Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Kay No Friend to Veterans
Kay Bailey Hutchison is Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, as well as a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. But it seems that veterans themselves don't think much of the job she's done.
The first exhibit is an editorial by Dave Fisher, a disabled veteran in Waco, So generous, Madame Senator.
To Hutchison's claim in her debate with Radnofsky that "Bush has increased veterans spending by 20 percent since he was elected," Fisher is skeptical:
Fisher ends his article about Hutchison's performance on veteran issues in disgust: "I am sick and tired of twisted and manipulated Republican statements and policies that skirt the debt owed to those who have sacrificed so much."
And he isn't alone in his criticism of Madame Chairwoman. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) just released a Congressional rating guide, covering more than 300 votes over the last six sessions of Congress "on issues that matter to America's men and women in uniform, our new veterans and our military families." Sen. Hutchison received a score of "D+".
While a D+ is a lot better than some of Kay's other scorecard scores, it still sounds like more of a "foe" than a "friend" to me. And given her high-ranking involvement on these committees, shouldn't she be getting an "A+"? And if she's doing this poorly representing this one particular group that she has special responsibility for, you can just guess how she's doing for everyone else.
The first exhibit is an editorial by Dave Fisher, a disabled veteran in Waco, So generous, Madame Senator.
To Hutchison's claim in her debate with Radnofsky that "Bush has increased veterans spending by 20 percent since he was elected," Fisher is skeptical:
That’s hard to believe. In fiscal 2001, Bush ordered a 28 percent cut in discretionary spending. By review, that includes us veterans. If we were somehow excluded from that directive — with such things as defense and entitlements off the table — then whatever veterans were getting in additional funding was getting carved away by 3 percent inflation each year.
And then there’s the matter of the staggering numbers of veterans and disabled veterans being created by wars on two fronts in the Bush years.
Take wars and inflation out of the equation and Hutchison’s claims still don’t add up.
Fisher ends his article about Hutchison's performance on veteran issues in disgust: "I am sick and tired of twisted and manipulated Republican statements and policies that skirt the debt owed to those who have sacrificed so much."
And he isn't alone in his criticism of Madame Chairwoman. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) just released a Congressional rating guide, covering more than 300 votes over the last six sessions of Congress "on issues that matter to America's men and women in uniform, our new veterans and our military families." Sen. Hutchison received a score of "D+".
"Every member of Congress claims to support the troops, but this guide shows us that more often than not, the rhetoric does not match the reality," said Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and the founder and executive director of IAVA: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "A legislator's low score can be directly linked to the unnecessary hardship that US troops, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and military families often face. There is no excuse for a low score."
"Our nationwide network of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have expressed overwhelmingly consistent positions on issues ranging from VA funding, to body armor, to TRICARE health insurance for National Guard and Reserve troops," Rieckhoff said. "IAVA used those positions to determine whether each member of Congress has been a friend, or foe, of our men and women in uniform."
While a D+ is a lot better than some of Kay's other scorecard scores, it still sounds like more of a "foe" than a "friend" to me. And given her high-ranking involvement on these committees, shouldn't she be getting an "A+"? And if she's doing this poorly representing this one particular group that she has special responsibility for, you can just guess how she's doing for everyone else.
Comments:
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This is just so much crapola. The vet group that gave her a D- is some Democrat front group that took three votes on amendments introduced by Dems and made up a score. It's working because a few blogs, entirely ignorant of how they are being manipulated, post these scores as if they came from a credible source. They don't. John Kerry absolutely speaks for the Democrat party. He's in trouble because in a moment of rare candor he demonstrated what a condescending, arrogant jerk he really is.
Kay Bailey has been endorsed by the VFW, a real bipartisan vet group and has received awards from a host of military organizations including the one I consider the best, the National Military Family Association. They voted her their legislator of the year several years ago after she passed legislation that would provide survivor retirement benefits to the families of military personnel who died short of their 20 years of service. Prior to Kay's legislation, the spouse of a soldier who died with 19 years and 11 months of service got nothing and Kay fixed that. She has been a tireless advocate for the military and veterans. Anybody can take a few random votes, come up with a score and name for their organization and fool some of the people some of the time.
For her part, Kay has always had a large number of military vets on her staff. I checked and there are at least four vets working for her today. One greviously wounded in Iraq. How many vets are on Radnofsky's paid staff? I'm betting none.
Kay Bailey has been endorsed by the VFW, a real bipartisan vet group and has received awards from a host of military organizations including the one I consider the best, the National Military Family Association. They voted her their legislator of the year several years ago after she passed legislation that would provide survivor retirement benefits to the families of military personnel who died short of their 20 years of service. Prior to Kay's legislation, the spouse of a soldier who died with 19 years and 11 months of service got nothing and Kay fixed that. She has been a tireless advocate for the military and veterans. Anybody can take a few random votes, come up with a score and name for their organization and fool some of the people some of the time.
For her part, Kay has always had a large number of military vets on her staff. I checked and there are at least four vets working for her today. One greviously wounded in Iraq. How many vets are on Radnofsky's paid staff? I'm betting none.
Yawn. Welcome back, DMZDave. I see you have time to spare trying to distract and mislead folks online, just like you did here back in June.
Anyone who follows the link to IAVA's site can see that your claims are not true. It was 3 hundred votes, buddy, not 3.
You wish John Kerry spoke for the Democratic party. But the truth is, his verbal misstep doesn't have anything to do with the issues this election's about: government run rampant, trampled civil liberties and a deadly, illegal and terrorist-spawning disaster in Iraq. Those are all issues with KBH's fingerprints all over them.
Radnofsky's a challenger, with next to no money, not a 12-year incumbent and career politician with millions in oil money to spread around; she practically doesn't even have a paid staff.
Nice try, though. Keep it up; you're bound to make sense some day.
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Anyone who follows the link to IAVA's site can see that your claims are not true. It was 3 hundred votes, buddy, not 3.
You wish John Kerry spoke for the Democratic party. But the truth is, his verbal misstep doesn't have anything to do with the issues this election's about: government run rampant, trampled civil liberties and a deadly, illegal and terrorist-spawning disaster in Iraq. Those are all issues with KBH's fingerprints all over them.
Radnofsky's a challenger, with next to no money, not a 12-year incumbent and career politician with millions in oil money to spread around; she practically doesn't even have a paid staff.
Nice try, though. Keep it up; you're bound to make sense some day.
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