Veterans have earned their benefits

To the editor:

I read the article about cutting veterans benefits. How two-faced can President Bush and our other elected officials in Washington get? From World War II through the 1970s, many of us were drafted. We didn't volunteer to go, but it was our duty to serve our country. Since then we have had a volunteer military, but many of us have one thing in common: We have medical issues arising from our tour of duty, and after that we were hard-working citizens, paying our taxes and knowing all the while that someday we would need benefits.

Look at what our president has done. He cut our Medicare when we needed it the most. Then there was the prescription drug deal, which is worthless. Now he wants to cut veterans benefits. This lame duck wants to create as many problems as he can before the next election so the next president, who will probably be a Democrat, will have a barrel of trouble.

We will be in Iraq for a long time with people getting hurt and killed. Even if the cost of veterans benefits reached $30 billion, it wouldn't be much compared to the Pentagon budget and the cost of the war in Iraq. I wonder if the Air Force could do with 160 bombers instead of 162, or maybe the Navy could do with one less submarine.

We took care of our country when it needed us. Why can't the country take care of us when we need it?

BOB JOHNSON, Fruitland