The War is Making You Poor

Guest post from Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida's 8th District

Dear Papamoka Readers,

Next week, there is going to be a "debate" in Congress on yet another war funding bill. The bill is supposed to pass without debate, so no one will notice.

What George Orwell wrote about in "1984" has come true. What Eisenhower warned us about concerning the "military-industrial complex" has come true. War is a permanent feature of our societal landscape, so much so that no one notices it anymore.

But we're going to change this. Today, we're introducing a bill called 'The War Is Making You Poor Act'. The purpose of this bill is to connect the dots, and to show people in a real and concrete way the cost of these endless wars. We're working to get co-sponsors in Congress, but, we need citizen co-sponsors as well. Become a citizen cosponsor today at TheWarIsMakingYouPoor.com. Act Now.

http://www.TheWarIsMakingYouPoor.com

Next year's budget allocates $159,000,000,000 to perpetuate the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. That's enough money to eliminate federal income taxes for the first $35,000 of every American's income. Beyond that, leaves over $15 billion to cut the deficit.

And that's what this bill does. It eliminates separate funding for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and eliminates federal income taxes for everyone's first $35,000 of income ($70,000 for couples). Plus it pays down the national debt. Does that sound good to you? Then please sign our petition in support of this bill, and help us build a movement to end our permanent state of war.

http://www.TheWarIsMakingYouPoor.com

The costs of the war have been rendered invisible. There's no draft. Instead, we take the most vulnerable elements of our population, and give them a choice between unemployment and missile fodder. Government deficits conceal the need to pay in cash for the war.

We put the cost of both guns and butter on our Chinese credit card. In fact, we don't even put these wars on budget; they are still passed using 'emergency supplemental'. A nine-year 'emergency'.

Let's show Congress the cost of these wars is too much for us.

http://www.TheWarIsMakingYouPoor.com

Tell Congress that you like 'The War Is Making You Poor Act'. No, tell Congress you love it.

http://www.TheWarIsMakingYouPoor.com

All we are saying is "give peace a chance." We will end these wars. Together.

Courage,
Alan Grayson

This post was authored by Alan Grayson and forwarded from an email

Iraq Celebrates Six Years of American Generosity

Hello Papamoka Readers! I must be brief today so I thought I would share some quick thoughts on the illustrious six year anniversary of the Republican-led Iraq war and our miserably long and expensive occupation.

It was so gratifying this morning to hear that thousands of Iraqis are celebrating by burning American flags across the nation in street demonstrations. It warmed my heart when I heard the interviews with dozens of Iraqis complaining about us as occupiers and murderers. It made you proud to be an American. For my Republican friends, that's called sarcasm, and I do hope they are listening.

Recent Iraqi Polls are depressing in the way they highlight how we aren't even seen as a helpful security force anymore. Both Sunnis and Shiites credit Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and the IRAQI SECURITY FORCES with the peace and security they enjoy. Isn't that nice? We don't get any credit for risking our lives and spending billions we DESPERATELY NEED HERE AT HOME!

So, they don't give us any credit for the peace and they want us to go home. I say let's give them what they want and get the FREAK out of there. We should stop wasting our billions on those miserable, ungrateful people and haul ass home. WAKE UP President Obama! Stop listening to Secretary Gates and the Republican military machine. Get us out of that thankless country!

Our young men and women should not be risking their lives for such ungrateful people. We've paid our dues. We've made up for the miserable mistakes of George "the screw up" Bush and Dick "the dark lord" Cheney. The billions we've spent over past years to clean up their mistakes is enough. Let's get the HELL OUT NOW! SIX YEARS IS ENOUGH! We've wasted enough money!

I just finished watching another news report, this time on BBC News, featuring more Iraqis cursing America for their six years of misery. We spent over $1 TRILLION - of money that we now desperately need - on that miserable dust bowl of a country and all we get is cursed for trying to help. What a freaking nightmare!

The Republicans are great at spending our money on unappreciative foreigners, but scream bloody murder when we try to spend it on ourselves. Screw the GOP! I wish those Republicans who led us into the worst mess in American history would fly over there and face those Iraqi street demonstrators. They might just learn how INSANE and out-of-touch they've been over the past eight years.

The Iraq War was a Bush, Cheney, Oil Industry, macho, military-industrial-complex, arrogant, STUPID IDEA! We would be better off today if we had just let Hussein run that miserable country into the ground. They didn't deserve American lives, American money, or American help. America has suffered enough losses. I say SCREW THE REPUBLICANS AND THE IRAQIS!

I hope every Republican realizes just what a debacle their elected leaders created for the world. They've killed and wounded countless Iraqis, thousands of Americans, and practically bankrupted the U.S. all for nothing. Let's stop fooling ourselves, let's put an end to the ungrateful misery that is America's - or the Republicans - attempt to help Iraq. It's been six awful years, and all a horrible waste of lives and money.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

No Pity for Evil Fools

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - The Raw Story is reporting this morning about an interview George - I'll never forgive the crook - Bush gave to a Japanese television network where he reportedly said that the Iraq war "was a success" and that he is "very pleased" with what is happening there.

Aside from his usual Saddam Hussein was a threat crap, Bush said that "people have been able to take their troops out of Iraq because Iraq is becoming successful. I'm very pleased with what is taking place there now."

I don't know about you guys, but I've shocked by the lack of Iraq coverage in this country. I watch the BBC News, and it has at least one story a day on the war and most of it is pretty bad. The lack of coverage in this country borders on the criminal. The American people are fed a bunch of lies that Iraq is doing just fine. We don't even get to see the frequent protests where THOUSANDS of Iraqis burn Bush in effigy and march for us to LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY!

The truth is much more complicated. THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF VIOLENCE! It's just happening between the Iraqis more, as they become more capable of killing each other. In general, based on all those reports I watch and read, is that the government of Iraq is refusing to hire the same Sunni forces that we've been paying, which means that after we withdraw there will probably be a civil war.

The other problems involve the Mahdi [sic] army, which is holding its cease fire until we leave. Nobody knows what will happen after we go. There are still suicide bombs every week killing dozens, warring factions targeting each other, Kurds interested in forming a new nation, and ex-Saddam loyalists who seek to reestablish a Sunni-led government.

They will all fight each other the minute we exit. What George - the war criminal Bush - isn't telling you is that there is no good solution. He's just trying to make it look like it's working. Obama is planning to pull us out because there are no other solutions, and George Bush and the Republican "truth squad" will try to make him look like the screw-up when that happens.

The whole thing is a bloody mess, and George - the lying sack - Bush is getting away with it. This is a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM for us Democrats than it is for the Republicans. The Republicans have done a great job making Iraq look okay. Once the real news gets out, and we start pulling troops out, we will be taking the blame for a worsening situation - that WAS ALWAYS MESSED UP!

Why don't people seek out the truth? Why don't more people watch the real news, like the BBC News? Why don't more people read actual newspapers? WHY DON'T PEOPLE CARE MORE?

Oh well, that's enough yelling and ranting for one Monday morning. I blame you George Bush for being the evil fool that you are. A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed said that we, the American people, mistreat you. Really? I think you've gotten away with MURDER, especially since you are a psychotic murderer who feels nothing for the lives that you've destroyed.

I think you should be in jail. You are the WORST! I blame you and the Republicans who support you for driving this nation to the brink of oblivion - IRAQ was a big part of that trip. You're nothing more than a low-life, psychotic murderer. You sir slept while Rome burned. One day you will be forced to see the damage that you caused, learn about the lives that you destroyed, and hopefully pay the ultimate price for your crimes. I have no pity for evil fools like you.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Obama in Afghanistan

One of the things that I think people see is the extreme difference of personal interaction between Presidential candidates. John McCain is the old uncle that likes children, loves family, enjoys a good time but he is not a people person. Over on the other side is a young man, with a very young family, loves children and people, very energetic, and to the dismay of the McCain Camp very interactive with the troops in Afghanistan. Then to top it off he does not mind a hug or two from the troops in the field in return.

For the record, I didn’t know that Obama has a dead eye shot at a free throw in basketball. Don’t even think of going racist on that sentence and if you do, grow the hell up! I wish I had his abilities on the court. Check the Video out here at this link if the one below does not work for you. Barack nails it from the three point zone!

Over at YouTuBe they have this interesting video on Obama’s current visit to the troops in Afghanistan. One thing you will notice watching this video is the lack of the suit coat or rolled up sleeves that most politicians use to show ampathy, the lack of the troops being held back from him, and most importantly how much they simply love Barack Obama. He is a rock star among the military in country and that speaks volumes onto itself.



As you read this article, Senator John McCain is at WalMart buying a sweat suit and planning his next trip to Afghanistan to visit not just the General's but maybe touch the flesh and maybe hug a vet, (Photo Op only and the selection process is going to be vetted by the White House I'm sure) in the war zone. Then again that touches into the icky factor for McCain? Maybe there will not be hugs for McCain, but the sweat suit shot will be cool?

One thing is certain, the Obama trip to the war zones is going far better than ever expected. That in itself shows that he has what it takes by far to be the next President of the United States of America.

Rock on Obama, rock on!

Papamoka

Iraq to America, Go Away!

While all the folks on the political right side of the isle are selling one hundred years in Iraq the Prime Minister in cahoots with the Bush Administration is asking us to leave. Which raises the question if they can stand on their own, ride that bicycle without the training wheels and be self sufficient? Forget all the hyperbole of everything we need to fear by all the right wing pundits and think about what the message of the Bush administration is. Iraq should be free. Doesn’t freedom mean not having foreign troops on your soil too?

Over at the Washington Post they have this to say on Maliki’s plea for freedom…

Iraq's Maliki Suggests Setting Timetable for U.S. Withdrawal

U.S. Has Consistently Opposed Establishing Timeline for Troop Drawdown

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 7, 2008; 1:22 PM

BAGHDAD, July 7 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time suggested establishing a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a step that the Bush administration has long opposed.

Maliki floated the idea on Monday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he spoke with Arab ambassadors about a security pact being negotiated to determine the future role of U.S. troops in Iraq. The agreement would replace a U.N. mandate authorizing the presence of the troops, which is set to expire Dec. 31.

Maliki said that Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States instead of trying to forge a longer term pact on an issue that has spawned opposition across Iraq's political divides.

"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal," Maliki said, according to a statement released Monday by his office that did not specify how long a period a memorandum would cover. "In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq." - Washington Post

This does not play well into the McCain for President spin where we need to be in Iraq for another hundred years. It certainly does not play well in the Bush nation building play book either. How the hell is he going to attack Iran if our troops are not already in the neighborhood? Damn it! This messes up the whole Middle East crisis.

Forget the Middle East, what about all the layoffs from all the special interest groups feeding at the trough of the Bush/Cheney mega war O profit machine? Where in hell are they supposed to find jobs paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for serving hot dogs to our troops on Independence Day? This is a crisis of biblical terms when it comes to the GOP!

President Bush is probably trying to find a bottle of hundred proof booze as Dick Cheney is loading his shot gun and booking a trip to Baghdad for a hunting trip, wink, wink. This was not part of the nation building plan. This is not a good thing when Johnny wannabe McCain is supposed to fill Junior Bush's shoes.

Papamoka

War, Veterans and Unemployment Funds

In a typical Washington D.C. style of diplomacy and legislative ignorance the war in Iraq is funded, veterans from the war get a GI Bill for education, and the unemployed get and extension of benefits. Senate President Harry Reid was right, you don’t get services for Americans or Veterans if it isn’t attached to a bottomless pit called the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I talked about this a while back here.

Domestic Spending Intact as House Passes War Bill

By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 20, 2008; Page A03

In a pair of bipartisan votes, the House yesterday approved $162 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan well into 2009 and a separate measure that would allow veterans returning from those battlefields to receive increased education benefits.

The domestic spending measure, approved 416 to 12, also includes a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance for laid-off workers who have used all 26 weeks of their current benefits, and $2.65 billion for Midwest flood relief.

"It became clear this is what we had to do," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during debate over the bill. "I will enthusiastically vote for the domestic piece of this."

The emergency spending bill -- which authorizes $95.5 billion for the unemployment and veterans benefits and a variety of other programs -- heads to the Senate, where leaders say it could be approved next week.

After weeks of gridlocked negotiations, President Bush threw his support behind the legislation yesterday despite the tens of billions of dollars in domestic spending above his original demands. Despite his original preference for a slimmed-down version, Bush embraced the veterans' plan drafted by Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), then demanded that the education benefit be transferable from veterans to military spouses and children -- adding an estimated $1 billion a year to its cost. - Washington Post


What will be interesting is to see how the political candidates in the race for President vote on this spending bill in the Senate. This is a catch 22 piece of legislation. If Obama votes for it then he is putting his name to the war in Iraq, if he votes against it then he is telling the unemployed and veterans to get lost. Same scenario goes for McCain. Vote for it and he is all for another hundred years in Iraq, vote against it and he is bashing the veteran base he allegedly loves to vote against time and time again.

On the other side of this coin is the current resident of the White House who has all of a sudden found this is legislation he can sign with pride. Do ya think the money that will find it’s way into the coffers of his and Dick’s bank account has anything to do with it?

I don’t even want to think about what Bush’s signing statement will look like!

Papamoka

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Cost of the Iraq War

Just a little something to make you go hmmmmm? These films are made by a company called Brave New Films and frankly I can't argue with them.

Thanks for the tip Jim!



Papamoka

Bush Consistent Deafness to Unemployed

One has to give President Bush credit for being unrealistically consistent. He’s threatening his mighty veto pen if Congress passes an extension of benefits for our nations growing unemployed. Bush is true to form even when it comes to telling the unemployed to get a paper route you lazy good for nothing leaches. Especially, those folks in states with robust economies, there is no excuse for these unemployed people to not work according to President Bush. There is just one problem with his thinking. The jobs he sold out to God knows who overseas were once good paying American made jobs no longer exist. The economy in America with good jobs at great wages has morphed under his watch into an environment where no amount of higher education will guarantee you a well paying job.

President Bush I swear is an economic idiot in thinking that a job is a job, and a paycheck is a paycheck. An engineering job is not the same pay grade as the person manning the French fry baskets at the local McDonald’s. McDonald’s might be a great place to work but it doesn’t afford the paycheck needed to pay down college loans for any college degree, pay for health insurance for your family, or even pay for a mortgage once obtained by a person with a higher education position.

Over at the New York Times they have this to say on Bush threatening a Veto if unemployment benefits are extended by the Congress…

House Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 12, 2008
Filed at 2:51 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House on Thursday approved an extra three months of jobless benefits for all unemployed Americans, knowing the plan's chances are slight in the Senate and almost nonexistent at the White House.

After failing to get a veto-proof two-thirds margin Wednesday, Democrats said they pushed the legislation through to the Senate anyway, on a 274-137 vote, to help Americans survive a slumping economy.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week increased by 25,000 from the week before. The unemployment rate in May jumped to 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in April. It was the biggest one-month gain in 22 years.

"The American people are waiting to see if Congress is going to help them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

But the White House already has threatened to veto the bill, and Senate Democrats have said they won't try and force their Republican colleagues to consider the House legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will try to bring up the House bill, but he won't force the issue if Senate Republicans object. "We're not wasting weeks" on it, he said. Instead, Reid said, Democrats might attach the jobless benefits extension to the Iraq war spending bill, a move also opposed by the White House.

The White House and Republicans said a bill targeting unemployment benefits only to states that have high unemployment would be more palatable to them. The Democrats' plan "is dead on arrival," House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said. "The Senate's not going to take it up." - New York Times

Or you could read what they have to say at the Washington Post...

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 3.2 million Americans would collect $11.7 billion in extended unemployment benefits over the life of the extension."

I have to get this straight in my head… Our government has no problem with $15 Billion Dollars unaccountable for in Iraq but if Americans in America need help then Republican’s have a problem with it? That $15 Billion dollars, who was overseeing how that cash was distributed in the middle of the desert of Iraq? Was there a division of unemployment to make sure the cash was distributed properly? Power Line News has this to say about our tax dollars being spent, or misplaced in Iraq…

Friday, May 23, 2008 10:44 PM

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a “shocking” accountability failure.

Of 8.2 billion dollars in US taxpayer-funded defense contracts reviewed by the defense department’s inspector general, the Pentagon could not properly account for more than 7.7 billion dollars.

The lack of accountability of the funds, intended for purchases of weapons, vehicles, construction equipment and security services, amounted to a 95 percent failure rate in basic accounting standards, according to the report. - Power Line News

I’m thinking that the Bush administration and his political crony Republican’s in the Congress have no problem flushing cash down the drain without care as to where it ends up in the war in Iraq but all of them lazy Americans that are unemployed should just screw. Unemployed people are not paying taxes, thus not contributing to the endless money grab of the Iraq War and thus are terrorist and anti American.

I’m still fuzzy on the Republican math but if they say it’s for the protection of our nation against terrorism then it must be true. There has to be a mistake with the 95% accounting failure rate? Maybe an auditor forgot to carry the one somewhere or missed a large receipt for French fries from KBR. Or should I be politically correct and call them “Freedom Fries”?

Papamoka

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American Flag Burning in Iraq

One military death in Iraq is one to many. As the war mongering political right of American politics goes then 19 dead is progress? Explain that fact to the 19 mothers and fathers of the kids killed in the war for Daddy by President Bush. My humble heart felt prayers go out to the parents of the children killed in Iraq but somehow the media spin is that their deaths was a sign of better days to come in Iraq. I don’t get it. One death is to many in my eyes and it should be shouted at the tops of the lungs of anyone thinking that this is not okay.

When you analyze the number of deaths of your own troops as a measure of progress then true diplomacy is dead. When was the last time you heard or read about the Republican Bush lead administration talking about diplomacy to end the non stop violence in Iraq? You have not read about it because it is not happening. Kill them all and let God sort them out is the only policy that President Bush has to offer and he isn’t backing down from that stance any time soon. In times of war, each side sees God as on their side and in both circumstances both sides are wrong if stronger minds do not have a voice to end the conflict. War is madness when either side refuses to negotiate peace. Till that time comes the body count grows on both sides. History teaches us that the ones with the bigger weapons always win but in this case that isn't likely. The Iraqi people are fighting a religious war and we are there for nation building in a society that wants nothing to do with politics. Those two things just do not go together.

Over at the New York Times they have this piece on the current war dead and how much of a relief that only 19 American Military people were killed in Iraq…

U.S. Deaths in Iraq Fell Sharply in May
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: June 2, 2008

BAGHDAD — American casualties dropped in May to their lowest monthly level — 19 — since the invasion in 2003, the United States military said Sunday, though officials said they were reluctant to highlight the number as a milestone.

There have been troughs in American casualty rates before, only to be followed by rising numbers of fatalities. Just on Sunday, one American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The military has instead focused on falling rates of enemy attacks, among other indicators, as a measure of improving security.

Even amid the news of declining deaths, efforts to negotiate a long-term security pact that would set out how long American forces stay in Iraq suffered a setback on Sunday when the Iraqi government criticized proposals from American negotiators and vowed to reject any deal that violates Iraqi sovereignty.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has been under political pressure to resist some American demands. Street protesters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, for example, burned American flags on Friday to oppose the deal, and Mr. Sadr promised that his followers would stage regular protests through the summer. - New York Times

When it comes right down to it, the current election cycle for President of this nation comes down to your willingness to accept any number of military dead for the sake of a land that has no American respect. Our troops could leave there tomorrow and the same tribal wars that have gone on for thousands of years will break out. One has to face the facts that Baghdad is not Washington D.C. or Crawford, Texas.

While the dissenters of an American military presence in Iraq burn our flag in Iraq we have to accept the fact that Iraq is not Boston, Chicago, Memphis, or Kansas City. Changing political philosophy in Iraq is tantamount to converting a lion to a vegetarian. It just isn’t in the works to happen at any single time in our lifetime. All of the unrest in Iraq is now due to the vacume or loss of an absolute dictator under Saddam Hussein and that is the battle that the people of Iraq must come to terms with. Our military presence in Iraq only instigates more hate against America even though we toppled the bastard that oppressed the thoughts and freedoms they now feel they must instigate against our troops. Freedom is a double edged sword and sometimes it swings against the people that gave them the voice to speak.

I’m supporting our troops, I’m just not supporting the reason they are in the line of fire. God bless them and keep them safe. One soldiers death is too many for my thoughts when diplomacy is always an option.

Papamoka

McCain Is NOT a GI’s Best Friend

Senator George McCain… I meant to say John McCain, is no longer the die hard friend of the men and woman in the military service to our nation. Lately, it is becoming harder and harder to tell him and George Bush apart so please accept my humble apology for my confusion.

Ask an aged veteran that needs to use the local VA hospital for care and you can pretty much see what the Bush administration really thinks about veteran’s? With all of the funding cuts over the last seven years and the down right cut throat of any veteran that might need long term care were devastated and gnawed to the bone budget wise. Most current veterans leaving military service have a time window that slams shut when it comes to medical benefits. Two years and the veterans leaving service today are screwed. Make no mistake about it, George Bush has no respect or desire to care for our nations military service personnel once discharged with or without injuries. Governor Ed Rendell of PA had it right in this CNN post…

"While we the governors do all we can for our vets and our returning soldiers, our federal government still has the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of our veterans. And that's why I find the president's budget cuts for critical veteran services to be unconscionable."

He maintained that budget cuts include "a $350 million reduction in veterans home funding, which wipes out at least 5,000 veterans' nursing home beds."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: All you eighty plus year old WWII Veterans in nursing homes need to move your disabled lazy ass to the curb you bunch of freeloaders!)

"If the president's proposed budget cuts are enacted, nearly 60 percent of the 1,600 veterans will lose their daily stipend that allows them to stay in our state's nursing homes, literally forcing them out into the cold."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Maybe President Bush and Senator McCain think we should put a rifle in their arthritic eighty year old hands and just air drop them on Baghdad? Wheel chairs and walkers included. Nobody likes a deadbeat right? Works for Haliburton.)

Vet co-payments for prescription drugs were tripled two years ago, Rendell said, and "now the president is proposing to again double those increased co-pays."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Are we supposed to support these aging deadbeats forever just because they served in uniform? They were given a spiffy uniform, some free medals for doing some stuff decades ago along with food and shelter while in the military. So how is that relevant to what they have done for us lately?)

"In the midst of a war, when many new men and women will join the legion of veterans, does it really make sense for the president to increase the cost of vets' prescriptions by 100 percent?"

Rendell criticized a proposal calling for a $250 fee "to be paid by every vet wishing to participate in the Veterans Administration health care program. " - CNN

If you still think McCain is our nation’s Veteran’s best friend then you can look at this from the Obsidian Wings…

During a March 2005 Senate budget debate, McCain voted to kill an amendment that would have "increased veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006." That amendment lacked an assured funding stream, but lest one mistake this incident for a maverick's stance against budget-busting, there's more. Just a year later McCain voted against an amendment that would have "increased Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes." Two days after it failed, he voted to kill "an assured stream of funding for veterans' health care that would take into account the annual changes in the veterans' population and inflation to be paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income over $1 million, closing corporate tax loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy." That amendment died quietly, forty-six to fifty-four. - Obsidian Wings


John McCain is not a friend of Veteran’s and you can read all the votes he had against legislation over at Donkey O. D. that would have helped veteran’s and active duty people in service to our nation. GI’s don’t have millions to fund a political campaign and George McCain is just another political wing man not caring for his wing man waving the flag and his former military service as an excuse to place himself beyond reproach when it comes to veteran benefits.

It’s getting harder and harder to believe that Senator George McCain… I mean John McCain, is a die hard veteran supporter when most of the legislation presented before the Senate he voted against supporting veteran‘s and enlisted men and woman. Maybe the good old boys over at Haliburton have promised him the keys to the executive wash room if he roles over and plays nice for them.

In the interim, while George McCain… John, is going around the nation dictating that you can not talk about veterans benefits if you never served in uniform it would be interesting to see a list of all the Hawks in the Bush Administration that McCain has joined himself at the hip with. Those brave souls declaring the liars war to be the saving hope for American democracy that also have never worn a uniform. An accusation he used against Senator Barack Obama. We could start with Vice President Cheney and the list grows like the plague from there.

You can click here to see who served and who dodged service and draw your own conclusions.

It would probably be wise advice to Senator George McCain not to be throwing military service in peoples faces when the folks he wants to follow never really served. And yet he is still following the path of Hawks that didn’t serve. His Senate voting record truly does not support vet’s. You can not stump for veteran votes but stab them in the back whenever his supposed Conservative position in politics fit the political day. Either he supports the troops and the long term needs that come up from serving your nation or he does not. The later fits McBush (Dick McCain, George McCain or whoever the hell he has morphed into this week) to a tee!

I'm pretty confident that the only time John Bush... I mean McCain and his bestest friend George Bush only respect veterans when they are in a box and six feet under. Facts don't back up either one of them ever looking out for the troops past or present.

Papamoka

Hillary Should Bow Out

Personally, I don’t like to knock the distinguished Senator from New York and former First Lady when it comes to politics. And yet this post is all about politics and reality. The Democrat Party is united in one message, no more Bush! That is a concept that we all can agree on. Something that makes your blood boil and your heart race in anger as you contemplate the unbelievable morphisim of Senator John McCain over the last couple of years into a George W. Bush clone. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is a total wag the dog hypocrisy created by Bush and Cheney and the soldiers coming home in caskets continue on a daily basis simply because they serve our nation.

Do we as Democrat’s want more of this or do we want to pick one another’s pockets to see what deep dark secrets our candidates really have? Do we as Democrat’s want to see our political party dissolved and lose the next election because the opponent on the Republican side loaded his gun with the ammunition we supplied willingly? As many main stream media pundits have pointed out, Hillary Clinton can not win the nomination from the Democrat Party. Mathematically, it is impossible and yet she continues for the sake of what? Being right? Being a political party contender? Or simply for believing that the Clinton political machine will come through for her? That isn’t going to happen. The votes are not there for her, the delegates are not there for her and the ride is over.

Bill Clinton destroyed the Clinton political machine with the disgrace he brought to the Presidency. What Bill did should not reflect on Hillary but it does whether she or you like it or not. People see a cheater, a liar, a man that looked us all straight in the eye and told us all that he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinski. What part Hillary had to do with what is irrelevant. Bill Clinton lied, destroyed the trust of the people in doing so and is now a President that achieved such great heights but the matter still comes down to the blue dress evidence. Again, not Hillary’s fault.

Politics is a very strange business and Hillary Clinton has given this a good run. I respect her gumption for sticking in it for so long but her place is in the Senate from the great state of New York. From that post she can do much good and use her skills to work across party lines to unify a divided nation. From that spot she can make change possible with one voice among many with a hammer as strong as her personal convictions.

For the good of the Democrat Party, Hillary Clinton should bow out in an honorable manner. If she and her husband the former President, are in fact true Democrat’s, then they both know that the unification of all Democrat’s is the most important fact facing America today. This nation can not survive another President in the pocket of big business and the industrial military complex. Those free range pigs need to be rounded up and brought back to the family farm so to speak.

Hillary and Barack are alike when it comes to all of the issues and if the outcome of the election process is that our political party is too divided over personal issues then who wins? Answer the door because John McCain is knocking on the door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Is that what we want as a political party?

Papamoka

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Des Moines Register Sold Out…

If I were an Iowan I would put the Des Moines Register for Hillary Clinton up there with wrapping fish with the pages it is was written on. For that matter so goes the endorsement of McCain. Let’s just say that they are skewed to follow the money and leave it at that. Second tier or third tier candidates did not spend enough money to get the endorsement with the paper. And they wonder why people read blogs like this one for political opinion. We blog for the truth and not the almighty dollar and that is where endorsements like this one come from. Some editor or accountant is looking at the bottom line and money talks over real substance.

You can not talk about true leadership and experience and not even mention Senator Joe Biden. You can not mention working across party politics and not include Joe Biden. You can however have a ton of checks from the Clinton campaign that you might just be obligated too endorse. Don’t even follow the money, follow the style of the sponsored debates.

The Des Moines Register's editorial board has endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Iowa caucuses.

The Register, Iowa's statewide newspaper, said McCain, who represents Arizona, and Clinton, who represents New York, have two essential two qualities — competence and "readiness to lead."

In endorsing McCain, who tied for fifth in the Register's November poll of likely caucus-goers, the editorial board wrote Saturday night:

"Time after time, McCain has stuck to his beliefs in the face of opposition from other elected leaders and the public... A year ago, in the face of growing criticism, he staunchly supported President Bush's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq... He knows war, something we believe would make him reluctant to start one. He's also a fierce defender of civil liberties. As a survivor of torture, he has stood resolutely against it. He pledges to start rebuilding America's image abroad."

The Register's endorsement of Clinton comes as polls show she has slipped behind Sen. Barack Obama in Iowa. - USA Today.com

Even former President Clinton has no clue how to get us out of Iraq and his wife Hillary is flipping and flopping on what the latest political polls are offering. Joe Biden is not. We do not need flip floppers on any issue and when it comes to our military we need a realistic plan to get the hell out of Baghdad!

I’m amazed that the children and grandchildren of the Vietnam War are backing any of the front runners knowing the sacrifices that were made to just get out of Vietnam. We shamed our Veterans, people spat on them for just doing their duty. It took thirty plus years for our nation to recognize them as a true American hero. John McCain is two elections away from his time in the sun. Yes, I respect him for his service to our nation during the war and all of his time in public service. I just don’t get his anger when confronted on the serious issues our nation must face. That is where the Des Moines Register lost their credibility. In the same respects, Hillary Clinton has no clue as to what real life is all about having lived in the bubble of her husband the former President. She has no ability to talk one on one with an Iowan if there is not ten dozen cameras present to record it and sell it. Joe Biden does not even need one camera present to talk to the people. His message is consistent and believable.

Real issues are facing this nation and we do not need the biggest check cashed to be our nations next leader. We need someone that can deal with foreign policy in one heart beat and someone that can deal with a Teamsters strike in the next. We need someone that believes in all Americans first. Not just the folks that donate and contribute at the King and Queens court for the highest office in our land.

A friend of mine spoke of Irish funerals and how that was the only time to praise them for all they had done in life. It didn’t matter if you were the worst monster in the clan. I choose to defend and support Joe Biden not because his epitaph would look great on a head stone but I believe his experience and vision is far better than anyone from both political parties.

Hillary Clinton does not deserve the White House and neither does John McCain. One is running on the latest polls to get votes and the other is forgetting who he was two elections past that made him a true hero. The Des Moines Registers endorsement has failed the people but that is just my political opinion. Vote realistically and vote for Senator Joseph Biden for President in 2008. Common sense is what it is all about and not the money spent by any candidate.

Papamoka

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WHAT ABOUT PHONY PATRIOTS?

Picture courtesy of Normandy American Cemetery
Colleville Sur Mer

By Michael Linn Jones

This latest furor over comments made by Rush Limbaugh is like a chord sharply struck. It points out more the growing divide in the nation than anything else. I'm reminded of those days in the 60's, when people were requested to drive with their headlights on if they were for the war, or leave them off if they were against. On those days you could see how divided the country was on Vietnam.

Oddly, though, the nation was not divided on veterans. There was bipartisan support for treating veterans in a way that the rest of the world had never attempted. The "G.I. Bill" at the end of World War II helped provide many with college degrees or training. The medical services of the Veterans Administration were available to any ex-serviceman or woman, provided they were honorably discharged.

Over the decades, the benefits of the G.I Bill shrank. Adjusted for inflation, the amount of funding for schooling is not at the level it was in the 40's and 50's. However, support remained constant for medical services.

That is, until this century. In 2003 the Congress voted funding for the Iraq War. Within minutes it also voted to slash spending for the VA. In print and on the air this can be debated, but the proof of eating, as they say, is in the pudding.

It is a fact that President Bush did not veto the VA cuts. It is also a fact that his administration foresaw a CUT in VA spending for 2008, using the same myopic idiocy that has shown up elsewhere. A cynical view would see this as part of the "starve the beast" strategy whereby the services will become so restrictive that veterans will just give up and go elsewhere. We are reminded of the golden virtues of the "free economy" and how those needing medical attention should have thought of that when they were young, etc.

The end result are those little things that mean a lot. Like diabetics being limited to 50 test strips A YEAR. Like any veteran who attempts to enroll in the VA now must not earn more than $32,000 a year. Oh, and those folks in Afghanistan and Iraq? Well, they get VA coverage for two WHOLE YEARS...for FREE! After that, adios and good luck.

So, if Rush Limbaugh is so deeply and patriotically committed to those in our armed forces, let him prove it. It would be refreshing if he used his golden EIB microphone to blast anyone who has been involved in cutting services to veterans. And I'm sure he can find a good number of Democrats, too.

It is more than extraordinary that today, 63 years after D-Day, one can visit Normandy and find the French folks as thankful now to those Crosses and Stars of David in their neat rows as they were in 1944. And here? Those who serve are forgotten as soon as they return home.

I hate to be like a boil on the butt here, but I would be more impressed with Mr. Limbaugh if he shifted his focus a bit from debating whether the troops support President Bush to how well our government supports those who sacrifice their freedom so that he can enjoy his. I've heard many times Rush's philosophy that makes it clear that the money he earns should not go to the government; that he should be allowed to keep it. It's his, by God, etc.

Could he make an exception in this case? Is it asking too much?

Sadly, it is.

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