I’ll make this quick and painful. Let me ask you, what is more disrespectful to the military and veterans ― a black man peacefully protesting the unjust and unlawful killing of fellow black Americans, OR a rich white man signing a tax bill that will take funding from the already depleted reserves offered to veteran assistance in order to subsidize tax cuts for private jet owners, and gut programs that help house and educate returning vets?
Peacefully kneeling to protest police brutality or gutting the only assistance programs for those who risked their lives to serve the country? Tough choice huh?
As you’d expect, the latest rendition of the GOP tax scam guts security programs such as Medicaid, CHIP and other safety nets that offer a lifeline to low income Americans. But undermining programs that help the poor represents mere collateral damage for conservatives hellbent on gifting major corporations with gigantic tax cuts, so sidestepping the fact that the tax bill they voted for will leave millions without health insurance is not an issue. But I’d like to know, what do the military-loving supporters in the GOP have to say about the cuts to veterans assistance, one of the few remaining life lines offered by the federal government to those who served, AND the cuts to programs such as Calvet? This stands for California’s Department of Veterans Affairs, which is a bond-funded program that provides veterans with home loans. It was set up in 1921 to help World War I vets and it is now in jeopardy thanks to the new bill. Meaning the GOP have such great respect for the military that they thought it was perfectly fine to defund a century-old program that could leave millions more vets at risk of becoming homeless. Shouldn’t that piss off the military loving Republicans?
Or what about the impact the GOP tax scam has on the G.I Bill, a bill that was expanded after Sept. 11 and signed into law by President George W. Bush. This bill covers the full cost of in-state tuition for eligible veterans who attend state schools. However, the bill only guaranteed about $22,000 toward the annual cost of private institutions, which routinely charge around $50,000 a year, so to bridge the funding gap, Congress introduced the Yellow Ribbon program, in which the government matches funds provided by the private colleges and universities toward a veteran’s tuition. However, schools’ participation in the Yellow Ribbon Plan is voluntary, and with the passing of the new GOP Tax bill, excise tax on endowments has now become law, and therefor schools are far more likely to cut back on voluntary programs like yellow ribbon, essentially gutting a vital reintegration benefit for thousands of veterans. So let me ask again, is that respecting the military?
You’d think those who touted their unabashed support of the military everytime Kaepernick bent his knee would be sickened at the GOP’s treatment of vets. You’d expect them to take to Twitter and type their hypocritical fingers bloody, the way they did when a black man spoke out. No. Of course they won’t. It was never about their love of the military or the vets, it was about keeping a black man in check. So next time you see any of these foul hypocrites screech about a player kneeling, ask the how their local VA is running? Ask them how the party they voted for respects the military.