Republicans underfund VA. Punish those who call them on it.

[Lefty48197]

I had to register with the LA Times to read the article. It may be available on another source. The AP article appeared this weekend, and was written by Suzanne Gamboa.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-congress-veterans,1,5483674.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

"WASHINGTON -- Fellow Republicans warned House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay more than a year ago that the government would come up short -- by at least $750 million -- for veterans' health care...

...Ben Porritt, a spokesman for DeLay, said that a year ago "we didn't see any indication that there was going to be a shortfall...

New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, as chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, had told the House GOP leadership that the Veterans Affairs Department needed at least $2.5 billion more in its budget...

Smith was rebuked by several Republicans for sounding the spending alarm, and House leaders yanked his chairmanship in January. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., lost his chairmanship of the VA health subcommittee, and Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., is no longer on the committee. They too had signed the letters to Hastert, R-Ill., and DeLay, R-Texas."

Wait one moment please. Let me get this straight. Tom DeLay says he didn't have any indication that the VA was being underfunded, yet he yanked committee membership and chairmanships from his fellow Republicans, who dared write a letter to him explaining that the VA was being underfunded?

"Now that the Bush administration has acknowledged a shortfall of at least $1.2 billion, embarrassed Republicans are scrambling to fill the gap..."

I think they should work to fill the "credibility gap" in their House leadership too.

[wli]

1. Democrats support our veterans

... where Rethugs underfund the VA. Perhaps this is something democrats could hold up and show voters.

[newswolf56]

2. This vendetta against those who warned against underfunding the VA...

should be made into a political issue of its own: a typical example of how der Bu$hler and his GOPorkers smash anyone who dares speak up against their war on working-family America. Maybe Dean will pick up on it; let's hope. Perhaps someone here at DU with inside connections to Dean's staff will call his attention to this damning report.

(Der Bu$hler, after "der Fuhrer" but without the N-word: I don't believe there has ever been such a vindictively conformist administration in the nation's history.)

[Pinboy]

3. This was well-known at the time

Chris Smith was sacked as chair of the House Veterans Affairs not just for this, but because he had consistently fought for higher VA health care funding than the President's budgets proposed. To add insult to injury, he also was kicked off his seat on the committee (which he had held for many years).

The House GOP leadership was removing an obstacle to smooth sailing on the President's VA budget AND sending a message that loyalty was more important than seniority (they sacked Heflin as ethics committee chair at the same time because he had pursued the DeLay inquiries).

To find someone considered loyal enough to replace Chris Smith and support the President's funding limit for the VA, the leaders dug down to the FOURTH ranking Republican on the veterans affairs committee, Steve Buyer.

[newswolf56]

4. Don't think it got much publicity. I'm online every day -- I get...

the online services of four newspapers with my morning email (WaPo, Der Spiegel, AdAge, plus my local viciously anti-labor Daily Beobachter) and the story surely passed me by. The all-Lacey-Peterson-all-the-time idiot box didn't broadcast a word about it -- at least not here on the Northleft Coast. That's why I hope somebody brings it to Dean's attention: the story here is not the incident itself, but rather the behavior pattern -- literally worse than Nixon.

[Lefty48197]

5. Other examples of Republicans punishing those that won't toe the line:

Tom DeLay and one of his operatives, Rep. Candice S. Miller from Michigan at first offered a bribe to Rep. Nick Smith of Michigan to change his mind, and vote FOR Bush's Medicare Prescription Drug bill last year. When Smith still refused to "go along", they carried out their threat to support his son's opponent, in the race to replace the retiring Rep. Smith. Without party support, Smith Jr. lost the nomination.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0410/01/a07-290796.htm

I recall an article earlier about DeLay refusing to spend any money in districts represented by Democrats.