Stripes letters: Bush gets slammed for lack of veteran support

I love the supported-with-facts rebuttal in the following letter. Kerry needs to be doing this every waking moment.

Bush fought pay restoration

This is in reference to the letter “Stick to the facts” (April 27). The writer advised a previous writer to “stick to the facts.” The same advice can be applied to him. The fact that President Bush signed Public Law 108-136 does not indicate support for restoration of pay to disabled military retirees. Just the opposite.

The Bush administration vehemently fought restoration of pay. Despite overwhelming support and more than 300 co-sponsors, HR 303, which would have authorized restoration for all disabled military retirees, was bottled up in committee, and the Republican leadership refused to let it out. Only three Republican congressmen were willing to sign a resolution that would have brought the bill to the floor for a vote.

The president claimed it was a budget buster, then welcomed an omnibus appropriations bill that contained $27 billion in pork projects. This included $50 million for a tropical rain forest in Iowa and $225,000 to repair a swimming pool in Las Vegas. While the president was concerned about busting the budget, his high-ranking appointees in the Department of Defense were running up millions of dollars in extra costs by flying first class instead of the required coach class. And all the while, DOD officials were calling disabled military retirees “greedy” and “double dippers” for wanting the retirement pay they had earned.

No other federal employees are required to finance their own disability payments. When 401 retired general and flag officers with more than 12,000 combined years of service to their country signed a letter to the president asking him to support HR 303, Bush refused to respond. The president also threatened to veto HR 303 if the House passed it.

When it appeared that there was a great deal of pressure on the House to pass HR 303, the White House proposed what became Public Law 108-136. Unfortunately, the bill leaves out two-thirds of the approximately 630,000 disabled military retirees. For most of the others, it will take 10 years to reach full restoration, by which time many will be dead. (More than 1,000 World War II veterans die every day.)

Our country can help pay for tropical rain forests in the Midwest and local swimming pools, but it can’t afford to restore pay that was earned by those who faithfully and honorably served their country? As the writer said, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But next time, stick to the facts.

Gus Subotky
Vine Grove, Ky.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=21983


The above letter references the second letter at the URL below:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=21857

which references the first letter here:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=21513

for a particular candidate, let's say, the Commander-in-Chief. Or is it "understood" that's what they're supposed to do?

You know, unless yer a dumbass.

:P

and is attended to in the privacy of one's quarters.

Military votes by absentee ballot and checks off whoever they want. I was a commander, and if I was going to pressure anybody, it would have been to vote Democratic.

n/t