Tuesday,  July 24, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 010 • 23 of 28 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 22)

FACT CHECK: For veterans, disability claims backlog has continued growing under Obama

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama paints an encouraging picture of the additional resources his administration has poured into helping veterans get disability benefits and mental health treatment. But he glosses over just how much those problems have grown during his time in office.
• Obama spoke Monday to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. His Republican rival for the White House, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is set to address the same group Tuesday. A look at Obama's assertions about the Veterans Affairs Department's efforts and how they compare with the facts:
• ___
• OBAMA: "We've hired thousands of claims processors. We're investing in paperless systems. To their credit, the dedicated folks at the VA are now completing
1 million claims a year, but there's been a tidal wave of new claims."
• THE FACTS: Veterans can be eligible for help with conditions caused or aggravated by their military service. The government, however, has long struggled to keep up with the claims, and the backlog has grown worse during the president's term in office as soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• ___

Navy: Civilian worker on nuclear sub in Maine set fire so he could leave early

• PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Navy investigators have determined that a civilian laborer set a fire that caused $400 million in damage to a nuclear-powered submarine because he had anxiety and wanted to get out of work early.
• Casey James Fury of Portsmouth, N.H., faces up to life in prison if convicted of two counts of arson in the fire aboard the USS Miami attack submarine while it was in dry dock May 23 and a second blaze outside the sub on June 16.
• The 24-year-old Casey was taking medications for anxiety and depression and told investigators he set the fires so he could get out of work, according a seven-page affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
• Fury made his first court appearance Monday afternoon but did not enter a plea.

(Continued on page 24)

© 2012 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.