Warning! Republicans Are Losing Veteran Support Over Failed Promises!
By Thomas D. Segel (10/24/05)
Harlingen, Texas, October 24, 2005: The emails are flying across cyber space. The blogs are filled with rage. Letters to the editor abound. All of them have the same tone of anger. Retired military veterans, in huge numbers, are calling for others in their ranks to answer the failed promises of Congress by voting against all Republican incumbents in the 2006 general election.
Though the retired military community, which has historically supported Republican candidates, is angered about a number of issues, the heart of their discontent seems to be centered on health care issues.
Thousands upon thousands of World War II and Korean War military retirees were promised government provided health care as a benefit for their many years of service to the nation in both peace and war. Those who served in uniform for twenty or more years were told they and their dependents would always be medically cared for by a grateful nation. For more than 50 years Congress did fund that medical care. Then it decided to change the rules and the promise was broken. Guaranteed lifetime medical care proved to be another of many congressional lies.
Year after year the veterans pleaded to have their promised health care restored. All the cries fell on deaf ears. Finally, attorney and Medal of Honor recipient Colonel “Bud” Day filed a Class Action Suit on the behalf of all retired military. The legal battle went back and forth for years, ending up in the Supreme Court.
Once again the veterans lost. Though the court agreed the promises of care had been made, it also stated there was no legislation to give authority to the promise. It said that Congress would need to resolve the issue.
There have been attempts to correct the wrongdoing of Congress. Bills have been filed and have also died. Currently the “Keep Our Promise” Bill or HR-602 is floating around the House of Representatives. A total of 158 Democrats and 68 Republicans have cosponsored this legislation to provide long promised medical care to retirees. More than half of the House members also indicate they support restoration of earned medical care. This same dialog and false promise chant has been taking place for more years than veterans can count.
Today, the retirees feel Democrats support this legislation because Republicans don’t really want it to pass. They also think those few Republicans who have cosponsored the legislation are just putting up a smokescreen and are really trying to cover their backsides. This feeling is amplified for them when it is noted that HR-602 is wasting away in committee with no sign of it ever reaching the floor for a vote, the same tactic Republicans used in the past.
Veterans also notice they cannot identify a single member of their “so-called” cosponsors who has gone to the Republican leadership and demanded action on the legislation.
It is true that one representative would have little impact on the congressional leadership. However, 68 cosponsors demanding legislative action would get attention at once, particularly if that demand was made a condition of their support for future leadership generated actions. Since none of this insistence on HR-602 action has taken place, veterans see the Republican cosponsors as insincere in their professed support.
Should the general public think this discontent with the Republican Party is linked to just one group of military retirees, it should also be noted that for more than four decades veterans who were volunteers or were ordered to participate in America’s atomic testing program have been fighting for promised medical care.
More than 300,000 American service personnel were subjected to the life threatening effects of radiation poisoning during the test programs of the 40s and 50s. In open trenches and on the exposed decks of ships, with no protective clothing, they were placed in close proximity to atomic blasts.
Since that time thousands have died and thousands more have fallen seriously ill. The VA and our Congress ignore their pleas for help.
A Republican presidential candidate, George W. Bush told American veterans that “Promises made would be promises kept.” He repeated that pledge as president. Ask any of the multitudes of Atomic Veterans what they think of his word. When they wrote him about their plight, the president forwarded their letters to the VA, which in turn denied the veteran claims. These same veterans wrote to the members of Congress. Most often there was no reply, but when there was an answer, it was a form letter, which really said nothing.
We can’t forget to include more than 7,000 servicemen who were used as “test subjects” or human guinea pigs in chemical, drug and other substance tests at Edgewood Arsenal. Today almost 75% of those military personnel who participated in the Edgewood tests are either dead or disabled. They cannot even receive medical attention from the VA because there are no records of their participation in the Edgewood program available. The Department of Defense refuses to release the names of those who participated.
Letters to the Department of Defense, including Secretary Rumsfeld have gone unanswered. Letters to Congress have gained very little attention and when congressional members to respond, it is with a request to the VA to look into the veteran’s claim. As in the past, those requests continue to be ignored.
Now the Internet buzz is becoming Anti-Republican from almost every quarter. Though most of the career veterans have little confidence in the Democrats, they are talking about moving the vote in that direction as a protest. They have reached the limit of their patience with false promises and the Republicans could very well pay for political lies with a battle at the ballot box.
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