Loud & Proud

Share if you support the troops!

Hi friends! I see many of you often post pictures that you ask us to “Share if you support the troops!” It’s a nice reminder to be grateful to the men and women who risk their lives to protect us. But, while it is certainly pleasant, in truth, it probably doesn’t do much more than to create warm, fuzzy feelings toward those selfless individuals who serve our country.

I’d like to talk to you about what happened yesterday when a specific group of people had a chance to do something bigger to support our troops. Something that literally would support them. I’m talking about The Veterans Jobs Bill, a bipartisan bill, meaning that folks who were Democrats and Republicans helped draft it. The bill would have put jobless veterans back to work doing a variety of occupations that would have also stood to strengthen our country’s infrastructure. (You may or may not know that while unemployment is high, it is higher among our veterans, many of whom struggle to re-enter the workforce after returning home from war. Over 720,000 service men and women are currently unemployed, including 220,000 who stepped up to serve after 9/11.)

Yesterday, Congress voted on this bill. It needed 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. It received 58. 40 Senate Republicans voted in opposition. 40 Senate Republicans voted to keep our veterans unemployed.*

Some of the reasons they gave were vague. “There is no proof that this would work.” You know what is proven NOT to work? Doing nothing. Some reasons were more specific. “This bill is not paid for!” Well, actually, it was to be paid for by collecting unpaid taxes, which was part of the plan y’all had discussed and said was a good idea. So…are you sure these are the reasons you want to stick by?

Here’s what I think, and here’s the conclusion I believe anyone who takes a really good hard look at the situation will reach. I think they voted against it to keep the unemployment numbers as high as they can. I think they voted against it because they cannot stand the idea of the current administration having a success. I think they voted against it because they will brazenly put their party ahead of our country…ahead of the men and women they had a hand in sending off to war. These are the same Senators who are quick to stand at a podium and call for all of us to support the troops. Quicker still when it comes to pointing out an opponent’s perceived failure in supporting them. But when they had the chance to actually DO something real and tangible to support our troops, they turned their backs on them.

I know many of you will say, “Oh, both sides do it!” Well, I reject that. Because in this specific case? ONE SIDE did it, to a man.* What else on earth could possibly even be the explanation? There isn’t one. I don’t even think they’re really trying to sound convincing on this because they believe that we are that stupid that we can’t connect the dots and stand back to see the pattern.

Congress works for us. They are paid between $174,000-$223,000 per year. Usually, they’re in session around 140 days of that year, give or take, and they’re supposed to spend some of their many weeks off, as well as their recess during the month of August, checking in with their constituents. That’s us! When’s the last time your Senator asked what you thought of something s/he would be casting a vote on - a vote that is supposed to represent you? If your Senator had called and said, “Hey, what do you think about this? Should we help send vets back to work or just sit on our hands?” how would you have replied?

In 1947-48, the Congress was referred to as the “Do Nothing Congress” by Harry Truman, because they only passed 906 pieces of legislation. The 112th Congress is on track to shatter that threshold, by passing just 173 pieces. They have failed to pass any Federal budget for three years. Three years? What’s been different for the past three years or so that would make it utterly impossible for these people to do the bare minimum of their very crucial jobs? OH, I THINK I SEE WHAT IT MIGHT BE! DO YOU? I also know that if I flatly refused to do my job, I would be fired. That probably goes for all of you too, no?

Yellow ribbon magnets are nice, but many of these men and women are home NOW and those magnets have been put away. What are we going to do NOW to support these people who put their careers and their lives and their security on hold to let us keep enjoying ours?

*If you want to support the troops, take a look at this list. These are the people who said, “Nah, let’s not do anything. Let’s stop this bill.” Support the troops by putting these people on blast. Support the troops by paying attention to what’s going on at the bottom of your ballot, because no matter who is chosen to be the President come November, it’s these folks who will choose whether to drive our country off a cliff or not. What will you say when they next ask for your support?

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Mark Kirk and James Inhofe did not vote.