Small.... Too many blanket statements in here. Or is it every thread? Dave, how can you watch that interview and conclude Sanders is against the troops? He is most certainly for veteran's benefits. His point is (whether or not one agrees with new Iran sanctions) that helping vets should not be dependent upon attaching and ramming through other legislation. The closing statement is very powerful. And I agree.
Washington Post…..
A broad Department of Veterans Affairs bill that would have expanded benefits for former service members and repealed a military pension cut for future troops was rejected in the Senate on Thursday.
The measure, sponsored by Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), did not garner enough Republican votes to waive a VA spending limit established under the budget Congress and President Obama approved in December. Sanders’s office estimated that his legislation, which included more than 140 provisions, would have cost $21 billion over 10 years.
On Tuesday, GOP lawmakers tried to trim the VA bill and add sanctions on Iran for that nation’s nuclear program. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) blocked those attempts.
Uh, it wasn't "Republicans" calling those coming home from Vietnam 'baby killers'
It wasn't "Republicans" falsely asserting there was a massacre of innocent civilians in Haditha Iraq
It wasn't "Republicans" rooting for the US to fail in Iraq.
It wasn't "Republicans" who told a group of California students two days ago that individuals who don’t study hard and do their homework would likely “get stuck in Iraq.”
You are a mindless idiot.
It was "Republicans" who just voted down a Bill that would have helped Veterans for years to come. You are a clueless, partisan hack sheep:
The legislation called for expanding several veterans benefits, including dental and medical care, educational assistance and the caretaker stipends that currently apply only to post-Sept. 11 veterans. It also required the repeal of a recent cut to the cost-of-living adjustments for future military retirees and would have allowed VA to open 27 new health facilities.
Sanders had said he would be open to paying for the provisions with savings from reduced overseas contingency operations, formerly known as the global war on terrorism. But Republicans indicated that they prefer to dedicate the savings toward deficit reduction.
Sanders promised to try again with his bill.
“I am proud that we received every Democratic vote and that two Republicans also voted with us,” he said Thursday in a statement. “In the coming weeks, I will be working hard to secure three additional Republican votes, and I think we can do that.”
