Republicans Love Vets So Much They Had to Vote Against Expanding Healthcare & Disability Benefits
The next time a republican launches into jingoism to pander to the veteran vote, respond by asking about the PACT Act.
Republicans love veterans.
They tell us all the time.
They love them so much, Fla. Sen. Rick Scott tweeted at a USO event on Wednesday:
From the same event, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted:
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith tweeted:
After meeting with the Montana Independent Living Project, Montana Sen. Steve Daines tweeted:
But after they professed their dedication to our men and women in uniform, they turned right around and voted to kill the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, a bipartisan bill designed to expand health care and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals and burn pits.
Why would they do such a despicable thing after professing their unfailing respect for veterans?
Because Democrats had the temerity to strike a deal on the enormously important Inflation Reduction Act that seeks to, according a White House press release:
“Make prescription drugs cheaper by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices and we can lower health insurance costs for 13 million Americans, by an average of $800 a year, for families covered under the Affordable Care Act.
“We will improve our energy security and tackle the climate crisis — by providing tax credits and investments for energy projects. This will create thousands of new jobs and help lower energy costs in the future.
“This bill will reduce the deficit beyond the record setting $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction we have already achieved this year, which will help fight inflation as well.”
So because Democrats are trying to do something for the economy and environment, republicans are taking their revenge on those veterans they insist they adore, revere, extol, respect, lionize, and idolize.
25 of all but one of the 42 Senators who voted against the bill supported it a month ago.
They aren’t voting it down quietly either.
They celebrated “owning the libs” by fist-bumping on the Senate floor after the vote failed.
Don’t believe a word of it when a republican thanks a vet for his or her service.
Don’t believe a word of it when a republican tweets or pronounces his or her “gratitude” and “support” for veterans.
Republicans work for one constituent —the wealthy.
That’s it.
They know, however, they can’t win by admitting their fealty to the economic royalists, so they have to suck up to their base’s racists, xenophobes, and misogynists with wedge issues and faux outrage.
Wrapping oneself in the flag is a tactic fascists use to create the illusion they’re “looking out for the country” while promoting policies that do the exact opposite.
The next time a republican launches into jingoism to pander to the veteran vote, respond by asking about the PACT Act.