Tell congress to stop hurting veterans while funding wealthy

by
Chaplain Kathie

This is really that simple. They whined, moaned, stomped their feet and held their breath until President Obama caved in on the tax cuts for the wealthy but have you ever heard any of them fight that hard for veterans? For congress to do anything against the 1% serving this nation, risking their lives in order to keep funding the wealthy 1% we have lost any moral ground we ever had.

Some folks (you know what group) have been going after everyone needing jobs, saying tax cuts for the wealthy create jobs, but we haven't seen proof of that. As a matter of fact, most of us have seen jobs vanish. Our troops come home after they served this country and they can't find work to support their families. They cut back on what people need but they also cut back on what the veterans need more. Tell a National Guardsman that when he comes home without a job after he served in Iraq or Afghanistan that the wealthy deserved tax cuts more than he deserves a job. Look him in the eyes and tell him he is not worth as much as the wealthy.

Less than 10% of the population have put on their boots to stand up for this country. While congress uses their mouths to "take a stand" for what they believe in, our veterans used their lives to stand up for everyone in this nation. Some in congress want to cut benefits instead of making sure we honor the debt we owe them after they wrote that blank check with their lives.

When it comes to the wounded veterans, by body or mind, we have let them down and now this insult to their service continues by going after the weakest among them. Homeless veterans wander the streets looking for a place to sleep and depend on the kindness of strangers to give them a couple of bucks to eat. Most of them have untreated PTSD but while they depended on alcohol and drugs to numb their pain, we view them as "low life's" not worthy of our care. If we cannot take care of them, especially when some in congress speak of the needs of the wealthy, we no longer deserve to use the term "from a grateful nation" when we hand over a folded flag from their coffins.

Homeless Veterans Should Not Be "On the Table"
Posted: 06/30/11
Judge H. Lee Sarokin
Retired in 1996 after 17 years on the federal bench

In respect to efforts to reduce the debt and the deficit, members of Congress constantly insist that "everything is on the table." Of course, that is not true. Republicans oppose any increase in taxes, and those that subscribe to the Norquist No-Tax Pledge also oppose any reduction or elimination of deductions or subsidies.

* Republicans have proposed a $75 million reduction in vouchers for homeless veterans. There is a dispute as to whether or not this proposal adversely affects homeless veterans now or in the future, but there is no question that Republicans have put this subject on the table as one of the ways to reduce spending.

I expect that this is another example of the "trickle-down" theory. By permitting the very rich to maintain their tax cuts, they can buy expensive art work. A multi-millionaire can buy a Picasso, the gallery earns a commission, someone is paid to box the painting, someone is hired to deliver it, the driver buys a cup of coffee after the delivery and he drops his change in the cup of the wounded veteran lying on the sidewalk in front of Starbucks. Ergo---"trickle down" at work.

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Homeless Veterans Should Not Be On the Table