Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) budget proposal to impose freezes and cuts on veterans’ benefits is now picking up the scathing objections of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Some key quotes from the organization’s press release:
“No way, no how, will we let this proposal get any traction in Congress,” said Richard L. Eubank, the national commander of the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
…
“I want the congresswoman to join us in a tour of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and Poly Trauma Center the next time she’s in her home district to witness firsthand the great work the VA does every day to heal their wounds and ease their pain. Then I want her to look those disabled veterans in the eye and tell them their service and sacrifice is too expensive for the nation to bear.
“The day this nation can’t afford to take care of her veterans is the day this nation should quit creating them,” said Eubank.
The release also says that Eubank is a retired Marine and combat veteran of the Vietnam War.
Memo to Bachmann: Before you even think about proposing to limit veterans’ benefits, you might want to Google the words “Bonus Army.” Hint: It was one of many events that brought about the landslide defeat of the Republican Party in 1932.
(Hmm, then again, Bachmann does seem to think that the Hoover administration’s actions — such as something she called the “Hoot-Smalley” tariff — were done by Franklin Roosevelt.)
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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