No soup for you, troops!
I've had it with these GOP assholes and their Support the Troops car magnets, at the same time they elect Republicans who care more about weapons makers than the men and women who use them, and who are often ruined by them. And a big double Fuck You to lying sack of shit John McCain and his "concern" for unemployed vets:
"The fact is, it's a national disgrace that veterans' unemployment is 14 percent," McCain said. "That's a national disgrace. And we've got to try to find more ways and better ways to hire veterans. And that has got to be our highest priority." Mother Jones
Evidently "more ways and better ways to hire veterans" doesn't include
a friggin' jobs program targeting more than 700,000 unemployed vets, because McCain joined 39 other sanctimonious dickheads on Wednesday to defeat the $1 billion appropriation (yeah, in RepublicanWorld 40 beats 58).
Like most of the GOP bottom-feeders, McCain objected to the Veterans Job Corp bill on fiscal grounds, unlike almost a decade ago when they voted, without any budgetary qualms, to send men and women to war. In their warped world, going to war involves no fiscal constraint, but taking care of veterans after war is just too damn expensive. Sen. Tom Coburn (hypocrite-OK) went so far as to call helping veterans "crap":
... it’s exactly the same kind of, pardon my word, crap, that Congress has done for years and does another. It was a gimmick and we knew it was a gimmick as far as getting around the spending. The Hill
Let's look at this crappy gimmick: The unemployment rate among veterans is 31 percent higher than the rest of the population. The cost-neutral $1 billion appropriation,
spread out over ten years, mandated that 95 percent of the money go directly to vets, not administration. It would have targeted careers in conservation, police, and firefighting. Yeah, that's some crap.
Romney warned us during his Boca Raton stand-up act that he's not going to worry about 47 percent of the American people, since they're addicted to entitlements and will vote for President Obama because he'll keep the welfare checks coming. In addition to seniors and the working poor, Romney also wrote off many servicemen and -women who pay no federal income tax, as well as veterans on disability. Like other moochers they obviously see themselves as "victims," don't take "personal responsibility," and will vote for Obama because he'll guarantee their cushy lifestyle. But, then again, this is nothing new; Romney wrote off veterans a long time ago, says former Massachusetts Congresman Patrick Murphy:
As governor, Mitt Romney was not a friend to my fellow veterans. He proposed eliminating hiring preferences for veterans applying for civil service opportunities, and cut veterans' programs by 11% in his first budget. HuffPo
While the troops fighting overseas weren't worthy enough to make it onto Romney's "laundry list" of important topics for his convention speech (his iPod selections did make the list), the Dems acknowledged, thanked, and featured current service members and veterans throughout their convention. And while the Democrats sponsored a bill to assist thousands of neglected veterans, Senator John McCain objected to the $1 billion Veterans Job Corp bill because it might help Obama and Harry Reid, and because it wasn't his idea:
McCain went to attack the bill as "a piece of legislation that somehow will enhance the majority leader's ability to maintain his position as majority leader... Successful, common sense legislation requires bi-partisanship and compromise. Our returning heroes deserve nothing less." Mother Jones
No, here's what they deserve, Senator: You
recently voted to extend $24 billion in tax breaks to oil companies, including billions in direct subsidies, yet you voted to block a relatively small $1 billion proposal to help thousands of unemployed veterans because you said the country can't afford it. Veterans deserve an explanation of
that, asshole.*
*No explanation necessary, I found it: Since 2006 McCain has received $2.6 million from Big Oil, more than any other senator.