On the Senate floor yesterday, Bernie Sanders destroyed Marco Rubio, who preposterously claimed to be a champion of improving veterans' benefits.
This is preposterous, of course, because Rubio is among 41 Republican Senators who blocked improving veterans' benefits in February, a fact which inspired Sanders to say the following:
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If you think it's too expensive to take care of veterans, then don't send them to war.
Why was Rubio claiming to be a champion of veterans' benefits in the first place yesterday? He was pushing for the Senate to vote, without a hearing, on a bill he conveniently authored in the wake of the recent
VA scandal. His bill, which would make it easier for the VA to fire those responsible for covering up the true length of veteran wait times, is noble in theory. However, the truth is this: it's nothing more than a politicized attempt to attack the Obama administration with narrow legislation which would do little to help veterans.
In fact, the bill does absolutely nothing to help veterans receive the type of care they so desperately need – the type of care which would have been addressed in February's bill blocked by Rubio and his colleagues.
Which is why Sanders let him have it. And rightfully so.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.
