain “small, midsize and diverse-owned businesses” to submit outstanding invoices to Facebook. The tech giant then buys the invoices, giving the business cash immediately, and the business’ customers pay Facebook instead.

The program is designed to help “diverse-owned” businesses improve their cash flow and hire more employees, according to the program’s description.

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Study: Virginia Is 10th Most Patriotic State

Eric Burk

Virginia is the 10th-most patriotic state, according to a WalletHub study that looks at citizens’ civic and military engagement. Montana, Alaska, and Maryland make up the top three, while New York, Florida, and Connecticut are the U.S.’ least-patriotic states, according to the study. High military engagement in Virginia helped boost the commonwealth’s score despite a mediocre civic engagement score.

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Commentary: Conservatives and Republicans Must Reclaim Memorial Day

Virginia Star Staff
Veteran cemetery with table set for lives lost who served America

In the face of the Far Left’s attempts to rewrite American history through the now-discredited 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, Republicans and conservatives must reclaim the key dates and events in American history and there is no better place to start than Memorial Day 2021.

Memorial Day was created not as a “holiday” or an excuse for corporate merchants to advertise sales, but as a solemn commemoration of the dead of both sides in the American Civil War.

In that context Memorial Day commemorates a number of constitutional conservative values, not the least of which is the inviolability of the Constitution itself.

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Commentary: Celebrating Our Heroes on Armed Forces Day

Virginia Star Staff
Close-up of military helmets

Every third Saturday in May, America comes together to celebrate Armed Forces Day in honor of the brave men and women who serve in the U.S. military.

May 15, 2021 is the 71st anniversary of the establishment of Armed Forces Day.  This commemorative holiday was established by President Harry Truman in 1950 following the passage of the National Security Act in 1947. 

At the end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War, the United States Congress and the Truman administration recognized that an overhaul of our national security, intelligence, and defense apparatuses were needed for America to defeat the expanding threat of communism.  The National Security Act established the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Air Force.  It also unified and restructured the U.S. military by moving the War Department, Navy Department, and Air Force under the direction of the new Department of Defense.  

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Vietnam Veteran: ‘Marsha’ Has Always Fought For Our Veterans

Jason M. Reynolds
Marsha Blackburn

A Chattanooga veteran of the Vietnam War said, “No one has fought harder for our active duty military and our veterans than Marsha Blackburn. We need to elect her to the Senate because the issues with the VA are far from solved.” Terry Thomas wrote a column for the Times…

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