You published a political cartoon by David Granlund on Feb. 25 depicting a VA benefits ambulance with George Bush driving and a poor veteran falling out and over a cliff with Bush remarking, “Hang on! I’m cutting corners!”

The wording says it all when it comes to veterans and disabled veterans on how they are treated at the Veterans Affairs facilities around the United States. I’m not sure if it is Bush cutting corners or the VA being so overwhelmed with cases that it doesn’t know where to begin.

I am even sorry that I’m employed by the VA regional office myself.

I’m facing surgery for a service-connected disability, but I am going to Maine General in Augusta because I feel I will get better care. There are many veterans who feel the same way.

As of May 2005, Illinois ranked the lowest in the country in disability payments for nearly two decades. Maine is about 20th or 21st in the country. In 2004, Illinois veterans received on average $6,961 per claim, while New Mexico received an average of $12,004 per claim. The United States average was $8,378.

Why are fellow veterans, myself included, treated the way we are?

Jeffrey Grover, Greene