War of words heats up over vets bill blockage

[unhappycamper]

War of words heats up over vets bill blockage
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 6, 2009 14:26:56 EST

The chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee remains hopeful that a roadblock holding up consideration of an omnibus veterans’ health care bill can be cleared early next week.

Speaking Friday on the Senate floor about a procedural hold that is blocking passage of S. 1963, the Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said “it would be truly disgraceful” if the bill didn’t clear the Senate by Veterans’ Day.

Akaka said the bill represents a bipartisan collection of veterans’ committee proposals packaged into one bill so it could quickly pass. Consideration of the measure is being blocked by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who doesn’t want the measure brought up unless he is given an opportunity to offer amendments.

“This single senator is denying veterans many benefits and services,” Akaka said, including a new caregiver assistant program at families of the “most seriously wounded veterans.”

~snip~

Posted on Coburn’s Senate Web site is statement that explains why he objects to the bill. The $3.9 billion price tag over five years for all of the veterans’ health and benefits initiatives in the bill is part of the reason. “If we do not start paying for new programs, we are not going to have a country left to defend,” Coburn said in the statement.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/military_akaka_coburn_veteransbill_110609w/



unhappycamper comment:

Coburn, you fucking hypocrite. You bastards have put eight years of Afghanistan and seven years of Iraq on the credit card and your're complaining about $4 billion dollars? Shit, that's less than half of the $8.8 billion that disappeared a long time ago in Iraq.