Veterans caught in the crossfire

If the nation's veterans feel like they're caught in a partisan crossfire, they're right.
The Senate on Thursday derailed legislation providing $21 billion for medical, education and job-training benefits for veterans.



Unfinished buildings at the Veterans Administration Clinic in French Camp, CA

"I personally ... have a hard time understanding how anyone could vote for tax breaks for billionaires, for millionaires, for large corporations and then say we don't have the resources to protect our veterans," said Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chief author of the Democratic legislation.
Indeed.
Only two Republicans crossed the aisle in the clear majority 56-41 Senate vote, but because of the upper chamber's arcane rules 60 votes were needed.
Republican bristled because the bill's costs would be paid for with savings expected from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, many of those same Republicans had no trouble increasing  the nation's debt to prosecute those wars.
Republicans also unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill by slicing its size and adding penalties against Iran for its nuclear program. The White House reasonably opposes new penalties while international negotiations with Iran proceed. Making the added penalties proposal even sillier is the fact that 59 senators of both parties have sponsored separate legislation to punish Iran if the ongoing talks fail.

The veterans legislation addressed everything from making more of them eligible for in-state college tuition to providing fertility or adoption services for some wounded troops left unable to conceive. The Veterans Administration would have been given more tools to address the backlog of 390,000 benefit claims awaiting action for more than 125 days. The bill also would have bolstered programs for veterans who suffered sexual abuse, and would have increased dental care and provided more alternative medicine, such as yoga for stress.

Benefits for some spouses of deceased veterans would have improved, and aid to relatives caring for a wounded veteran would have been expanded to include those who served before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Caring for this nation's veterans is a cost of war. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be over or nearly over, but for tens of thousands of the men and women who served there, their battles continue. This nation has an obligation to help them in that fight.