"We support the troops!" - HYPOCRITES

Walk the talk ... don't just talk the talk. But, ya know, politicians are really good at talking the talk -- especially Republicans. "We support the troops!" That's what so many of them say. And I'm gonna include regular folks too.

But how are we really supporting our troops?

• During consideration of the 2004 budget resolution, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) offered an amendment to provide an additional $1 billion for programs benefiting veterans. The added funds would have been used to boost medical and prosthetics research, speed the processing of veterans benefits, fund the construction, renovation, and maintenance of veterans hospitals, and ensure that veterans receive a proper burial. Currently 6.5 million veterans are enrolled in the veterans' affairs (VA) health care system and that number will likely grow as U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq begin to qualify for veterans benefits. Progressives support Dorgan's amendment because many U.S. soldiers are unable to afford quality health care. Forty-seven Democrats voted in support of Dorgan's amendment but the measure failed to attract a majority of Senators and was narrowly defeated by a 49-51 margin.
  
• Our soldiers are not provided with adequate body armor and armored vehicles.
  
• We have a Stop Loss Policy in place since 2002. The ongoing Stop Loss Policy pertains to soldiers in the National Guard and Army Reserve. This policy allows the Pentagon to keep soldiers whose enlistment is due to expire in order to maintain troop strength and unit integrity. In other words, if you signed up only for a year, the military can keep you in Iraq if they need you -- for several years. What part of indentured servitude don't you understand?
  
• And what about giving our troops some time off? Stressful, dangerous work needs time off, right? Otherwise one might experience some serious side effects. Nope. Last week the Republican "We Support the Troops" Senators voted that ... no, no, the troops don't need time off. Here's how the vote went:
  Grouped by Home State

  Alabama:	Sessions (R-AL), Nay	Shelby (R-AL), Nay
  Alaska:	Murkowski (R-AK), Nay	Stevens (R-AK), Nay
  Arizona:	Kyl (R-AZ), Nay	McCain (R-AZ), Nay
  Arkansas:	Lincoln (D-AR), Yea	Pryor (D-AR), Yea
  California:	Boxer (D-CA), Yea	Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
  Colorado:	Allard (R-CO), Nay	Salazar (D-CO), Yea
  Connecticut:	Dodd (D-CT), Yea	Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
  Delaware:	Biden (D-DE), Yea	Carper (D-DE), Yea
  Florida:	Martinez (R-FL), Nay	Nelson (D-FL), Yea
  Georgia:	Chambliss (R-GA), Nay	Isakson (R-GA), Nay
  Hawaii:	Akaka (D-HI), Yea	Inouye (D-HI), Yea
  Idaho:	Craig (R-ID), Nay	Crapo (R-ID), Nay
  Illinois:	Durbin (D-IL), Yea	Obama (D-IL), Yea
  Indiana:	Bayh (D-IN), Yea	Lugar (R-IN), Nay
  Iowa:	Grassley (R-IA), Nay	Harkin (D-IA), Yea
  Kansas:	Brownback (R-KS), Not Voting	Roberts (R-KS), Nay
  Kentucky:	Bunning (R-KY), Nay	McConnell (R-KY), Nay
  Louisiana:	Landrieu (D-LA), Yea	Vitter (R-LA), Not Voting
  Maine:	Collins (R-ME), Yea	Snowe (R-ME), Yea
  Maryland:	Cardin (D-MD), Yea	Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
  Massachusetts:	Kennedy (D-MA), Yea	Kerry (D-MA), Yea
  Michigan:	Levin (D-MI), Yea	Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
  Minnesota:	Coleman (R-MN), Yea	Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
  Mississippi:	Cochran (R-MS), Nay	Lott (R-MS), Nay
  Missouri:	Bond (R-MO), Nay	McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
  Montana:	Baucus (D-MT), Yea	Tester (D-MT), Yea
  Nebraska:	Hagel (R-NE), Yea	Nelson (D-NE), Yea
  Nevada:	Ensign (R-NV), Nay	Reid (D-NV), Yea
  New Hampshire:	Gregg (R-NH), Nay	Sununu (R-NH), Yea
  New Jersey:	Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea	Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
  New Mexico:	Bingaman (D-NM), Yea	Domenici (R-NM), Nay
  New York:	Clinton (D-NY), Yea	Schumer (D-NY), Yea
  North Carolina:	Burr (R-NC), Nay	Dole (R-NC), Nay
  North Dakota:	Conrad (D-ND), Yea	Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
  Ohio:	Brown (D-OH), Yea	Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
  Oklahoma:	Coburn (R-OK), Nay	Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
  Oregon:	Smith (R-OR), Yea	Wyden (D-OR), Yea
  Pennsylvania:	Casey (D-PA), Yea	Specter (R-PA), Nay
  Rhode Island:	Reed (D-RI), Yea	Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
  South Carolina:	DeMint (R-SC), Nay	Graham (R-SC), Nay
  South Dakota:	Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting	Thune (R-SD), Nay
  Tennessee:	Alexander (R-TN), Nay	Corker (R-TN), Nay
  Texas:	Cornyn (R-TX), Nay	Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
  Utah:	Bennett (R-UT), Nay	Hatch (R-UT), Nay
  Vermont:	Leahy (D-VT), Yea	Sanders (I-VT), Yea
  Virginia:	Warner (R-VA), Yea	Webb (D-VA), Yea
  Washington:	Cantwell (D-WA), Yea	Murray (D-WA), Yea
  West Virginia:	Byrd (D-WV), Yea	Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
  Wisconsin:	Feingold (D-WI), Yea	Kohl (D-WI), Yea
  Wyoming:	Barrasso (R-WY), Nay	Enzi (R-WY), Nay

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