Urgent Appeal to Stop Attacks On Our Veterans and VA Funding

Will we allow this to become a nation that no longer honors the men and women risking their lives to protect it? Will we forget the survivors of combat wounded for their valor? If people like Michele Bachmann get their way, that is exactly what we will become. Veterans were the target of the enemy forces they were sent to defeat. Now they are targets of politicians no longer believing they are worth whatever it takes to repay the debt owed them. After all, all they had to give this nation was their lives, but politicians give speeches.


From Veterans For Common Sense

In 2002, VCS warned Americans against President George W. Bush and his disastrous Iraq War. History proves we veterans were correct.

Today there is a new and very serious danger on the horizon in Washington.

Starting in January 2011, the newly elected House of Representatives took a sinister turn against veterans. Instead of trying to find ways to assist our nation's 23 million living veterans, the new Congress wants to cut funding for our Department of Veterans Affairs.

Exhibit One: Veterans for Common Sense led the "vigorous" national effort to kill U.S. Represenative Michele Bachmann's (R-Minnesota) terrible plan to slash VA spending by $4.5 billion. The stakes are higher because Bachmann is now running for President, and she is a leading contender. Imagine the damage she would do in the White House.

Fortunately for veterans, we have strong allies on The Hill and in the White House. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, will be the co-chair of the new "super" Congressional Committee charged with matching our nation's values to our government's spending and taxes. She recently defeated a proposal by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) to gut Agent Orange benefits for Vietnam War veterans.

Your support of $50 today keeps our experienced veteran advocates in Washington meeting with legislators and reporters to ensure our progressive vision of caring for our veterans remains on their radar.

Our choices are clear. The new "super" committee can do the right thing and end the tax breaks for the rich and corporations and thus make sure our veterans get prompt and high quality care and benefits. As the enormous success of the GI Bill shows, social programs cost money now, yet they create millions of jobs - jobs where people buy houses, go shopping and pay many times more in taxes for several decades. The GI Bill is a fantastic investment in Americans.

The "super" committee might do the wrong thing and leave our veterans twisting in the wind. They could do nothing or even slash VA spending at a time when 10,000 new Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties flood into VA hospitals each month. Abandoning our veterans means sharp rises in unemployment, homelessness, and other serious problems among our veterans.

VCS will fight for our veterans and against cuts in veterans' healthcare and benefits. We believe spending on veterans helps our economy with jobs and prosperity. Please help VCS make sure veterans win in Washington.