Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Republicans mounting new attack on wounded veterans
There is no other way to describe what is being pushed in this new appropriations bill. USA Today has the details and you should have the outrage.
Remember in November.
Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war.Remember two important points. The Republican assholes cutting the funds are the same ones voting to keep our troops in harms way in a war that has seen huge increases in brain injuries. And second, these are the same Republican assholes who have been giving people like Paris Hilton huge tax cuts and want to give her more tax cuts. But they can't find the money for wounded troops.
House and Senate versions of the 2007 Defense appropriation bill contain $7 million for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center — half of what the center received last fiscal year.
Proponents of increased funding say they are shocked to see cuts in the treatment of bomb blast injuries in the midst of a war.
"I find it basically unpardonable that Congress is not going to provide funds to take care of our soldiers and sailors who put their lives on the line for their country," says Martin Foil, a member of the center's board of directors. "It blows my imagination."
The Brain Injury Center, devoted to treating and understanding war-related brain injuries, has received more money each year of the war — from $6.5 million in fiscal 2001 to $14 million last year. Spokespersons for the appropriations committees in both chambers say cuts were due to a tight budget this year.
"Honestly, they would have loved to have funded it, but there were just so many priorities," says Jenny Manley, spokeswoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee. "They didn't have any flexibility in such a tight fiscal year."
Remember in November.
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