Republicans are the biggest bunch of immature, self-serving clowns I've ever laid eyes on. They are so intent on killing health care reform that they've resorted to playing games.
Republicans in the Senate are stymieing debate on the health care reform bill this afternoon by forcing the clerk to read an entire 700-plus-page amendment.
Says McConnell spokeman Don Stewart: "We're doing everything we can to stop this bill."
Is this their idea of democracy? It's bad enough we've had to endure their months of lies, lies which have been pretty damn effective.
There's ample evidence that reform would lower the deficit, but the public has been convinced otherwise. There's ample evidence that reform would make medical more affordable, but the public has been convinced otherwise. There's ample evidence that reform would strengthen Medicare, but the public has been convinced otherwise. There's ample evidence that reform would get spending under control, but the public has been convinced otherwise.
Quite honestly, I'm sick of the way they've turned our government into a tool for their own personal use and ambitions. Every major industrial nation in the world provides affordable health care for their citizens and there's no good reason we shouldn't have it too.
Here's a trivia question from The Huffington Post that I'm ashamed to say I didn't know.
Quick: The Ethnic Group Most Disproportionately Represented in the Military is...
...the ethnic group most disproportionately represented in the US military is Native Americans. Native Americans make up barely one percent of the population, but 1.6% of our military forces.
For the first time, federal legislation has set aside the day after Thanksgiving - for this year only - to honor the contributions American Indians have made to the United States.
Frank Suniga, a descendent of Mescalero Apache Indians who lives in Oregon, said he and others began pushing in 2001 for a national day that recognizes tribal heritage. [...]
Congress passed legislation this year designating the day as Native American Heritage Day, and President George W. Bush signed it last month.
The measure notes that more Americans Indians than any other group, per capita, serve in the U.S. military. It also cites tribes' artistic, musical and agricultural contributions.
Tribal representatives are pushing to make the day a regular calendar event, but there are differences of opinion on which day should be used.
Brandon Friedman of VoteVets compiled a master list showing McCain's non-support for troops and veterans, and it was precipitated by this statement McCain made during last Friday's debate.
"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."
According to Friedman, this statement "immediately infuriated veterans across America and overseas. In fact, Senator John McCain has a very clear, long, and illustrious history of not supporting troops and veterans one bit."
Friedman channeled that anger into action and compiled a list of McCain's non-support into a single document - complete with links, quotes, and video clips. The list is quite lengthy, but these are some of the points he touched on.
Veterans Groups Give McCain Failing Grades.
McCain Voted At Least 28 Times Against Veterans' Benefits, Including Healthcare.
McCain Opposed $500 Million for Counseling Services for Veterans with Mental Disorders.
McCain Voted Against Providing Automatic Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Veterans.
McCain Supported Outsourcing VA Jobs, many held by blue-collar veterans
Senator McCain opposed efforts to end the overextension of the military--a policy that is having a devastating impact on our troops.
There's more, much more at the link above. Pass it along and help expose John McCain's abysmal record of not supporting our troops and veterans.
We've lost even more in terms of loss of life, crippling physical and psychological damage to our troops and their families, and our credibility across the world.
I know our military is stretched thin and recruiters are under a lot of pressure to sign people up, but what happened to Brandon Friedman's mother (Friedman is the Editor of VetVoice and a Captain in the Individual Ready Reserve) is unacceptable and way out of the bounds of common decency in my opinion. In Friedman's words (my emphasis):
My mom called me on Friday afternoon. She was slightly upset, but mostly angry. I asked her why.
She said that two soldiers had come to the house looking for me.
Now, this doesn't surprise me at all. It's not the first time that's happened. In fact, they'd shown up at my parents' house twice before. The Army is so desperate for warm bodies that recruiters and career counselors will pretty much go anywhere if they think they can get somebody to sign up. And I'm still in the IRR, so that makes me a prime target--even though I've already served two tours in combat. But that's not the issue here.
The issue is how these two guys acted. My mom--who rarely gets flustered--explained that the two NCOs who'd come to the house were Army Reserve Career Counselors from the 90th Regional Readiness Command. They had shown up at my parents' house in an attempt to lure me back into a unit. But they didn't just ask.
Instead, according to my mom, they proceed to play good cop/bad cop with her. Sergeant First Class M. played the good cop. He explained that they were just there to let me know what options were available to me, should I want re-join a unit. He handed her his card.
The task of playing bad cop, however, fell to Master Sergeant N. [...]
Working Families/AFL-CIO wants to hear from people serving, or currently serving, in our nation's armed forces. Here's the scoop (my emphasis):
Many working men and women have done their part for our country through their service in the military.
In fact, veterans of the U.S. military returning to the job market are more likely to become union members than other workers. Six million union members, or 38 percent of all union members, are veterans of military service.
But many soldiers and sailors returning home to look for jobs today face severe difficulty. Eighteen percent of veterans recently back from tours of duty are unemployed. Of those employed since leaving the military, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
We need your help as we fight for the rights of veterans in our ranks and for those re-entering the workforce from active service.
With so many new challenges facing veterans, we ask for your participation in our Union Veterans 2008 program.
To join up, please click here to take our Union Veterans 2008 survey:
We'd like to hear about you and your service to our country.
Veterans need policies that promote access to good jobs, protection of their re-employment rights and better education and training benefits through an expanded G.I. Bill. They also need a fully funded Veterans Affairs health care program.
We are calling for working families to join our campaign and speak out to hold government and candidates accountable on the needs of our returning heroes--not only during the 2008 campaign, but beyond.
Please feel free to pass this information along to active service members, reservists or veterans you may know.
I'm passing along the following press release for those of you with husbands or wives serving in the military, although this information is not just limited to spouses.
MILITARY SPOUSES FOR CHANGE (MSC) is proud is announce the launch of Military Spouse Press (www.milspousepress.com), a blogging site for the spouses and partners of service members and veterans.
Mil Spouse Press seeks to:
Empower military spouses by encouraging personal and political expression;
Create a space for an honest and open dialogue about the military experience;
Promote awareness about the needs of our military and veteran communities; and,
Inspire advocacy on behalf of our servicemembers, our veterans, our families, and our spouses.
The insight and importance of the military spouse community cannot be over-stated. Our experiences with the military and our familiarity with military policies are second only to the servicemembers, yet we were are not similarly limited when it comes to expressing our concerns to the military, the public, and elected officials. Moreover, we have the unique distinction of bridging the gulf between the civilian community and the military community. As a result, we are not only best equipped to be our own advocates, we are best equipped to be our troops' advocates.
In times of war, the servicemember is not the only veteran in a military marriage: our battles may differ but our war is the same. No married servicemember serves his (or her) country alone. A military spouse may not wear her (or his) servicemember's rank, but we do share his (or her) burden--with tremendous pride. Military spouses are, above all, patriots. Although we may sometimes disagree on the means, we all agree on the ends: protecting our troops, our families, and our country. Until this is fully recognized, military spouses will remain an untapped resource for strengthening our military. The creation of Mil Spouse Press is the first of many steps MSC is taking towards tapping into that resource.
Military Spouse Press wants this information shared, so please pass it along. They also stress that participation in the site is not limited to military spouses, although their primary bloggers and editorial contributors will all be military spouses.
Iraq and Afghanistan continue to take their toll on our troops:
As many as 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a jump of more than 20 percent over the year before, officials said Thursday.
The rise comes despite numerous efforts over the past year to improve the mental health of a force stressed by a longer-than-expected war in Iraq and the most deadly year yet in the 6-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.[...]
More than one-quarter of those - about 34 - occurred while serving a tour of duty in Iraq, an increase from 27 in Iraq the previous year, according to the preliminary figures.
The report also showed an increase in the number of attempted suicides and self-injuries - some 2,100 in 2007, compared with less than 1,500 the previous year and less than 500 in 2002.
Last night, we heard President Bush's assessment of the progress being made in Iraq and Afghanistan. VoteVets.org decided to go right to the source in order to get a truer picture of our progress. They compiled their own findings in a report based on feedback from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and those troops still in the field. Click here to read the full report that touches on the following:
2008 STATE OF THE WARS, MILITARY, AND VETERANS
A Report from the Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
January, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction
II. The War in Iraq
a. Lack of progress
i. Drops in violence: Petraeus and Crocker Negotiated With Iranian
ii. Re-Baathification: Faux Political Progress Already Failing
b. Quickly adapting enemy
c. Problems with overextension continue
III. The War in Afghanistan
a. Loss of control outside of Kabul; Insurgents infiltrate the capital
b. Lack of long-term plan and manpower
c. Osama bin Laden still free; al Qaeda growing
IV. Lack of veterans programs, funding
a. PTSD: The root cause of drug abuse, suicide, homelessness among veterans still not addressed
b. The GI Bill: A promise broken
Read the report to learn what conclusions they reached. These are some of the words you'll find: Bleak. Alarming. Frustrated. Dismal.
Last month, Iraq war veteran Jordan Fox was asked to return nearly $3,000 of his signing bonus because he failed to fulfill his commitment to serve. That was because Fox was seriously injured when a roadside bomb blew up his vehicle. He was knocked unconscious, injured his back and lost all vision in his right eye.
Following the ensuing public outrage, the Army backed down and said Fox could keep his signing bonus, but Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) took steps to make sure this would never happen again. He was the primary sponsor of a bill the House passed yesterday:
The House has just passed the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007, which will ensure that members of the armed services who are discharged as a result of combat-related wounds receive the full compensation to which they are entitled by the Department of Defense. According to Department of Defense rules, enlistees cannot receive their full enlistment bonus unless they fulfill their entire military obligation. Unfortunately, members of the armed services who are wounded while on active duty are not receiving their full bonuses because their service was prematurely cut short. The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, H.R. 3793, will correct this problem by requiring the Department of Defense to provide veterans who have been discharged due to combat-related wounds with full payment of remaining bonuses within 30 days of discharge.
This is the way to show support for the troops. The bill passed 405-0.
Wow! Blackwater is intent on putting themselves out there as equals to our military. Yesterday, we learned about their paratroopers parachuting onto the field during halftime at the SDSU "Fleet Week" game and today there's this news from Calitic:
Well, now we find out that Blackwater is intending on corrupting the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (college football game) to be played between Cal Berkeley and the Air Force Academy in Fort Worth, TX on New Year's Eve.
This is a disgrace to our fighting men and women who earn next to nothing compared to these mercenaries who play by their own rules and not those of our professional military forces. I can't believe the university is going along with this either, unless Blackwater slipped them a huge monetary donation. That would make sense. Everything in our country seems to be for sale these days.
Read Calitics suggestion on what we can do about this:
I don't want Blackwater associating themselves with the good name of our military any more, whether it's at Fleet Week or at the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.
If you don't like it either, pass this around and raise some hell. Ask anyone you know at Berkeley if they're happy that their university will be participating in a promotional event for a lawless mercenary organization.
Even if you don't know anyone at Berkley, it can't hurt to write their administration and let them know how you feel. Before you start raising hell though, check out this YouTube video of a Blackwater parachutist landing on the field at the Fleet Week SDSU game (around the 2:45 mark). He's holding the American flag and his parachute is emblazoned with the Blackwater logo.
Don Bergman of Park Township offers his take on Blackwater USA in the Holland Sentinel and asks some important questions:
Is Blackwater better-equipped than the U.S. military, better-trained and better-led to do the jobs traditionally done by Marines? If this is true, then the Gauls are at the gate. If not true, then why aren't the Marines guarding our diplomats? Are we short of personnel? If so, where's the draft? Why has this president chosen to fight this war with private contractors, which make up about half of our operations in Iraq, and nearly half of these, about 48,000, are private security guards equipped with automatic weapons, body armor, helicopters, and bulletproof trucks? Why have these companies been exempt from the rules that govern our military?
What kind of people are we when our private hired soldiers can take over a major public space, kill 17 civilians without provocation and escape being held accountable?
Taxpayer subsidies for private mercenaries are antithetical to a democratic republic.
It really frustrates me that the Bush administration and Blackwater continue to blur the lines between these hired mercenaries and our troops. They're not in the same league as our soldiers. Blackwater's hired mercenaries don't make the same long-term commitments to serve multiple tours of duty for low pay (they earn 6 figures) like our soldiers do, yet they're being honored liked they're equals.
How so? For six years, San Diego has been honoring our military through a series of Fleet Week events featuring parades, displays of aircraft, etc. No problem there until the San Diego State Aztecs devoted their halftime show to honoring our veterans - a halftime show that included Blackwater USA.
