Friday, October 17, 2008

Joe the Plumber? What About Jim and Jane the Veteran?


Really think about this.



Joe the Plumber? What About Jim and Jane the Veteran?
Paul Rieckhoff
Posted October 16, 2008


First it was Main Street. Then it was Joe Six-Pack. And last night, Joe the Plumber took center stage. After three presidential debates between Senators McCain and Obama, our nation's veterans can't help but be left wondering: What about us?

Beyond the fact that there was no real talk (straight or otherwise) at all about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, foreign policy or military affairs, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are facing unbelievable challenges when they come home. More than 300,000 new veterans are suffering from a serious psychological injury, and less than half are receiving the care they need. Tens of thousands of troops have suffered disabling physical injuries, new veterans are also facing high rates of unemployment, and almost two thousand brave men and women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan have already wound up homeless. And all the economic issues hitting the average American are hitting our military folks even harder. Millions are wrestling with the mortgage crisis, rising food costs, and the high price of gas. Now imagine dealing with all that while being deployed to a war zone for 12 months for the third time in five years. This is what our servicemembers are facing.

But not once during the presidential debates did we hear any substance from the candidates about how they plan to support our veterans.

We've been bombarded with talking point after talking point on the economy, healthcare, and energy. Joe the Plumber even had his name repeated more than a dozen times last night. But Jim and Jane the Veteran have been left behind.

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We can talk all we want about getting government out of our lives when it comes to our money, but when we do, we limit our view to "self" and cannot see beyond. Our taxes go to the roads we drive on and bridges we cross over expecting them to be safe and well maintained. Taxes pay for checking the food we eat, air we breathe, what we drink, medications we take and products we use so that we can trust they are safe. Taxes pay for the education of our children. Taxes pay for the police and fire departments. We can complain about the fact we are supporting people who have fallen on hard times, the ill who cannot pay for medical care or the elderly.

We can simply forget about all of this because it is just so easy to say government needs to get out of our lives so that our tax burden can be cut but when we are honest we know that sooner or later, it all has to be paid for. With all the talk about tax cuts and how McCain doesn't want anyone to pay more, no one is talking about common sense. McCain and the GOP seem to have no problem just borrowing money this nation cannot afford so they can take care of the rich, just expecting them to do the right thing and take care of those with less. They expect the money to just flow down but after all these years, it hasn't.

We have food that has been contaminated by chemicals imported from China. We have medications that were supposed to be safe, sent into the homes of millions only to discover they are harmful. Roads fall apart and bridges collapse. Schools across then nation leave our children unable to compete with the rest of the world and if you go into any establishment, young cashiers cannot do simple math unless the cash registers tell them exactly how much change to give back. Yet some will simply shut their eyes to what our taxes do.

Another part of what our tax dollars do is to supply the nation with defense. From the citizen soldiers of the National Guard and Reservists to the Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, CIA, FBI and all the other branches, our money pays for them. It is also supposed to be paying for those who have served when they need to be taken care of with medical expenses and compensation if they are wounded in the process.

The man who becomes our next president has to have his mind in the right place. He cannot be one who ignores all that is required of him. Far too little has been said about all of this. It's been about cutting taxes, either for the rich or those who have less. It has not been about doing the right thing or wiser use of the tax dollars collected. What is the most telling of all is that the men and women who served in the military have been forgotten. We have two active military campaigns producing wounded everyday, being added into the system and in need of being taken care of.

Families are living on food stamps, being foreclosed on because their husband or wife has been sent to Afghanistan or Iraq multiple times. We have wounded coming back, faced with having to fight to have their wounds taken care of and compensated for the incomes they are no longer able to obtain. Why is it no one is talking about the fact we owe them?

I listen to people like Ron Paul talking about the evil of taxes but never hear him say what good our tax dollars do. I hear McCain say that he wants people making the most money in this country to not have to suffer for making more, but never hear him mention how he has voted against the veterans needing to be taken care of, especially if it is tied to any kind of corporations having to pay their share. I hear Obama talk about the middle class but not about the poor or the needy or the fact we have to be smarter with the money we do have. None of them have talked about the debt we owe those who serve or the suffering they are going through.

When you hear them talk, notice what they are not talking about and then demand they address the things you are concerned about. If you are not concerned about anything listed here, then please look in the mirror when you read about it all falling apart or another veteran who has committed suicide or see another veteran you pass by on the street because that has become his home. You'll have only yourself to blame because you didn't want to pay taxes and refused to hold them accountable for the taxes you did pay.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

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