In 2008 Senator Obama supported Jim Webb’s bill which is now known as the Post 9-11 GI Bill. President Bush, John McCain and other prominent Republicans did not support it. But they did support other bills. Only a nasty, dishonest, piece of garbage would accuse someone of voting against the troops when they all they did was choose one troop funding package over another. As is often the case in Washington, there were various versions of the bill to be voted on. But the bill that Obama supported, was the one that “most veterans groups stood by”, according to military.com, because it was truly a “thank you” to our veterans, while the alternatives were designed to be incentives to stay in longer. For Sarah Palin to suggest that Obama didn’t support a GI bill when in fact, he supported the preferred one, was unforgivable, but in keeping with the dishonesty of the Republican party and how it’s members wrap themselves in the flag and say “God Bless America” while using servicemen and women as pawns.
Another example of Republicans using military members as pawns came in the shadow of the government shut-down earlier this year, Republicans crafted a “Troop Funding Bill” with controversial anti-abortion legislation just to keep Democrats from voting for it, so they could later claim that Democrats don’t support the troops. In order to do so, they had to block a clean Democratic proposal without the anti-abortion legislation.
Democrats do support the troops, and the President’s Jobs for Vets program is a perfect example. President Obama announced a program that will offer tax incentives to business who hire vets, especially disabled vets and vets who have been out of work. The program also includes workforce training for vets returning to civilian life.
There are Republicans who genuinely support the troops. Chuck Hagel cosponsored Jim Webb’s bill, and both Democrats and Republicans have written various jobs-for-veterans bills.
But mostly, the Republican party has shown that nothing is more important to it then keeping taxes on the wealthy as low as possible. And if that means taking money away from veterans and servicemen, then so be it. Michele Bachmann, for instance, has been a stoic proponent of cutting veterans benefits in order to ease the tax burden of the very rich.
Since U.S. servicemen and woman aren’t wealthy, Democratic policies generally support them. Republicans support the wealthy and claim to do so because the wealthy are job-creators. But from what I see, when wealthy businessmen have extra money to spend, they spend it on technology so they can reduce their workforce, or they spend it on mergers so they can eliminate competition. The theory that the wealthy create jobs when they have extra money to spend doesn’t hold water. A small businessman might hire extra help to make his life a little easier but a big business doesn’t hire anyone they don’t need no matter how much extra cash it has floating around. That’s why the lines are so long at Walmart.
President Obama’s jobs plan will offer tax breaks to businesses. But rather than hoping businesses will spend that money hiring people, Obama’s plan will ensure that business hire the most deserving. Support the President‘s efforts to help businesses with a tax-cutting program which really does create jobs while supporting our veterans.
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