By this author

williamgast@wesupportthevets.com

meet me in St Louis Mr. President July 24,2003                                 

The pressure is on July 18,2003

This week's progress May27,2003

Define Hypocrisy June 12,2003

where are they now? June 15,2003

Promises made, promises kept? June 2,2003

Will HR3474 Go the same direction as HR303??

 AOL had one of their infamous “Polls” online yesterday. It was a choice between Howard Dean and G W Bush. The results were not surprising at this time but it did appear precautionary to those that do not agree with this administrations treatment of disabled veterans.( Bush 68%-Dean 31%)  Bush could possibly be reelected.

 This glaring aspect of another four years of trampling on disabled veterans and dissipating even further the benefits promised to military families and active duty personnel is scary to say the least.

 Veterans have “learned by doing” as it is said  We learned the hard way that “you mess with the bull—you get the horn.” And get the horn we did. When the hypothetical hero of the disabled veterans, Congressman Mike Bilirakis (FLA 9R) brought the bill that he has authored year after year again to the house floor in January 2003, we cheered. Here was “our guy” again at the batters plate with our Full restoration of retired pay for disabled Military veterans House Bill HR303.. The resulting story and exposure of how this Congressman played vets for their votes is a lesson in civics that will not be forgotten soon. The bill stayed in limbo and then in committee for five months. Seeing that the subcommittee or Congressman Bilirakis was not going to move the bill, Congressman Jim Marshall (D GA) decided to get some action for vets that had been waiting…..and waiting for over 18 years. Marshall initiated a seldom used legislative maneuver to get the bill moving. He authored a “Discharge Petition.” (“DP”) This is a common procedure that was brought into law specifically for the intent  of moving Bills that were doomed to die in committee. When the disabled veterans of America hailed Marshall  as a savvy politician and the guy that knew how to get things done—Billirikas turned green with envy and steam came out of his ears. Bilirakas then showed his true colors and exposed the fact that he had been playing vets for their votes for years—he joined with the Republican Leadership to essentially “block” the progress of the DP. As Republican congressmen got the word from the leadership as to what would happen to their careers, ( no “chairs” or committee assignments, no “pork” for their congressional areas, etc) they choked. Needing only 19 more signatures on the DP it halted. The bill had enough cosponsors to make it happen but when speaker Hastert and Bilirakis pulled their back-room fiasco, the DP was doomed.  Vets online and in every post in the US were furious when they discovered what had been done. It was not a new maneuver for Hastert to give the “horn” to disabled vets. Last year in the 107^th session, Hastert refused to introduce the (then) cosponsored  HR303 onto the house floor for vote. (The speaker of the house is a powerful individual, by simply not introducing the bill, it died in that session) Online veteran websites reacted by contacting every vet that had email and asked them to write their representatives. The response was immediate. Congressmen that returned to their local offices got the word—the vets were getting organized. Working on the premise that “when you turn up the heat—they see the light” the pressure continued. It got to a point that although the media ignored the vets letters and phone calls, ( STV sponsored a program where we sent over 2700 email and 1300 faxes plus several phone calls to the talk show host and recovering drug addict—Rush Limbaugh.) we were getting through to the Congressmen. Then is when the veterans learned a lesson in how politicians treat reactionary constituents. A Senate “conference committee” was established to negotiate a possible “compromise” on the issue of restoration of pay. From the “conference committee” discussions and after hearing testimony from the VSO’S ( i.e.,  the Veterans Service Organizations) they had laid the proper groundwork to teach the vets a lesson. In politics. Suddenly, HR303 was not the topic of discussion. It was still in committee waiting on the DP to rescue it from extinction- the new topic was HR1588 a completely all new proposal that included a revision of Title 38 that would severely limit veteran healthcare for future vets and revise existing eligibility rules. It also contained a proposal to delete the offset of retired pay but only if the vet was a combat related injury that could be proven plus a minimum 50% disabled. All other were grouped to receive their retired pay offset over a ten year period. This was the silver bullet. Veterans watched in horror as the senate conferees and the VSO reps all nodded and sent the “revised” offer to the Pres for signature along with the Armed Forces appropriations. It was signed into law ( PL 108-36) rapidly.

It was finished. Politicians had shoved the horn to the vets and not only taken the proposed bill that they wanted (HR303) which would have given FULL restoration of pay to those deserving but they had divided the vets between themselves—those that obtained and those that were left. When it came time on the house floor to step forward and speak in favor of bringing HR303 into action instead of the HR1588, again Congressman Bilirakis blasted vets by again not saying a word. Thus was the action on HR303 for the 108^th Congressional session. Republican leaders were urinating on the backs of disabled veterans and telling them it was raining by lauding the accomplishments of getting PL 108-136 enacted.

 The Republican leadership had done a side-step in taking responsible action for veterans. They not only played the vets to the tune of making sure the major VSO groups ( which are federally chartered and will not take a political issue to their members for action) were neutralized, they gave Karl Rove and the RNC the football that they could play in the coming 2004 year—the restoration of pay for those that were left behind. The picture is pretty well in focus for that spin—it gets close to November 2004 and the Republican leadership comes forth with a bill that will give full restoration of pay to ALL veterans. Another chance for Congressmen like Bilirakis to strut and declare that they are doing all they can for the veterans of this country.

That may be the strategy of the RNC for 2004 but the veterans have one of their own.

 Its on several websites and appearing on bumber stickers and t-shirts all over the United States. Out the Door in 2004.

 Organizing veterans typically has been like herding cats. They don’t adhere well. Beyond mobilizing for parades sponsored by the local post and getting one  heck of a bar-B-que going and sending a rep to the national convention, vets don’t have much catalysist.

 That was true until the events of HR303 and antics of Congressmen like Bilirakis. Veterans saw early on that they could not count on the Major VSO’s to fight vigorously for their cause. They would issue some strong statements and send letters to legislators but they were never seen demonstrating and being vocal on issues that they needed real action on. Recently the DAV “rallied” outside a Republican fundraiser in New Orleans. That is about the most visible proactive stance that organization has taken in years. We hope they have finally gotten the word that members want something more from their organizations than cheep beer and a place to play pool. It is no news that the membership of these organizations is dwindling.

 Enter the veteran’s party of Florida. Enter the veteran’s party of the other states organizing and establishing a beachhead on the political scene. The AOL poll may be forecasting what the 2004 election may produce for the Presidency but  even if GWB does succeed in making another carrier landing back into the White House, he may not have a majority in congress to work  shenanigans with  again- Compliments of the veterans party and all those very active websites that will be  after the Republican Congressmen that cosponsored the bill and then puked when it came time to support the vets. Contrary to what Congressmen like Bilirakis thinks, vets have a very good memory.  The legacy of  several of these Republican Congressmen may not be what they did during their term in office but how they were defeated by a bunch of organized veterans that were schooled in politics the hard way.

Let’s see if Congress has learned anything when they return to session and start work on HT 3474.

 Bill Gast – Editor- Supportthevets.com

 
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