( - promoted by Carnacki)
This is a horror story that actually started while most of America was sleeping. It was just 4 hours after our brave men and women were first going into Iraq for George W. Bush on March 21, 2003.
As our troops were just going into Basra, Shelly Moore Capito voted along with House Republicans to cut $28 Billion from wounded veteran's benefits to help pay for their $750 billion tax cuts for the rich. The budget they passed over Democratic objections has not only hurt veteran's health care ever since, their tax giveaway for the wealthiest continues to be a deep, long cut in services for low-income elderly and children as well.
H CON RES 95 Roll Call 82 passed 215-212 at 2:54 am E.S.T. that Friday morning along party lines.
Republicans were working their blood soaked rubberstamps overtime in the House like a dimestore cowpoke uses his chainsaw vacation time fighting tumbleweed at his fake ranch. They'd worked practically all night long to pass Bush's 2004 budget. But they needn't have lost sleep at all but for the pesky Democratic opposition. Who in the end, had been just plain outnumbered.
Pretty amazing, huh?
It's even more amazing considering that just two weeks earlier, "The President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's Veterans" had told them that the government was already allowing far more access to vets than existing funding would cover.
Now that's beyond amazing. They'd set a whole new standard for political hypocrisy. While House Republicans approved massive tax cuts for the wealthiest, they cut disability benefits just as our troops going into Iraq. Truly groundbreaking.
And the timing was perfectly controlled. It was passed at the beginning of the weekend news cycle so that fewer folks would hear about it. Besides, you may recall that the military-industrialized media was all about slogans and sound bites back then, what with the 2004 election looming and all. So America never got to hear about the underfunding until they literally broke the Veteran's Administration.
By June 23, 2005 the VA had been underfunded so badly that VA undersecretary for health Jonathan B. Perlin, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson (former head of the RNC who eventually had to quit the VA due to scandals) finally had to acknowledge veterans health budget shortfall of at least $1 billion.
Don't take my word for it. Check this out:
"The disclosure of the shortfall angered Senate Republicans who have been voting down Democratic proposals to boost VA programs at significant political cost. Their votes have brought the wrath of the American Legion, the Paralyzed Veterans of America and other organizations down on the GOP.
"
Since losing control of Congress in 2006, Republicans have blocked more bills to fix problems such as these than any previous session. Ever.
Anyway, to keep this horror story as short as possible, here's what I'm gettin' at.
This Memorial Day, let's thank veterans not by just saluting them one day and then forgetting about them the next. Let's really help them out. Let your family, friends and neighbors all know that since the invasion of Iraq, Shelley Capito voted to cut funding for care of veterans, underfund the VA and block Democratic opponents attempts every single time she got the chance.
She joined shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush to disregard and disrespect our nation's veterans over 15 times since voting to go to Iraq, never once voting to properly fund VA needs as expressed by the GAO, the President's own Task Force, and a whole boatload of non-partisan veteran's groups.
Her unflinching loyalty to Bush and his tax cuts for the wealthy over veteran's needs shouldn't go unreported. It's time we all end this horror story together by spreading the word about Shelley Capito's sorry record.
And when it comes time, just vote your conscience, because she apparently has none whatsoever.
I've taken the time to archive the details of Shelley Capito's years of shameful disregard for Veterans' Health Care needs here |
