Barack Obama Attacks Republicans Over Failure of Veterans Jobs Bill...

[Indi Guy]

Source: The Guardian

President Barack Obama attacked the Republican party on Saturday, for scrapping a bill that would have established a $1bn scheme to help military veterans get jobs.

In his weekly radio address, Obama attacked GOP politicians for failing to pass the planned law before Congress ended its session last week and lawmakers returned to their own states and districts ahead of the 6 November elections.

"These men and women have made incredible sacrifices for our country. They shouldn't have to worry about finding a job when they get home. But last week, Republicans in Congress voted it down. And then they left," Obama said.

The bill, which had some bipartisan support, would have given job priority to post-9/11 veterans, aiming to put them back to work as firefighters and police officers and in public work projects.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/22/barack-obama-republicans-veterans-jobs?newsfeed=true

---

So much for Rep leadership (and I use the term loosely) re: supporting our troops and creating jobs. Is there a term for the odor of hypocrisy?

[monmouth]

1. And Boehner wonders if he'll "survive." I really doubt it and hoping he won't..n/t

[DonViejo]

7. He'll survive as a Congressman (no one running against him) but

maybe he'll enjoy returning to the job of House Minority Leader.

[Harry Monroe]

2. And this bill was even "revenue neutral" offset by spending cuts elsewhere!!

No, I think they just voted against it, because Obama was for it!! Reprehensible pieces of shit!!

[Indi Guy]

3. Exactly...

Any bill that would put Obama in a favorable light must be trashed -- regardless of the interests of the people.

[jonesgirl]

16. Exactly! That goes for all the businesses and companies that all of a sudden closed or layed off

Massive amounts of workers when they knew Obama was to be our next President! Their mentality was they wasn't going to let a black man tell them what to do...so they closed up shop just to show us who was boss and to make us suffer for voting in a black man. Even McCain has made comments publicly about how he didn't want to so anything to make the President look good! What kind of bullshit is that?? I say it's a conspiracy

[tblue37]

18. They were afraid the Dems might get some credit for helping vets and the economy. nt

[sakabatou]

4. Keep on the attack, Mr. President

[hootinholler]

5. While I suppport helping vets to get jobs...

I'm not convinced that Law enforcement is the best choice after what these guys have been through.

[nolabear]

8. But it's a common thing. Law and firefighting. Might as well help.

Hopefully psychological screening is a large part of what they do.

[SaveAmerica]

9. I haven't seen details of what the training would be but I imagine

that like other law enforcement jobs they would have to go through certain tests and meet specific criteria before getting into those positions. I think that is what the training portion of the bill would do.

[pasto76]

12. hello, you've just perpetuated the stigma. Thanks!

hopefully you dont realize it, but you did. Somehow we are "unqualified" to be law enforcement?

I daresay I am more qualified than many officers I know, BECAUSE of my iraq deployment.

Another facet is, many jobs in the Army(I can speak only for the army) do not translate well into the civilian world. Law enforcement is one of those that has potential.

[hootinholler]

21. Which stigma is that?

The stigma about PTSD, which affects not just the military, but emergency services as well. Most with experience have experienced issues with PTSD from mild to severe and ES workers have been proactively dealing with the effects responding to traumatic scenes with things like mandatory PTSD debriefings since the early 90's that I'm aware of. I'm not about stigmatizing anyone, but I do have first hand experience with the effects of dealing with traumatic episodes. Unlike the cop in the classic seatbelt commercial, I have unbuckled dead people, and people barely living to learn later they coded in flight and were beyond the capability of our rescue systems.

Or, is it the issue of the militarization of our police forces? What combat skills are you referring to that translate well into a civilian police force?

[cr8tvlde]

14. Used to work for a company that placed Vets. We had that objection, but

usually it was pretty easy to overcome. IMHO, not any more than the incoming trainees...just without the maturity and discipline.

[jonesgirl]

17. I agree, but they can always do the desk jobs. This way the law enforcement officers can focus more

on the job than on writing reports.

[elbloggoZY27]

6. Support Veterans

The GOP dropped the ball and fumbled when they did not support the Veterans Job Bill.

Very sad day for us Veterans.

We are the ones who sacrifice for our Country.

The President is correct in his comments.

[julian09]

13. Well make sure your friends still on active duty as well as those who returned

know what the Gop is doing against veterans, so they can vote them out. They don't want Obama to get credit, only blame for what they the Gop are doing. Spread it far and wide to the vets, we need to get tea party out of congress.

[SaveAmerica]

10. How many times have they wasted taxpayers' dollars by kicking down bills?

All of the time and energy and money that goes into the process is lost when they play their childish games.

It's as though they sit and watch a Democrat stack up dominoes just so, Dems even going so far as placing some pieces in a way that is a compromise between the parties just to have the Republicans kick them all down and declare they're going to do it their own way.

Every time they've done that to a bill taxpayers pay twice. It's like they're Halliburton of Congress.

[emeraldclouds7]

11. Wasting time

That's why Obama said we can't change Washington from the inside. Think about it. We put him there. Against all the odds. But he needs our help. The Republican congress did not do anything for the last two years. And we have seen the consequences of their agenda. The fiscal cliff. They still have not approved the Farm Aid bill. The Republican Senate voting down jobs for Veterans. A lot of good has come from the Obama Administration. More than the Bush years and certainly more than we could expect from Romney.

If we capture some seats in the house and senate this year, a strong message will be sent to the conservative party. Time to get to work. I am a liberal, but don't want to pass all liberal laws. We need a balance. The TRUE Republican party balances us out. That is what makes us Americans. But voting straight down party lines will be effective for two reasons. one is to root out the Tea Party. The started out a a real movement for change, but big money got involved with them. Not a real movement anymore. And I actually can't stand them. Two, we send a message to big money.

We are not as unaware as they think we are. We the people have so much technology at our disposal to inform each other. WE can fact check by ourselves. We can become so much more aware of what is going on in the world. Not only rely on one TV station or one new website. We can research information on our own. With this kind of power...INFORMATION. We can make better decisions. Please pay attention and spread the word. I don't know you and you don't know me. But I think as a whole must Americans have good values. We don't have to be best of friends, but believe me we all want the best for ourselves and others. I you took the time to read this. Thank you.

@emeraldclouds7

[Indi Guy]

19. Thoughtful words.

Ironically, it's been the Republicans who are responsible for curtailing Obama's ability to represent the interests of all the people -- not just those who voted for him.

[TomCADem]

20. Disagree, Congressional Republicans Need To Be Held Accountable

The media seems to have boought into this narrative that Congressional Republicans are not responsible for their obstructionism. The 112th congress has been the worse in decades, yet Boehner is rarely blamed for his inability to broker any deals to pass legislation that would help the country. He is the Speaker for goodness sakes.

[Odin2005]

15. Sent this to my Birther Iraq Vet cousin.

He thinks Obama is trying to cut his pay and benefits.

[Samjm]

22. Keep on!

This is exactly the kind of stuff the Dems need to be hammering, over and over again.