by Nomad via Liberaland
In yet another example of a Republican underestimating the attention span and memory of the average citizen, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr's attempt to make political hay out of a recent scandal at the Veterans' Administration has backfired.
Last February, when Republicans successfully voted down a $21 billion Veterans Aid Bill, it was seen as yet another defeat for the president, served up cold by Congress. The vote was close at 56-41 but only two Republican Senators voted for the bill.
Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.) , the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and primary sponsor of the bill, warned the Republicans that there would come a time when they would have to explain themselves to the public.
Seizing what he considered a political opportunity, Burr pressed the matter a little too far when he attempted to rally veterans against the Obama administration on the matter of healthcare problems in the VA system.
You tell that [veteran] you think we cannot afford to help him or her..."But when you do that I hope you also tell him why you voted to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top 2 percent [of earners]. Virtually all my GOP colleagues thought it was important to find new tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires."
Sanders with clear contempt for the partisan political games, said, "Enough [talk] about how everybody loves the veterans."
One Senator North Carolina Senator Richard Burr was openly critical of the aid bill at that time and gave his reasons to the press.
With $17 trillion in debt and massive annual deficits, our country faces a fiscal crisis of unparalleled scope. Now is not the time, in any federal department, to spend money we don't have.
The year prior to the vote disabled vets were only days away from seeing their monthly checks held up by a GOP-led government shutdown.
Seizing what he considered a political opportunity, Burr pressed the matter a little too far when he attempted to rally veterans against the Obama administration on the matter of healthcare problems in the VA system.
The syndicated article below explains the reaction from some veterans' groups to Republican politics in action.
Republican Senator Who Voted No On $21 Billion In Vet Aid Further Infuriates Veterans Groups (via Liberaland)
Republican Senator Who Voted No On $21 Billion In Vet Aid Further Infuriates Veterans Groups (via Liberaland)
North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, voted no on aid for vets earlier this year. Now, veterans groups are lashing out at him for an open letter he wrote the groups condemning them for …
