Yesterday, Senator Patty Murray requested unanimous consent on the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Act, a bill she has sponsored that would provide aid to those who have served there country but find themselves with no place to sleep at night.
The days are long gone when I was surprised that Republicans in Washington wouldn't stand up for Vets, but this is a whole new level. Senate Republicans actually objected to and stood as a road block for providing aid to our Nation's heroes that are living on the streets, even those with children:
Coburn's objection (by the way, what a coward that he couldn't even do his dirty work for himself) to the funding is a farce. During all the years of deficit spending on wars in the Bush Administration that created this new generation of combat Veterans, I never heard a word from Tom Coburn regarding the effect on the deficit. Now, suddenly that's a problem.
Coburn and McConnell should just say what they mean. They care about limiting spending about as much as they care about Veterans (nill). There real concern is continuing their obstructionist tactics in an attempt to ensure that Senate Democrats can't get any work done, for Veterans or anyone else. I never thought that the Party of No would use homeless Veterans and their children as a political football. Apparently, no matter what we owe to Veterans and their families, nothing is sacred to these disgusting Senate Republicans.
VETERANS DEMAND MCCONNELL, REPUBLICANS
ALLOW HEALTH CARE VOTE
Cite study estimating thousands of veterans died from lack of insurance
WASHINGTON - A major veterans organization has sent a letter to Republican Leader Senator Mitch McConnell, urging him and his cacus to end a threatened filibuster of health care legislation. The letter, from VoteVets.org, calls the move anti-democratic, and harmful to veterans without health insurance. The full text of the letter is below.
Iraq War veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org Jon Soltz wrote to McConnell, "I understand that many in your caucus have concerns about the underlying bill. Veterans have concerns too - like the concern that many of us who have seen our Veterans Affairs care expire cannot afford health insurance; like the concern that many more coming home in a tough economy may find it difficult to find a job and/or afford insurance; and like the concern that according to a report from Harvard, an estimated 2,266 veterans died last year because they had no health insurance."
"We certainly would defend your right to vote against the bill if you believe that is what your constituents want. But, to use a parliamentary blockade to keep Senators from even voting on a bill is undemocratic, and ill-serves those veterans who fought for this country and continue to die because they simply cannot afford access to insurance," the letter concludes.
VoteVets.org is the leading progressive, pro-military organization of veterans, dedicated to the destruction of terror networks around the world, with force when necessary. It primarily focuses on education and advocacy on issues of importance to the troops and veterans, and holding politicians accountable for their actions on these issues.
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December 8, 2009
Dear Senator McConnell,
On behalf of the tens of thousands of veterans of VoteVets.org, I am writing to urge you to allow for a vote on health care reform in the Senate, and have your caucus do so, as well. The debate on this issue has gone on long enough, with no action, and it is time to have Senators say their final words and vote yea or nay.
I understand that many in your caucus have concerns about the underlying bill. Veterans have concerns too - like the concern that many of us who have seen our Veterans Affairs care expire cannot afford health insurance; like the concern that many more coming home in a tough economy may find it difficult to find a job and/or afford insurance; and like the concern that according to a report from Harvard, an estimated 2,266 veterans died last year because they had no health insurance.
In short, veterans are in the same boat as so many other Americans when it comes to this issue.
We're not experts in health insurance reform, but we do know this: We fought for democracy, and the majority of elected officials sent to Washington are prepared to debate and vote on a health insurance reform bill, while you and your caucus plan on using a Senate procedure (not even laid out in the Constitution) to keep a bill from getting a fair up or down vote.
We certainly would defend your right to vote against the bill if you believe that is what your constituents want. But, to use a parliamentary blockade to keep Senators from even voting on a bill is undemocratic, and ill-serves those veterans who fought for this country and continue to die because they simply cannot afford access to insurance.
Last Friday, the Texas Observer published a really great article on Rick Noriega--the Afghanistan veteran in Texas who's challenging John Cornyn for his U.S. Senate seat. Then, yesterday, a blogger in Kentucky picked up on the Observer article and wrote about the similarities between that race and the one in Kentucky between Iraq veteran Andrew Horne and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
And it's true: These Senate races--in Texas and Kentucky--both feature field grade Iraq and Afghanistan veterans challenging bellicose, big-moneyed, Bush-supporting chickenhawks.
I know whose side I'm on.
It's going to be interesting to see how the media covers these two races as we move into 2008. I look forward to seeing how the neo-cons plan to try and spin the fact that the two OEF/OIF candidates for the U.S. Senate are both running as Democrats--and challenging the Bush chickenhawks.
(This is a guest post by nationally respected pollster Celinda Lake. I've asked her to give us her take on the latest numbers in the Kentucky Senate race--given Andrew Horne's announcement yesterday. -- Brandon)
Recent polling shows Mitch McConnell facing real trouble in his 2008 re-election bid for the U.S. Senate. Even before ex-Marine Andrew Horne entered the race, McConnell was already in a precarious position, having grown increasingly unpopular among Kentucky voters. Now, with the entrance of Horne, this is shaping up to be one of the most competitive challenger races of the cycle.
After nearly a quarter century in the Senate, Mitch McConnell has left the voters of Kentucky looking for more. Just 45% of voters approve of the job McConnell is doing as Senator. A 46% plurality disapproves of McConnell's job performance. McConnell's close allegiance to Bush and a series of high-profile votes have put him at odds with public opinion. From his support for billions in taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil, trade deals that cost Americans' jobs, to his opposition to veterans' and children's health care and the minimum, McConnell has cast himself firmly in the mold of the "Washington Insider," dangerously out of touch with the constituents he purports to represent.
Well before Horne was an announced candidate, he already posed a serious threat to McConnell. In a trial heat between the long-serving Senator and the ex-Marine, Horne pulled within 11 points of McConnell and kept him under 50%. Horne drew 34% of the vote compared to 45% for McConnell, with 21% of voters undecided. Traditionally, undecided voters in a race involving an incumbent will break disproportionately toward the challenger; this is particularly true when the challenger, like Horne, has room to expand his profile among the electorate.
More fundamentally, Kentucky voters are looking for new leadership. The 2007 Governor's race, in which Kentuckians overwhelmingly voted for change, was strong evidence of this desire. The mood for change does not stop at the state's border, as these voters want a new direction for the country, as well. Even more than McConnell, President Bush is eminently unpopular among these voters: just 35 percent approve of the job he is doing compared to 62% who disapprove. Taken together, the political dynamics shaping the 2008 landscape bode poorly for Mitch McConnell.
So, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, says of those who died in Iraq, we shouldn't feel too bad, because, "Remember, these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers."
Oh, that makes us all feel better. I think Andrew Horne puts it best, though. Horne, who has posted on here, and served with the Marines in Iraq, released the following:
"I would say that Mitch McConnell owes every member of our service and the families of the fallen an apology, but no apology from him can take back the venom he has spewed at our troops, this time. For anyone to believe that casualties of war are somehow more acceptable because they were not draftees is disgusting. For the Republican leader in the United States Senate to say that is beyond repugnant."
"This is just Mitch McConnell once again demonstrating that he has no idea of - and has no interest in learning - what our troops have sacrificed. Whether it is filibustering a bill that would give proper time at home for our overextended troops, or voting against increased funds to take care of veterans who have come home, Mitch McConnell has shown nothing more than complete ignorance about our military and those who serve our nation in it."
"To my fellow service members and veterans, let me apologize on behalf of Kentucky for Senator McConnell's putrid comments. He most certainly does not represent our views, nor the high regard in which we hold you and your families."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell insisted Thursday that the Iraq war is "winding down," one of the most positive statements yet by a congressional leader.
First off, what kind of a national leader says that the war is "winding down" at the end of an eight-day span in which 16 Americans were killed in Iraq? I guess Senator McConnell thinks this must have been a slow week.
Either way, this type of statement begs a couple of questions:
If Senator McConnell thinks things are "winding down," then why is he so adamantly opposed to a strategic redeployment?
If things are going so swimmingly, then there should be no reason for us not to begin redirecting our forces to other parts of the world--or at the very least to support the troops by giving them proper rest, recovery, and re-fit periods. So I have to wonder, then, why Senator McConnell and his Republican colleagues in the Senate (save one) have blocked every single piece of legislation so far to "wind down" the war in Iraq so that we could start refocusing on our unfinished business elsewhere (i.e., Afghanistan). I don't understand the sort of logic Senator McConnell expressed just yesterday when he issued this statement:
What unfortunate timing for Democrats, announcing yet another attempt at a withdrawal date on a day when the papers are filled with encouraging news from Iraq.
So here's the logic: Winding down + encouraging news = We must stay in Iraq. Yet, ramping up + discouraging news also = We must stay in Iraq. I don't get it.
If voters remove him from office next year, it will be a fitting end to the career of a man who has done so little for America's fighting men and women.
"The welcome mat for memoirs by veterans of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom might never wear out so long as they write with the savvy of Brandon Friedman . . . Friedman's take is vivid, frank, precise and dramatic."--Military Times
"Add Brandon Friedman's The War I Always Wanted to the ranks of outstanding non-fiction produced by officers from elite combat units in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Always truthful, often excruciatingly so, The War I Always Wanted rises at numerous points to the level of literature."--Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire
"A Time To Lead confirms the rewarding benefits of military service at a time when such service is experiencing considerable strain. It also includes a comprehensive description of America's current national imperatives, which deserve serious consideration."--General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., former Secretary of State
"This is a primer on leadership forged in battle and by decades of experience. . .This isn't just a book; it's a manual for leading people and living a good life."--Barry McCaffrey, General, USA (ret.)
"Whip smart, sassy, with a mouth as foul as a sailor's, 28-year-old Sergeant Kayla Williams. . .tells what it's like to be a female soldier in Iraq."--Booklist
". . .echoes military memoirists from Julius Caesar to Ernie Pyle."--Publishers Weekly
". . .a shocking, on-the-ground view of one military woman's experience in Iraq."--Bookmarks Magazine
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Similarly, the views expressed on this website are those of the authors alone. Opinions on this website do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense or any of its components.
Paid for VoteVets Political Action Committee. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. VoteVets Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf veterans and their families. VoteVets Political Action Committee is a federal political committee which primarily helps elect Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran candidates and educates about veterans and military issues aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election.
