The floor of the United States House of Representatives was a buzz with emotion and rhetoric as another Iraq Supplemental came up for discussion and vote. Separate votes were had on Iraq/Afghanistan appropriations, an improvement to the GI Bill, and provisions seeking to end this war responsibly. It is the second of these votes that is truly astonishing to me and others in the area.
The improvements to the GI Bill include educational benefits for those men and women leaving the military. This is truly the best investment our government could be making in both keeping our military strong as well as lifting up the very men and women whose job it has been to lift us up.
What then was the problem? The Republican Party in its infinite wisdom would rather not have us as a nation pay to educate the men and women that their leader sent into battle. God forbid we have the wealthiest amongst us pay a few more dollars so that the soldiers of this country can come home and get an education. I hate to quantify patriotism given that I have long claimed that the Republican Party does it too often as a way to gain support for a conflict that should not have been waged, but it certainly is a glaring contradiction that is a cheerleader for our troops when they go to battle but remains remarkably silent when those troops come home and need the help in rebuilding their lives. The measure of a country is not in how willing that country is to send its troops into harms way but rather in how well it takes care of those people who take care of them.
Unfortunately, one of these patriots of war but betrayers of troops is our very own Michele Bachmann. She who consistently claims the need for unending occupation decided that rather than take care of those returning home would take care of the wealthiest amongst our population.
On a positive note, my favorite Congressman, Tim Walz, gave the Republican Party the tongue lashing they deserved:
The improvements to the GI Bill include educational benefits for those men and women leaving the military. This is truly the best investment our government could be making in both keeping our military strong as well as lifting up the very men and women whose job it has been to lift us up.
What then was the problem? The Republican Party in its infinite wisdom would rather not have us as a nation pay to educate the men and women that their leader sent into battle. God forbid we have the wealthiest amongst us pay a few more dollars so that the soldiers of this country can come home and get an education. I hate to quantify patriotism given that I have long claimed that the Republican Party does it too often as a way to gain support for a conflict that should not have been waged, but it certainly is a glaring contradiction that is a cheerleader for our troops when they go to battle but remains remarkably silent when those troops come home and need the help in rebuilding their lives. The measure of a country is not in how willing that country is to send its troops into harms way but rather in how well it takes care of those people who take care of them.
Unfortunately, one of these patriots of war but betrayers of troops is our very own Michele Bachmann. She who consistently claims the need for unending occupation decided that rather than take care of those returning home would take care of the wealthiest amongst our population.
On a positive note, my favorite Congressman, Tim Walz, gave the Republican Party the tongue lashing they deserved:
An outraged reader sent me a heads up that she watched this debate on C-Span and along with another beat down given by Representative Dave Obey, there was considerable outrage from all sides of the political spectrum when citizens were allowed the chance to call in with opinions. For more information about this vote and the GI Bill improvements you can check out posts from two of my favorite bloggers (Blue Man and Ollie of Bluestem Prairie).
