GOP Abandons Injured/Disabled Vets

[Karl Frisch]

I thought this was worthy of crossposting. Give it a kick and see if we can get it all flamey. I found it on Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's blog at:

http://www.votelouise.com/blog

Here's the post:

I realize it is late but I wanted to get this out to the blogs and grassroots as soon as possible. As some of you may know I serve as the Ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee... well tonight Republicans on the committee (Chairman Dreier & Reps. Hastings of Washington, Capito, Cole, Bishop and Gingrey) voted against taking care of a serious budget shortfall that the Bush Administration recently announced has opened up in our country's veterans' health care system.

For those you that don't know, last week, the Bush Administration acknowledged that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs another one billion dollars this year to cover the health care needs of our country's veterans, including approximately 86,000 new Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

All major veterans' groups, including the American Legion, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Disabled American Veterans, condemned this billion-dollar shortfall and predicted it could seriously harm the quality and availability of veterans' health care.

In response to this announcement, Texas Congressman Chet Edwards, the top Democratic Member on the House Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, offered an amendment to immediately address this shortfall, so no veteran would lose access to her or his needed health care. Invoking a special wartime budget wartime authority, Edwards proposed adding the money to H.R. 3057, the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill that we will be passing later this week.

Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues (Chairman Dreier & Reps. Hastings of Washington, Capito, Cole, Bishop, Gingrey) on the Rules Committee opposed giving Congressman Edwards the procedural waiver his amendment needed so that it could be debated and quickly passed. The Republicans I just mentioned voted along party lines to block the Edwards Amendment and effectively killed his attempt to immediately address the terrible budget shortfall the VA is facing.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that standing up for our veterans is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. It's about keeping the solemn promise we make to the men and women who go to war to defend our freedoms. We promise them we'll take care of them if they come home injured in their minds or bodies. It is unconscionable to me that we would go back on this promise while our country is at war.

Don't let this horrible event be swept under the rug. Grab your mouse & keyboard and get to work... spread the word and see if we can start another brushfire from the blogs.

-LMS

P.S. Don't forget to join my call (4,500 and counting) for an Audit in Iraq at: http://www.IraqAudit.com

[ismnotwasm]

1. Predicable

Assholes.

[cynatnite]

2. Damn them!!!!!!!!!!

I'm fucking pissed :grr:

I'm calling that no account senator frist and let these assholes have it! I'm sick of them spouting that shit how they'll take care of our military and vets.

At this fucking rate our vets will be in the damn street and starving!

I wish every vet could march on washington. I mean every single vet in the US should march on the assholes and let them know we're not going to take this crap anymore!

I'm a vet and so is my hubby. We get our care from the VA. We're lucky because he can still work, our bills are paid and all that. But for god's sake! We can't keep doing our military and vets this way! :cry:

[LightningFlash]

10. A bunch of shills for the reich....

Respect? Who needs respect?
:shrug: :shrug: :shrug:

More on the Tom DeLay last stand for stupidity...

http://dailydelay.blogspot.com

[coloradodem2005]

3. The headline is old news.

[EFerrari]

5. Really? How old can it be, I watched the hearing on CSPAN

late last week?

[cynatnite]

6. I knew about the billion dollar shortfall,

but this is new that the fucking repukes are blocking it :grr:

[coloradodem2005]

7. They have abandoned vets for a long time. Disabled especially.

[EFerrari]

4. Maybe these Republican losers could ask Halliburton

pretty please to give back the 1.4 billion dollars they stole from us in their unholy no bid contract, charging for double the number of meals they served, serving our troops outdated food, charging SEVEN TIMES the amount that other contractors charge for transporting fuel.

These people manage to be more disgusting every day. It's truly amazing.

/typin

[Oversea Visitor]

8. They will propose it themself later

Then why give Dem any credit for their idea its all theirs and they know they such need credits fast
THE BOAT IS SINKING ALL HANDS OVERBOARD

[Tux]

9. Blah

If this doesn't prove that conservatives hate America, nothing will.