.@gop - do you really want to cut medicare benefits to veterans? 4 in 10 of recipients are vets #p2 #tcot

from http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0046 and http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/27/979794/-Midday-open-thread?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

Today, a coalition of groups, including VoteVets.org, which I support, released a new study on veterans and Social Security.  What the findings make clear is that when the far right talks about stripping down Social Security, or even privatizing it, it will absolutely hurt veterans and their families more than maybe anyone else.  After reading the facts below, I urge you to use share this page on Facebook and Twitter so you can spread the word to everyone you know.  We need to get facts like this spread around, so people know the stakes.

Here's just a few points from the report:

• Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans-about 4 in 10 veterans.
• Over one-third of America's 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are either veterans or family members living with them, such as their spouses.
• Of the 13 to 14 million veterans-or 6 in 10-who are not Social Security beneficiaries, the vast majority will become beneficiaries in the future.
• The vast majority of the Active Duty community's 1.4 million members, 700,000 spouses and 1.2 million children, and the Total Selected Reserve community's 1.1 million members, 400,000 spouses and 650,000 children, are eligible for Social Security's disability and life insurance benefits if a service member becomes severely disabled or dies.
• Indeed, approximately 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disabled worker benefits, averaging $1,100-$1,200 per month.
• Social Security's young survivors' benefits are particularly important to the 4 in 10 active duty members who are married with children and the 1 in 20 who are single parents.
• As of January 16, 2011, the number of American servicemen and women killed on active duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was 5,860, leaving behind an estimated more than 4,000 children.

Again, please share this page with everyone you know.   It is so important that we get these facts out, so people reject any politician that talks about decimating Social Security.  Any move like that would severely and negatively impact so many of our veterans and their families.