
What Veterans Think of the Debt Ceiling Cut To Their Benefits
Please Note: The following content is Not Safe For Work (NSFW) because it contains profanity.
Keeping our finger on the pulse of what Veterans think about current issues, like the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act, or PACT Act, which Republicans held over the heads of our Veterans and their families not even a year ago. Now they’re showing how much they really care about Veterans with this latest cut. This is how Military Times reported it.
Yesterday, Speaker McCarthy and Congressional Republicans doubled down on threatening default in order to extract a wish list of extreme, unrelated policies that will hurt hard-working families.
The GOP’s history of raising the debt ceiling is as follows:
Under Trump it was raised 3 times, under W. Bush it was raised 7 times, under Reagan it was raised 18 times. Using Veterans as a pawn is not new, but this GOP Congress has found a new low once again.
The legislation Congressional Republicans have drafted is designed to avoid leveling with the American people about how these cuts would impact their lives. So I want to be very clear about exactly what this plan would mean for families and communities across the country. The legislation Congressional Republicans introduced sets overall appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024 at the same level as FY 2022. At this level, all appropriated funding—including both defense and domestic programs—would be cut deeply. However, Congressional Republicans have indicated that they are not willing to cut defense funding at all, which means that everything else in annual appropriations—from cancer research, to education, to veterans’ health care—would be cut by much more.
What would that mean for the American people just in the first year of their plan? Consider one example that impacts Veterans:
Undermine Medical Care for Veterans: Cutting funding by 22 percent would mean 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration—leaving veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.
Here is a recent chat room summary of what Veterans think about the
Here is a link to the article about the cuts: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/04/20/congressional-republicans-legislation-22-cuts-that-would-harm-american-families-seniors-and-veterans/
Here is the link to the rest of the comment thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/12ucp5n/republicans_want_to_cut_veteran_benefits_by_22/
Here are the unfiltered comments. Each line a different Veteran thought:
Fucking assholes.
I used to be a veteran that voted Republican. I thought because they made sure I was well taken care of in service that they would as a veteran. I went 100% disabled two years ago. And it was shortly after that when Trump called combat-wounded losers and suckers that I bailed on the party — and have not looked back with regret. The MAGA GOP is not the Republicans that I thought it was.
“Suckers and losers” is the phrase used by their lord and savior not so long ago.
The absolute disrespect he showed McCain was appalling. John McCain was an American hero and someone deserving of respect. I didn’t agree with his politics, but damn if he wasn’t a good man. Private bonespurs never showed any respect for our armed forces, good reason why nothing will ever be named after him.
I just had to google McCain’s military history because I had no idea about it, but goddamn that man was a badass. Someone who deserved respect from everyone on both sides of the aisle.
They just hate the ones that come back.
I work on a military installation and most of the civilian employees other than me are veterans. They all have Trump and MAGA stuff plastered all over their offices and use the word “woke” like Redditors use the word “actually”. Every single one of them is an anti-vaxxer, climate change denying, election fraud conspiracy theorist. But I am convinced it’s because they have never had to feel the pinch of the piss-poor treatment their fellow vets get because they have super cushy GS jobs and all the accompanied benefits.
Yeah, I am sure this will help make people join the military since we do not have a shortage of people signing up right/s.
Now let’s ask the real question. Are there any cuts proposed to the wealthy? For one specific, how about cuts to fossil fuel subsidies? Any cuts at all for the wealthy / corporations?
If Republicans want to screw over the military, middle-class, families, and women at least put on the big boy pants and do it during the budget cycle instead of hiding behind the economy like a bunch of domestic terrorists.
Oh god. The horror show that will ensue if Republicans take control of all aspects of government. Hope this adds to the growing list of things that will keep driving younger people to go out and vote.
People don’t seem to understand…the more power you give them the more they are going to take away. Not just from people you don’t like, but eventually from you as well.
As a military veteran, I say fuck the Republicans. They can eat a trillion dicks.
Traitors. All of them. They work for China and Russia and get paid with taxpayer money and economic oppression (inflation).
But they’re happy to steal all that valor!
They cry that they support our military and turn around and fuck over veterans.
They only hate the ones who come back that need help with all the issues they have after the fact. They love to rally around dead soldiers and low recruitment numbers, but they can not stand when our soldiers come home and need help with medical bills and PTSD.
Let’s start with the BLOATED DOD BUDGET FIRST.
They just can’t do it but they can do THIS?
As someone who worked as a contractor to various 3 letter agencies, there is SO much room to trim bloat out of those budgets. Start by preventing congress critters from earmarking specific budgets to things the DOD doesn’t want and opposes. So much waste to lawmakers sending pork back to their districts for stuff no one needs.
Usually, I’m in favor of more government oversight, but Congress fucks every DoD project up. Everything they can get their grubby little paws on suddenly goes to shit. The entire DoD acquisition process needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, specifically in a way that Congress can’t get near it.
“What you need to do, veterans is to think of active duty like a uterus. It’s all nice and warm in there and we love you. But once you’re out of that uterus you’re on your own.”
Pro-birth but not pro-life.
Pro in the service but not pro retired from the service.
If Dems would push to increase veteran benefits and fix the retirement and disability system they would win far more elections.
Enlisted pay needs to go up.
Retirement needs to shift from 20 years to earning 5% of that per year to incentivize recruitment and staying in.
Retirement needs to be added to disability instead of the current system of one or the other.
Disability needs to be reworked because there are people who would technically be over 300% due to their injuries and issues and a lot of issues from military work knocked that person out of the civilian workforce.
Tricare needs to be fixed and expanded to let civilians pay into it and support it. It’s understaffed and constantly dealing with pay cuts by Republicans to try and privatize it and it’s stupidly frustrating.