A conspiracy of dunces

[docwebster]

Conservatives counter 'Day of Silence'

But that's okay, 'cause they're all about supporting the troops, right?

Wrong.

Senate won’t add veterans’ health funds to supplemental

"By two 54-46 votes, the Senate blocked efforts Tuesday to add money for veterans’ health care to the 2005 supplemental appropriations bill.

(snip)

Murray, however, said funding for veterans is critical because wounded service members will be seeking treatment from already underfunded facilities.

“The VA is not prepared to deal with soldiers coming home,” she said. “It is an emergency today. If we don’t deal with it, it will be a crisis tomorrow.”

(snip)

The amendment was blocked by a parliamentary motion from Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, who said the funding is not really an emergency need. The Senate voted in support of Cochran’s position, and then voted again when Murray tried to get the amendment approved even if the funding was not characterized as an emergency. The outcome was the same, with 54 senators voting to block funding and 46 voting to provide it.

“The administration has not asked for these funds,” Cochran said in explaining the rejection of the amendment."

Let's clarify this, folks. That 54-46 means every last Republican voted against it except one (apparently Arlen Specter according to jesterstear, who I also got this story from).

Let's further clarify this by repeating what Cochran said:

“The administration has not asked for these funds,” Cochran said in explaining the rejection of the amendment."

Taking care of veterans coming home from Pee Wee Bush's Big Adventure isn't an emergency because the White House didn't say so, huh? Mindless, contemptible scum, every last damn one of them.

Comments

[blackthornglade.livejournal.com]

Of course it's not. No emergency here. Never mind that they've just dropped several thousand vets off of their eligibility lists because they've been 'reclassified' as reservists. Even the disabled ones. From serving in a war.

Don't mind me. I'm just bitter. My partner was dropped and found out when he was *at* the VA hospital because his blood sugar was over 400. They refused treatment and sent him to the Medical Center that accepts indigent patients who can't pay.

Apparently, we're supporting our troops through attrition.

[docwebster.livejournal.com]

What I need from you is some URLs to news stories about the reclassification. This severely pisses me off.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Mindless, contemptible scum, every last damn one of them.

It's Congress. You expected better?

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

Fundamentalists are successfully giving the word "Truth" a negative stigma. How convenient.

On the backs of veterans

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

The current administration has tried to cut veteran's benefits at every turn. The promises made to veterans are not being kept. It seems like the only troops the administration is supporting are Iraqi.