WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an unscheduled visit on this Veterans Day, President Obama spent time among the graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

Specifically in a section set aside for the fallen from Iraq and from Afghanistan, where Mr. Obama’s considering sending more U.S. troops.

It’s a tough decision for the president.

“And as long as I am commander-in-chief, America’s going to do right by them,” said Mr. Obama.

Former defense secretary William Cohen urged the president to hurry.

“What’s important is that he make a decision and make it reasonably soon because you’ve got young men and women who are out there carrying the battle who are at great risk. If we’ve got the wrong strategy, change it,” said Cohen.

On Wednesday, the Commander in Chief met with advisors again where he got more options for troop deployment.

Afghan Commanding General Stan McChrystal’s has asked for as many as  44,000 more troops.

That’s far more than Vice president’s Biden’s plan to send as few as 10,000.

There are also new middle ground plans calling for up to 35,000 more troops.

That plan is reportedly backed by Defense Secretary Gates by Secretary of State Clinton and by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mullen.

But President Obama is looking past numbers to the troop’s revamped mission to focus more on al Qaeda, the Taliban and stabilizing Karzai’s government.

The new best guess on when the President will announce his Afghan plan is now Thanksgiving.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Gov. Bev Perdue today thanked North Carolina veterans at a Veterans Day Remembrance Ceremony in Jacksonville and issued a proclamation honoring the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country.

During the ceremony, Gov. Perdue announced the creation of the “I Hire Military” campaign to encourage businesses to hire veterans and military spouses.

“The close relationship between the civilians and the military is one of the biggest reasons I’m proud to call North Carolina home,” said Gov. Perdue.  “The ‘I Hire Military’ campaign is one more example of how North Carolina is the most military-friendly state in the nation.”

To join the “I Hire Military” campaign, businesses must visit IHireMilitary.org, sign a pledge to hire veterans and military spouses whenever practical, display the “I Hire Military” decal in their establishments, and register as part of the “I Hire Military” database.

North Carolina’s military spouses and veterans – including disabled veterans – are highly trained, dedicated workers.  Their contributions can be a bonus for any North Carolina company.  Veterans and spouses looking for work can go online to IHireMilitary.org to find a list of businesses that have signed up for the “I Hire Military” pledge.

The campaign began as a partnership between the N.C. Military Business Center and the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board.  At present the campaign is running in four counties – Onslow, Carteret, Craven, and Wayne– and will soon expand statewide.

Scott Dorney, executive director of the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) said, “Transitioning military personnel and spouses bring tremendous skills to the North Carolina workforce.  ‘I Hire Military’ will help identify and connect our ‘military friendly employers’ to these veterans and military spouses – fueling business growth and job creation across our state.”

The “I Hire Military” campaign is part of the Gov. Perdue’s JobsNOW initiative.  Through Gov. Perdue’s JobsNOW initiative, the state will work aggressively to create jobs, train and retrain our workforce, and lay the foundation for a strong and sustainable economic future.

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTON VETERANS DAY
Memorial Amphitheater
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Please, be seated.

Thank you, Secretary Shinseki, for the generous introduction — more importantly, the extraordinary bravery in service to our country, both on and off the battlefield.  I want to thank our outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden, and his wonderful wife, Dr. Jill Biden, for being here today.  We want to thank the Bidens for their son, Beau’s, service as well; we’re glad he just got back from Iraq.

We want to say a special word of thanks to Brigadier General Karl Horst, who’s the Commander of the Military District of Washington, for being here, and for your lifetime of distinguished service to our nation.  To Gene Crayton, president of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, thank you for being here.  And to all the veterans’ service organizations for the extraordinary work, day in, day out on behalf of our nation’s heroes.

To the members of our armed forces and the veterans who are here today:  I am deeply honored and humbled to spend Veterans Day with you in this sacred place where generations of heroes have come to rest — and generations of Americans have come to show their gratitude.

There are many honors and responsibilities that come with this job.  But none is more profound than serving as Commander-in-Chief.  Yesterday, I visited the troops at Fort Hood.  We gathered in remembrance of those we recently lost.  We paid tribute to the lives they led.  And there was something that I saw in them; something that I see in the eyes of every soldier and sailor, airman, Marine and Coast Guardsman that I have had the privilege to meet in this country and around the world — and that thing is determination.

In this time of war, we gather here mindful that the generation serving today already deserves a place alongside previous generations for the courage they have shown and the sacrifices that they have made.  In an era where so many acted only in pursuit of narrow self-interest, they’ve chosen the opposite.  They chose to serve the cause that is greater than self; many even after they knew they’d be sent into harm’s way.  And for the better part of a decade, they have endured tour after tour in distant and difficult places; they have protected us from danger; and they have given others the opportunity for a better life.

So to all of them — to our veterans, to the fallen, and to their families — there is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice.

This is a place where it is impossible not to be moved by that sacrifice.  But even as we gather here this morning, people are gathering all across America, not only to express thanks of a grateful nation, but to tell stories that demand to be told.  They’re stories of wars whose names have come to define eras; battles that echo throughout history.  They’re stories of patriots who sacrificed in pursuit of a more perfect union:  of a grandfather who marched across Europe; of a friend who fought in Vietnam; of a sister who served in Iraq.  They’re the stories of generations of Americans who left home barely more than boys and girls, became men and women, and returned home heroes.

And when these Americans who had dedicated their lives to defending this country came home, many settled on a life of service, choosing to make their entire lives a tour of duty.  Many chose to live a quiet life, trading one uniform and set of responsibilities for another — doctor, engineer, teacher, mom, dad.  They bought homes, raised families, built businesses.  They built the greatest middle class that the world has ever known.  Some put away their medals, stayed humble about their service, and moved on.  Some, carrying shrapnel and scars, found that they couldn’t.

We call this a holiday.  But for many veterans, it’s another day of memories that drive them to live their lives each day as best as they possibly can.  For our troops, it is another day in harm’s way.  For their families, it is another day to feel the absence of a loved one, and the concern for their safety.  For our wounded warriors, it is another day of slow and arduous recovery.  And in this national cemetery, it is another day when grief remains fresh.  So while it is important and proper that we mark this day, it is far more important we spend all our days determined to keep the promises that we’ve made to all who answer this country’s call.

Carved into the marble behind me are the words of our first Commander-in-Chief:  “When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.”  Just as the contributions that our servicemen and women make to this nation don’t end when they take off their uniform, neither do our obligations to them.  And when we fulfill those obligations, we aren’t just keeping faith with our veterans; we are keeping faith with the ideals of service and sacrifice upon which this republic was founded.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that there have been times where we as a nation have betrayed that sacred trust.  Our Vietnam veterans served with great honor.  They often came home greeted not with gratitude or support, but with condemnation and neglect.  That’s something that will never happen again.  To them and to all who have served, in every battle, in every war, we say that it’s never too late to say thank you.  We honor your service.  We are forever grateful.  And just as you have not forgotten your missing comrades, neither, ever, will we.  Our servicemen and women have been doing right by America for generations.  And as long as I am Commander-in-Chief, America’s going to do right by them.

That is my message to all veterans today.  That is my message to all who serve in harm’s way.  To the husbands and wives back home doing the parenting of two.  To the parents who watch their sons and daughters go off to war, and the children who wonder when mom and dad is coming home.  To all our wounded warriors, and to the families who laid a loved one to rest.  America will not let you down.  We will take care of our own.

And to those who are serving in far-flung places today, when your tour ends, when you see our flag, when you touch our soil, you will be home in an America that is forever here for you just as you’ve been there for us.  That is my promise — our nation’s promise — to you.

Ninety-one years ago today, the battlefields of Europe fell quiet as World War I came to a close.  But we don’t mark this day each year as a celebration of victory, as proud of that victory as we are.  We mark this day as a celebration of those who made victory possible.  It’s a day we keep in our minds the brave men and women of this young nation — generations of them — who above all else believed in and fought for a set of ideals.  Because they did, our country still stands; our founding principles still shine; nations around the world that once knew nothing but fear now know the blessings of freedom.

That is why we fight — in hopes of a day when we no longer need to.  And that is why we gather at these solemn remembrances and reminders of war — to recommit ourselves to the hard work of peace.

There will be a day before long when this generation of servicemen and women step out of uniform.  They will build families and lives of their own.  God willing, they will grow old.  And someday, their children, and their children’s children, will gather here to honor them.

Thank you.  God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

By MARSHA MERCER
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama stumbled with his plan to ask veterans to use their private insurance to pay for combat injuries and disabilities.

After putting forth the proposal, he was forced to scrap it after strong protest from veterans and members of Congress.

But why did veterans have to get up in arms to convince the president it was a bad idea? What happened to the vaunted Obama populist savvy? The idea of imposing a third-party — insurance companies – into the medical care of wounded warriors goes against the American grain.

In his second Inaugural Address a few weeks before the Civil War’s end, President Abraham Lincoln set the bar for his exhausted country’s – and the U.S. government’s — obligation: “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”  

Lincoln’s phrase became the motto for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

The root cause of the unpopular insurance idea is, of course, money.

The ever-rising cost of health care is a slippery issue that Obama and Congress eventually will have to grasp and subdue. But any politician would have to be tone deaf to think it’s a good idea to save money on the backs of veterans with combat injuries.

The administration hoped to save upwards of $500 million a year by billing veterans’ private insurance for their service-related medical care. The American Legion and service groups cried foul, saying the government should continue to provide the care.

Critics worried that the change might make it hard for war-wounded vets to obtain care if service-related injuries became a pre-existing condition under private insurance.

David K. Rehbein, national commander of the American Legion, emerged from a meeting with veterans’ groups and Obama on Monday and said, “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be
compromised by it.”

Writing in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Rehbein imagined the answering system at an insurance company, if the change were to occur: 

“If you were injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and you have not paid your co-pay, please press 1. If you were injured during military training and you have not yet reached your deductible, please press 2. If your family has reached its maximum insurance benefit, please call back after you have purchased additional coverage.
Thank you for your service.”

A chilling prospect, to be sure. Veterans with war-related injuries and disabilities should be and are a special case. Obama dropped the plan Wednesday after members of Congress sent him a letter vowing to kill it.

The episode says a lot about the problems Obama will face in trying to rein in health-care costs generally while expanding coverage for 47 million uninsured.

Douglas W. Elendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified to a health subcommittee in the House earlier this month on options for controlling the cost and increasing the efficiency of health care. There weren’t many of the former, and the latter are likely to be unpopular.

Health care spending is a double whammy. “The available evidence suggests that a substantial share of spending on health care contributes little if anything to the overall health of the nation, but finding ways to reduce such spending without also affecting services that improve health will be difficult,” Elendorf said in prepared remarks.

When Obama dropped the insurance proposal, veterans breathed a sigh of relief. But the administration still wants to find that $530 million or so a year somewhere. Some groups, including the American Legion, support allowing Medicare to reimburse the VA for medical care of wounded warriors.

To sweeten the deal with vets, Obama’s new budget provides for a $25 billion increase in funding for the VA over five years. This will allow the VA to serve an additional half million vets by 2013, according to VA secretary Eric Shinseki.

That’s good news for veterans. But it won’t solve the larger problem of health care access and cost. Each solution Obama and his policy wonks think up likely will have its own grassroots constituency, ready to mobilize at the click of a mouse to stop change they don’t believe in. 

(What do you think? Comment at mgwashington.com or e-mail mmercer@mediageneral.com)

It’s Washington’s favorite parlor game during a presidential transition: trying to figure out who’ll land a top spot in the new administration. President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials.

Just like the stock market, names rise and fall weekly, some zooming to the top, others dropping out of contention. Hillary Rodham Clinton suddenly is considered the top prospect for secretary of state, although other names remain in the mix. It looks like Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general, is on track to become attorney general.

Some of those who are the subject of speculation already have been chosen by Obama to serve as part of his transition team. For example, former Sen. Tom Daschle was picked Wednesday to lead Obama’s working group on health care, the same day word surfaced that he’s accepted Obama’s offer to serve as secretary of health and human services.

Some names being floated are surprising, such as former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell for education secretary. Others are high-profile governors or members of Congress. Many are also little known to the general public – and may remain so.

—

DEFENSE SECRETARY

Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

—

TREASURY SECRETARY

Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president.

—

SECRETARY OF STATE

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, former first lady and one-time rival of Obama’s for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 2004 presidential nominee.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

—

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

—

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

—

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

—

CIA DIRECTOR

John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center

—

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

Tim Roemer, former Indiana congressman and member of the 9/11 commission.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of House Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee.

Jami Miscik, former head of CIA’s analytical operations.

—

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser.

Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

—

ENERGY SECRETARY

Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, former assistant energy secretary in charge of efficiency and renewable energy programs in the Clinton administration.

Former Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., president of Resources for the Future think tank.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

—

INTERIOR SECRETARY

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department.

—

EPA ADMINISTRATOR

Lisa P. Jackson, commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board.

Kathleen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

—

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.

Renee Glover, head of Atlanta’s housing authority

Nicholas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies

Shaun Donovan, commissioner of New York City’s housing department.

—

LABOR SECRETARY

Ed McElroy, former president of the American Federation of Teachers

Former Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri

Linda Chavez-Thompson, former AFL-CIO vice president

Former Rep. David Bonior, member of Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Maria Echaveste, former Clinton White House adviser.

—

COMMERCE SECRETARY

Laura D’Andrea Tyson, former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton.

—

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR

Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.

—

EDUCATION SECRETARY

Colin Powell, former secretary of state, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools.

Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent.

Linda Darling-Hammond, education professor at Stanford University.

—

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of House Transportation Committee.

Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., member of the House Transportation Committee.

—

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union.

Former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas.

John W. Boyd Jr. of Virginia, president of National Black Farmers Association.

—

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran and Illinois veterans affairs director.

Former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who had three limbs amputated after a grenade blast.

Current VA Secretary James Peake.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Senator-elect Kay Hagan says she’s considering a focus on military and banking issues when she moves to Capitol Hill next year.
     
Read the full story

U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge, David Price and Brad Miller will host their annual briefing honoring Veterans, on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Gov. Kerr Scott Building at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. Representatives from local VA offices will speak, and Reps. Price and Etheridge will give an update on recent actions Congress has taken.

In May Congress passed, and the President signed, a new G.I. Bill of Rights restoring full funding of higher education benefits for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. N.C. Senator-elect Kay Hagan is also expected to attend.

The event will take place at the Kerr Scott Building at the state fairgrounds.

Hagan’s schedule also includes the North Carolina A&T’s 3rd Annual Veterans Celebration at noon at the Memorial Student Union, Stallings Ballroom, 1601 E. Market St. in Greensboro.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Senator Elizabeth Dole will discuss her work in the U.S. Senate on behalf of veterans at an event Saturday. The Republican Senator will be at the North Raleigh Hilton, 3415 Wake Forest Road at 2 p.m. Saturday.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two veterans events will take place in the area Friday — the day of the first Presidential debate.

In Durham, retired Marine Corps officer and Iraq war veteran Jonathan Kuniholm will attend a Presidential Debate watch party. Earlier in the day, Kuniholm will hold a national security roundtable in Sanford to discuss Barack Obama’s plan to support our troops both when they are abroad and when they come home. 

Kuniholm served on active duty and in the reserves for nine years. He lost part of his right arm in Iraq on a New Year’s Day ambush of his patrol.  He is one of more than 300 engineers worldwide working on next generation prosthetic arms for the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program and he is currently training to climb Denali with other disabled veterans.

He spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the night Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination. 

The event will take place at 8:30 p.m. at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, 900 W. Main St.

In Fayetteville, Vietnam war veteran Paul Bucha and Iraq war veteran John McCary will speak.

They will hold a national security roundtable to discuss Barack Obama’s plan to support our troops both when they are abroad and when they come home.  They will also address the cost of war on the home front. Both earned honors for their respective military service, Bucha is a Medal of Honor recipient and McCary earned a Bronze Star Medal.

The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Tony Rand Student Center at Fayetteville Technology Community College, 2201 Hall Road.