President Barack Obama's proposal to require veterans to use private insurance to pay for treatment of their combat and service-related injuries can best be described as an outrage.

Americans — veterans and non-veterans alike — should be quick to make it clear to the president that they fiercely oppose any such proposal that would violate a longstanding pledge to those who risk their lives on behalf of this nation.

If Obama is worried about money, he shouldn't be so generous with stimulus funds to companies like American International Group, which has made a mockery of the stimulus money sent its way.

AGI went ahead with $165 million in employee bonuses even though the company received $170 billion in federal rescue money.

The strict limits Obama now wants to put on AIG on its next $30 billion installment should have been imposed before AIG received a dollar.

Instead, Obama is looking at a military insurance cut as one way to increase revenue for the Department of Veterans Affairs' budget for next year.

That insurance cut would be unacceptable even if Uncle Sam's Treasury were not being raided by AIG, General Motors and others whose bad decisions caused their financial plight.

Unlike America's corporate disgraces, this nation's veterans didn't make a bad decision when they chose to risk their lives and well-being to help ensure their country's safety and freedom.

Combat and service-related injuries should not be treated as if they occurred in civilian life.

It was encouraging to hear Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, describe the Obama plan as "dead on arrival."

The reaction of Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, was predictable but it's nonetheless true.

"Veterans of all generations agree that this proposal is bad for the country and bad for veterans," he said.

It had to be uncomfortable for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, a retired four-star general and former Army chief of staff, to acknowledge that rumors about the proposed military insurance cut were in fact true.

Shinseki, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, was left with a maimed foot as a result of his Southeast Asia service and no doubt has been a beneficiary of this country's longtime commitment to its wounded service personnel.

In a White House meeting Monday, veterans groups failed to gain a promise from Obama to abandon the private insurance plan. While continuing pressure on the White House, those groups now should go to work to convince other lawmakers to embrace the stance of Washington's Murray, who said, "I don't think we should nickel and dime them (veterans) for their care."

If the Obama plan ever gets to a vote in Congress, the proposal should be given the verdict that it deserves in both houses: unanimous rejection.