Don't let veterans be betrayed again

For the last 4 years there has been so much hope in this country for veterans because of Congressman Filner's leadership in the House Veterans Affairs Committee. He's a Democrat so they controlled the committees for the last 4 years. Reading what has been wrong with the way we treat veterans was no longer just a matter of what was wrong but what they were doing about it. The Dems in the House wrote some outstanding bills and most of them were brought to a passing vote in the Senate but even more were blocked by GOP filibusters. (You've read about them on this blog for a long time.) Veterans were no longer treated like second class citizens far below funding for defense contractors. They were not considered to be seeking "welfare" from the VA instead of what was owed to them. All in all, there were many years of neglect committed against them the Democrats tried to make right. They managed to do that with the GI Bill (the GOP were against) along with just about everything else concerning the men and women in the military and veterans.

The hope of finally getting it right for them is now gone. We're about to head right back into the hands of a GOP House wanting to cut the budget off their backs. Kiss all the advances that could have happened because you won't see them for a very long time now.

The GOP blocked the COLA (Cost of Living) last year and they did it again this year, but maybe the list of wrongs committed by them will matter enough for the Republicans in this country to force them to do the right thing for the sake of our veterans. This is unlikely considering the people we just elected were part of the problem to begin with, but were elected anyway. The people in this country do still have power to make them do the right thing for our veterans and we need to make sure the media reports on it instead of ignoring it. Veterans Day will be bitter sweet in this nation this year and by all accounts, for the next two years at least.

Republicans take more than 60 House seats, CNN projects
By Mariano Castillo, CNN
November 3, 2010 5:34 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: The GOP picks up more than 60 seats, CNN projects
Republicans gain a majority in the House
About 100 of 435 House seats were competitive
Pelosi urges "common ground"
Watch CNN live on TV, online and on your iPhone tonight from 7 p.m. ET to get all the news and results from the hotly contested 2010 midterm elections. And share your election experiences with CNN iReport.
(CNN) -- There is a new speaker in town.
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, will be the new Speaker of the House, replacing Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, as the GOP rolled in Tuesday's midterm elections, gaining a majority for the first time in four years.
The Republican Party will pick up more than 60 seats in the legislature, a statistical analysis of exit polls by CNN projects. That's a comfortable margin over the 39 seats needed to wrest control from the Democrats.
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Republicans take more than 60 House seats