On His Re-Election Kickoff Day, A Reminder Of Blunt's Terrible Record On Veterans
Today, Senator Roy Blunt is kicking off his re-election campaign. Over the past few weeks, Blunt has been in hot water…
VIDEO: Rick Scott's Hypocrisy On Veterans Health Care
Rick Scott is talking a lot about veterans health care these days. With the recent VA issues that have surfaced, Rick Scott has been making the rounds, bashing the federal government and demanding that we do everything in our power to get our veterans the care they deserve. But while Rick Scott pays lip service to those who have served, 41,000 veterans in his own back yard don't have access to Medicaid because Florida won't expand the program. We all agree that our veterans deserve nothing but the best. Surely they should have access to quality health care. So why is Rick Scott still refusing to take action on Medicaid expansion, denying that health care coverage to the very veterans he claims he is fighting for?
BRIDGE BRIEFING: Ryan And Veterans
Ryan Plan Would Slash Non-Discretionary Spending, Which Funded Veterans’ Health Care
Ryan Budget Would Slash Funding For Crucial Programs Assisting Vulnerable Individuals, Including Low-Income Housing, Head Start, Child Nutrition Programs, And Home-Delivered Meals For Senior Citizens. “Also striking is Ryan’s slashing of non-defense discretionary spending, which funds everything from veterans’ health care to medical and scientific research, highways, education, national parks, food safety, clean air and clean water enforcement, and border protection and other law enforcement. This part of the budget also funds a number of programs to assist poor or otherwise vulnerable people such as low-income housing; child care for the working poor; Head Start; the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program (WIC); and home-delivered meals for seniors. The Budget Control Act of last August substantially cut funding for non-defense discretionary programs by imposing tough annual budget caps, but the Ryan budget would cut these programs nearly $1.2 trillion below the caps. In fact, it would slash funds for non-defense discretionary programs over the coming decade by $800 billion below the level to which that funding would fall if sequestration occurred every year through 2021.” [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/21/12]Ryan Plan Would Slash Benefits For Veterans
The Post Standard: Ryan Plan Would Pay For Tax Cuts On Top Earners And Corporations By Slashing Entitlements, Pell Grants And Benefits For Veterans. According to The Post Standard, “As the GOP continues its war on women, it adds to its victims the weak, disabled, elderly, poor and disadvantaged. Congressman Paul Ryan’s ‘Path to Prosperity,’ lauded by our representative Ann Marie Buerkle as ‘courageous,’ is in fact downright cowardly. Ryan wishes to extend the Bush tax cuts and cut the top tax rate for individuals and corporations from 35 percent to 25 percent. He pays for this by slashing Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants, food stamps, low-income housing subsidies and veterans’ health care.” [The Post Standard, 6/9/11]BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney’s Record On Veterans
Romney's Budget Proposals Hurt Benefits For Veterans
Romney’s Budget Plan Cuts $176 Billion From Non-Defense Discretionary Spending By 2016, Including Veterans’ Health Care. According to the Center on Budget And Policy Priorities, “Non-defense discretionary spending would be cut by $176 billion in 2016 — and $1.7 trillion through 2022 — in addition to the deep cuts already reflected in the budget baseline as a result of the caps in the BCA and the appropriations bills passed during 2011. This category of spending covers a wide variety of public services such as aid to elementary and secondary education, veterans’ health care, law enforcement, national parks, environmental protection, and biomedical and scientific research.” [Center on Budget And Policy Priorities, 5/21/12]TPM: Navy Vet Says She Was Kicked Out Of Romney Rally Because She Was Silently Protesting
On November 15, 2011, Talking Points Memo reported:
There are ways to deal with protesters gracefully at a campaign event, and then there’s kicking a Navy veteran out of your rally because she’s wearing a t-shirt you don’t like.
TPM: Romney Spit-Balls His Way To Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits
On November 11, 2011, Talking Points Memo reported:
Over barbecue and sweet tea with 12 veterans here Friday, Mitt Romney appeared to brainstorm a fundamental change to the way the nation pays back the people who put their lives on the line in the military. Talking with the veterans about the challenge of navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to get their health care benefits after they leave active duty, Romney suggested a way to improve the system would be to privatize it. [...] The plan did not go over well with one veteran among the 12 discussing the VA with Romney. Auston Thompson, a veteran of the Iraq War and former Marine, told TPM after the session that though the idea of the plan was sound to his fiscally conservative ear, the implementation would likely lead to problems.
Miami Herald: Senate candidate McCalister breaks Army uniform rule, offends general and vets
On August 26, 2011, the Miami Herald reported:
Mike McCalister, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, violated U.S. Army regulations by wearing his uniform to a political fundraiser — a move that further fuels the criticisms of veterans and service members who say he’s misleading voters to seem like more of a soldier than he ever was.