THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

That must be why Rep Duncan Hunter (R-Calif) acted so warmly and generously to Guardsmen, Reservists and their families.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has employed a rarely used authority to strike a provision in the committee-passed $441.6 billion defense authorization bill that would have opened the military's Tricare health care system to all National Guard members and reservists.

The provision, one of only a handful of Democrat victories during the 14-hour markup last week, would push the military's mandatory spending levels beyond those allowed under the fiscal 2006 budget resolution. The bill is scheduled for floor consideration Wednesday.

Apparently Tricare " would have allowed Guardsmen and Reservists to buy health coverage for $75 a month (or $233 a month for their family)." God forbid they get inexpensive health care for their families while they put the lives on the line.

UPDATE:Rep Gene Taylor (D-Miss)who offered the original amendment, responds to his chairmans cupidity.

i would like to remind my colleagues that on 21 occasions already this year, 21 major pieces of legislation came to this floor where they waived every budgetary restraint. sometimes it was so people like paris hilton could inherit tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars without paying any taxes on it. sometimes it was for things like the prescription drug benefit for seniors, that we were told at the time would cost our nation $435 billion, but it turns out it is really going to cost $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. but they waived budgetary rules for that.

the one time they selectively chose to enforce the budgetary rules was over $5 million for a very narrow bracket of national guardsmen who happen to be federal employees who are already on fehbp and who might want to enroll in tricare. so the same folks who in the past 4 years have added over $2 trillion to the national debt, giving the wealthiest americans, the political contributor class of america, enormous tax breaks, decided that these folks who are serving in iraq and afghanistan, that they do not deserve the opportunity to buy their health care coverage. i think that is wrong.

Stolen, with thanks from Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.