GOP Dishonors Veterans Excerpts:
When most Americans today are honoring veterans’ sacrifice, Romney is six months into promoting giving veterans vouchers for their healthcare benefits to enrich the health care industry, and it informs where his true loyalties lie. Instead of increasing funding to care for the men and women who served in the military, Romney hopes to cheat them out of the benefits they earned. Romney’s hero and Republican’s courageous fiscal guru’s budget that passed in the Republican House of Representatives cuts $11 billion from veteran’s spending, or 13% less than President Obama proposes in his budget. In fact, in the nearly 100-page Ryan Path to Prosperity budget, the word veteran is not mentioned one time. Romney’s privatization scam would “be inadequate, and become more so over time, so that veterans who don’t make enough money to top them up would fail to receive essential care” according to noted economist Paul Krugman.
Republicans are warmongers who love sending America’s soldiers into harm’s way, but are ill-inclined to care for them after their service is over. Bush underfunded the Department of Veterans Affairs by approximately a billion dollars in 2005, and it took Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs, Jim Nicholson, begging Congress to pass emergency supplemental spending until they finally acted just to keep the doors open.
On this Memorial Day, it is important to remember our service members’ sacrifice by more than flying the American flag or saying “support our troops.” America promised its veterans to provide health care after their sacrifice and service, and the GOP dishonors them by cutting their benefits and promoting privatizing their health care. However, more than anything, a leader, or potential leader must think long and hard before sending them in harm’s way and it should only be as a last resort and not because a Mormon thinks he is a latter day American Israeli defending god’s chosen people or to secure oil. It is telling the Republicans will increase defense spending to start wars and kill Muslims, but when it comes time to care for the brave soldiers who fight their wars, they claim fiscal responsibility and slash their benefits and propose giving them vouchers that are insufficient to fund their health care.
President Obama is a staunch supporter of our military and especially veterans, and his reluctance to send them in harm’s way for no apparent reason has garnered condemnation from Romney and Republican warmongers who dishonor their commitment by slashing benefits and pushing for more wars. America owes it to its service members to support them during and after their service, and to employ them only to defend our nation; not to enrich the oil industry, Haliburton, or the defense industry. It is incumbent on all Americans to thank the brave men and women who defend our liberty every day by ensuring that we choose leaders who use their service prudently, and that after they have served, to fulfill the promise of providing the care they need; anything less dishonors their service and commitment. Republicans have shown they have as much contempt for veterans as they do for every other American, and it demonstrates they do not support the troops before, during, or after they send them to another needless war.
All you had to do was watch the GOP Convention to know that the military and our veterans didn't count. Big freaking deal that Romney went to speak at Veteran's organizations busing in 200 people to be cheerleaders. Did he tell those veterans he agreed with Paul Ryan's budget in cutting $11 billion from veteran's spending or 13% less than Obama proposed in his budget? Bet not or they would have run him out of the hall.
Right after the GOP Convention, Bill Kristol went after Romney and the GOP for ignoring our troops fighting the war in Afghanistan. He was right to go after them. Wonder what he thinks now with Romney's comments to Fox yesterday:
September 07, 2012
Bonus Quote of the Day
"I only regret you're repeating it day in and day out. When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important and I described in my speech, my commitment to a strong military unlike the president's decision to cut our military."
-- Mitt Romney, in an interview on Fox News, on why he didn't mention Afghanistan or praise U.S. troops in his convention speech last week.My guess is that Bill Kristol is going through the roof about now with what has happened to the Republican Party he once knew because it no longer exists as we witnessed at the GOP Convention that was about white America when you looked at the delegates. That Convention didn't reflect America of today with less than 2% of the delegates being minorities. Then your discover that the Romney outreach is now to white voters to attract their voters. I am Anglo as you can get, but I find that campaign outreach reprehensible and disgusting. We all Americans no matter where you came from and for Romney/Ryan to single out ONLY whites for votes has my blood boiling almost as much as their ignoring our military.
Can imagine that Senator McCain is rethinking his support of Romney after the GOP/Romney/Ryan Convention ignored our men and women fighting in Afghanistan along with our veterans. Is this ignoring our military and the quote above what brought out the full opposition research on Romney given to Buzz Feed? Read the details and you will discover that Romney has no core values but comes down on the side of where he thinks he can get the most votes. Romney has been doing that since 1994 when he ran against Ted Kennedy for Senate and was all over the place about where he stood on issues. He had a problem in 1994 answering questions with direct answers that has continued until today. The Republican Party has nominated Romney to be President who has problems with the truth preferring to lie if it benefits him while dissing fact checking.
Romney, the GOP candidate, IMHO is someone with 'zero' core values on issues as he is all over the place when asked questions that is, if he gives a straight answer. Why did Romney get shoved at the GOP primary voters with rules changed, etc.? Was it so he could self fund his campaign with all the donors he knew? Then Romney adds Ryan as his sidekick and it goes from bad to worse as Ryan wants to cut $11B from veterans spending when we have more veterans today then ever who need those benefits. Romney not only agrees with Ryan on the veteran's cuts but wants to add dollars to the DoD which they don't want. Seems Romney/Ryan and the Congressional Republicans think the DoD needs more tanks which the DoD does not want but why stand in the way of what a big donor wants?
When a GOP Convention, which has always stood in modern times for our military, cannot even mention our troops serving in Afghanistan in dangerous conditions and then nominates a candidate who said that getting Bin Laden is a waste of money, you are going to lose the support of the military, veterans, and their families. Did the GOP Convention even mention that Bin Laden was dead?
Don't know when the Republican Party turned on the military and the veterans but this is the same Romney and his group who wanted to use our military in Iran to take out the nuclear power plants sending our pilots into harm's way without thinking twice. That mission would have been a suicide mission. This group of saber rattlers like Romney consider Russia our biggest geopolitical threat. Romney and his advisers are scary about how they would use our military.
Been around the military most of my adult life as I have stated on here many times. We have veterans in our immediate family including my daughter and her husband who is a retired disabled veteran -- both were in the Navy, my Dad was in WWII, my grandfather died from mustard gas from WWI, we have letters from family members who fought in the Civil War, and records of ancestors fighting in the Revolutionary War. My Grandfather died when Dad was five years so he never really knew him. It left a hole that never completely healed.
Today there are many families across America whose sons, daughters, husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters did not come home from various wars we have fought. There are others of our veterans who came home severely wounded who will need help the rest of their lives while others are partially disabled who need the help of the Veterans Administration. Then there was the Vietnam Veterans who were treated badly when they came home and only in recent years have been recognized the same as our other veterans. I had two high school friends who were killed in Vietnam and know countless others who had major problems.
This year on Memorial Day, President and Mrs. Obama honored those who served in Vietnam:
Published: May 28, 2012 at 6:34 PM
WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama called on Americans Monday to "truly honor and support" Vietnam War veterans on Memorial Day.
This year's Memorial Day coincides with the 50th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Obama wrote in an op-ed column in Stars and Stripes.
"After Vietnam, our veterans didn't always receive the respect and thanks they deserved. At times they were neglected and even shunned, which was a national shame," Obama said. "We've pledged many times since Vietnam that we would never let that happen again, and that we would give our veterans, especially our Vietnam Veterans, the respect and honor they deserve. This 50th anniversary is our opportunity to do it right."
Obama visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington Monday to meet with "Vietnam veterans and their families for a ceremony to begin this 50th anniversary."
"As this anniversary proceeds we will also continue working to ensure that our Vietnam Veterans -- and all veterans -- receive the services, respect, and support they have earned.
Our efforts on behalf of Vietnam veterans are part of our larger effort to make sure our nation is serving all our veterans as well as they served us," Obama said. "And because no veteran who fights for our nation overseas should have to fight for a job when they come home, this country has made it a priority for businesses to hire veterans and provided resources that make it easier for veterans to find a job.
"This Memorial Day, let's remember all those who've put on the uniform, served far from home, and laid down their lives so we can live ours in security and freedom," Obama said. "And let's take this opportunity to truly honor and support all those who served and sacrificed in Vietnam. That's what we'll be doing when we gather today at The Wall, and that's what we can all do together in the months and years ahead."As someone who lived through the Vietnam War years, I can truthfully say it was about time that Vietnam War Veterans were recognized with the Wall that contains the names of those who gave their lives that was dedicated on November 13, 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, an American President who always honored our men and women who served along with our veterans. Now on the 50th Anniversary of that War, President Obama chose to go to the Vietnam War Memorial to honor those men and women and meet with Vietnam Veterans and their families.
Read more at UPI
President Barack Obama has earned my respect along with his wife, Michelle, for their continued outreach to our military, veterans, and their families. Didn't realize until this week about the outreach of Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, into the military and veterans communities. All four as I have discovered have been honoring men and women with visits and encouragement that are not detailed by the news media unless you search for the details.
On November 6, 2012, this wife of a veteran will be casting her vote for Barack Obama who supports our military and our veterans. It will be my first time voting for a Democrat for President but Obama has earned my vote and my respect.
Raw Story 
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment