Ben Carson: We Don’t Need a Department of Veterans Affairs
During an interview on The Dave Ramsey Show, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson stated that one way to shrink the size of the government would be to do away with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and place its services under the administration of the Defense Department.
“We don’t need a Department of Veterans Affairs,” Carson said. “Veterans Affairs should be folded in under the Department of Defense. And it should be a smooth transition.”
Carson went on to explain that the reason why the number of military volunteers has recently seen a decline is because of the negative opinion Americans have about how veterans are cared for after leaving service. The retired neurosurgeon said that the answer to this was by changing the current system of veteran health care at government hospitals:
When a person applies for the military, they should be in a support system immediately from day one. Particularly when they go through combat because that is when all the trauma is occurring. And we should have people in place a year before their time of discharge to be working on their integration back into society. There shouldn’t be a period of unemployment when they come out of the military.
Carson also called for the creation of health savings accounts that would grant treatment for veterans at any American health organization. “We should be delighted to take care of them,” Carson said, elaborating that care should be available for special services in areas like brain injuries and limb replacement.
Of course, not every veteran was impressed. Former Gen. Paul Eaton gave a statement to The Baltimore Sun, stating that the separate department was necessary and Carson’s idea was misguided.
Rather than think of ways to nickel and dime our veterans Dr. Carson should be thinking of other areas of fat in government – particularly in defense contracts – that can be cut, so we can hire more doctors and caregivers, to provide returning veterans with the kind of care they earned.”
Watch the show below (relevant part begins at 13:40):
[image via screengrab]
